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View Full Version : Winstar Casino in Thackerville, OK - 12/31/16



sodascouts
01-01-2017, 08:21 PM
Don put on a great show to finish off 2016. Needless to say this year has been horrible, but I'm glad I was able to end it at a show.

He was much more "off script" than I've seen him before. He'd begin to tell a rehearsed story, then go off on a tangent or bring up something else entirely (sometimes inspired by people yelling stuff at him like "YOU DA MAN", sometimes inspired by real life events). I really loved that; it made it seem more intimate.

His voice failed him a time or two, but the upside of that was that he just tried that much harder, throwing himself into it. Most of the time, he sounded great. I noticed a couple times he was shaking a bit (very slight - only someone who was watching him like a hawk would notice). I wondered if he were a bit under the weather; ETG thought he might just be emotional. (By the way, shout out to ETG and her family - great meeting you guys!)

He was wearing his gray vest and white top, looking very smart. The background singers were all dressed in black and wearing dramatic makeup. They definitely looked a lot older than they did the last time I saw them, when they were still sporting baby doll dresses. I think it's a good thing.

His massive band included all the regulars and then some! There seemed to be some audio foibles at the beginning - probably the fault of the venue - but as the show progressed, that stopped happening.

The crowd was good in that they were listening and there weren't a lot of drunk/high people making a racket as I had feared; however, when it came to getting up and dancing at the end, forget it! I tried a few times but gave up after a verse or two when no one around me joined me.

The setlist was a bit shorter than usual, but not by much. He played for about two and a half hours. Compared to recent shows, we didn't get "It Don't Matter to the Sun," "I Don't Want to Hear Any More," and "Train in the Distance." (Apparently Don forgot for a moment he wasn't going to do all of these, because he said "We're going to do a few acoustic songs now" and then only did one, lol.) However, we DID get "The Last Worthless Evening" which had been cut from other shows.

Happy surprise: I really dislike "Shangri-La" on the album, but seeing it live... I enjoyed it.

Biggest disappointment: No "Funky New Year." I can't say I'm surprised, but I had allowed myself to get my hopes up. Oh well. :(

Highlights: The powerful opening song "Seven Bridges Road"; the interesting history and the dramatic presentation of "The Last Resort" (although the song itself isn't a favorite): his nailing of the "Witchy Woman" vocals; the passionate deliveries of "Best of My Love", "The End of the Innocence", and "Heart of the Matter" (although honestly I could list many more songs here - as I said earlier, he was really throwing himself into it).

He alluded to Glenn a few times, sometimes subtly (about how it's been a hard year, and after NYM about how more than ever he feels the truth of that song), and sometimes by name when introducing a co-write like BOML or "Desperado." Glenn's name brought a huge round of applause, of course.

Almost all of his introductions contained a funny moment and some were funny throughout. Don has great comedic timing. The two that made me laugh the most:

- As I referred to earlier, some guy yelled out "YOU DA MAN" and then Don replied with "No, YOU the man; we are the men." He then riffed off of this for a couple minutes, making jokes like "He comes to every show" and ending with, "Stay thirsty, my friend." SO. FUNNY.

- When introducing "That Old Flame," he was talking about people finding you from your past and he joked about how sometimes you might found out that you owe people money... or find out you have a baby (LOL).

Overall, it was a very special experience and I'm so glad I went.

shunlvswx
01-01-2017, 08:50 PM
Ohh. Last Worthless Evening. Now that's the song I want to hear. I really hope he puts that song in the setlist in the Texas shows. I know his setlist is probably going to be the same, but it would be strange if he didn't throw Talking to the Moon in there.

I'm glad you had fun, Soda. My time can't get here any faster. I put in my day off and I'm ready to go. I'm counting down.

LuvTim
01-01-2017, 09:00 PM
Soda, thank you, it sounds like it was great fun! So happy for you and ETG that you got to attend.

Shun, I know you're counting the minutes! I hope he does Last Worthless Evening for you, too.

buffyfan145
01-01-2017, 09:01 PM
So glad you had a great time Soda!!! :D Those jokes sound hilarious and love he did "The Last Worthless Evening".

shunlvswx
01-01-2017, 09:15 PM
IF I remembered, he hasn't done Last Worthless Evening since 2015 when he first started the Cass County tour. I'm crossing my fingers that he doesn't drop it.

Delilah
01-02-2017, 02:19 AM
Thank you for the nice review. Although I try not to let myself get excited too far ahead of time, now I am starting to get psyched about seeing him in Sugarland in two weeks! :yay:



ETA: tracy123, I'm sorry to hear you didn't have best time. Even if you have personal issues with Don H, hopefully you at least enjoyed his music.

L101
01-02-2017, 06:55 AM
Soda, sounds like you had a great night and I'm so glad you made it to see Don ! He never disappoints :grin:

I noticed him shaking a bit before when he was doing his tribute to Billy Joel at the KCH - hopefully it is just his emotions showing which he hid by being really funny - after all he is Da Man :spin:

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of his shows even if I can't make it to any of them :sad:

DivineDon
01-02-2017, 10:47 AM
As I referred to earlier, some guy yelled out "YOU DA MAN" and then Don replied with "No, YOU the man; we are the men."
:rofl:
Lots of Irish people have trouble with their 'th's' which drives me mad. I'd love to refer them to Don for elocution lessons! :lol: He's so quick witted.

Thanks for the review, Soda. If Don suffers from a bad back (which I believe he does) it could be a damaged nerve making him shake - I have the same problem with my neck.

....anyway to echo L101 it's great reading the reviews even if we can't see him ourselves....but don't lose faith L101 we'll keep on believing :D

jms18222
01-02-2017, 03:57 PM
Great write up Soda. Hopefully he will tour the northeast again this summer but I am not counting on it. I was fortunate enough to see him twice last year. Soda, did he have a goatee or fresh shaved? I agree with you about his back-up singers ditching the babydoll dresses, smart move. If you have Instagram there are gifs of the ladies jumping on a beanbag chair in Don's library at the NYE party none of us were invited to.

sodascouts
01-02-2017, 04:27 PM
He was clean-shaven. I personally like the goatee, but he was certainly handsome without it.

jms18222
01-02-2017, 05:55 PM
He was clean-shaven. I personally like the goatee, but he was certainly handsome without it.

Personally I really like that chinny chinny chin.

sodascouts
01-03-2017, 10:12 AM
I agree with you about his back-up singers ditching the babydoll dresses, smart move. If you have Instagram there are gifs of the ladies jumping on a beanbag chair in Don's library at the NYE party none of us were invited to.

Sounds interesting!!!

So this was at Don's house... think they all went to his place after the show?

shunlvswx
01-03-2017, 10:57 AM
What time did the show end? They had to get back to Dallas quickly. I wonder how long it takes to fly to Dallas and where did they fly in from.

Hmm Party at the boss's house. I bet that was fun.

Last year he was at his oldest daughter's wedding. This year he had a New Year's Eve show.

Glennsallnighter
01-03-2017, 11:01 AM
Sounds like Don put out a great show. Thanks for your review Soda, as expected its the most comprehensive one I've seen so far and the only one that gives a bit of the atmosphere at the gig. It sounds like it was partially similar to some of the shows I was at during the last summer but he included a few surprises too. I'd love to hear LWE some time. And I'm glad you liked his live performance of TLR.

Who knows, he may take a turn back this side of the planet in the next year or two.

Tracy sorry you had such a bad night. Glad you found your phone.

shunlvswx
01-03-2017, 11:48 AM
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Don doesn't drop LWE. I always wanted to hear that song.

Brooke
01-03-2017, 04:25 PM
Soda, loved your review. So glad you enjoyed yourself, but we know Don does not disappoint. I wish he would have played FNY!

I hope to see him again someday....

East Texas Girl
01-03-2017, 04:52 PM
Sorry, I am slow in posting.... I agree with Soda, Don put on a great show!! It was my first time to see him, so I did not know what to expect. From all the pictures I have seen of him in the past he seemed not to smile a lot, but he did Saturday night, he had a great sense of humor.

I thought he was a little emotional in the beginning talking about how hard of a year it was in 2016, of the losses he and everyone had.

I had hoped he would sing a couple other songs off his Cass County album, but I was not disappointed at all in the concert!

What I thought was pretty cool, during the guitar solos in Hotel California Don walked back by the drums, out of the spotlight, and played "hand drums" (on top of a black box? amp? I don't know what all is back there, lol) along to the song. It felt like to me at least, that he still feels the need to play drums to that song!

Soda, it was so great meeting you and your mom. You both are super sweet!

Can not wait to see him again in Sugar Land!!

shunlvswx
01-03-2017, 04:57 PM
I think he plays the bongos or congas. I always get them mixed up. He's been playing them throughout the tour on HC. From videos I've seen before 2015, he just step back and let Steuart and Chris(or the guy before Chris) have the spotlight for their famous guitar duo.

I guess that will be the only time we will ever see Don playing a percussion instrument.

East Texas Girl
01-03-2017, 05:00 PM
[QUOTE=Delilah;350433]Thank you for the nice review. Although I try not to let myself get excited too far ahead of time, now I am starting to get psyched about seeing him in Sugarland in two weeks! :yay:



Yay Delilah!! I am going to Sugar Land to see Don too!!

jms18222
01-03-2017, 07:01 PM
Sounds interesting!!!

So this was at Don's house... think they all went to his place after the show?


I think they have been taken down. Guess the boss wasn't pleased to have his library's bean bag chairs online.

East Texas Girl
01-03-2017, 07:28 PM
I think he plays the bongos or congas. I always get them mixed up. He's been playing them throughout the tour on HC. From videos I've seen before 2015, he just step back and let Steuart and Chris(or the guy before Chris) have the spotlight for their famous guitar duo.

I guess that will be the only time we will ever see Don playing a percussion instrument.

Shun, I don't think it was any type of drums he was playing on, at least that I could tell. Just looked like he wanted to play and found a flat surface to "drum" on.

shunlvswx
01-03-2017, 08:32 PM
Its on Lily's Facebook page.