Don Henley
Ovation Hall
Revel Hotel & Casino
Atlantic City, NJ
February 1, 2013
Don Henley sure knows how to take a cold February night in Atlantic City and heat it up. Through a very fortunate alignment of my stars I lucked in to two excellent seats in the seventh row for this concert. I had previously seen Don Henley at the Borgata in June of 2007. That show was incredible and this night would be no different.
The show was scheduled to begin at 9:00 PM. As always, Don chose to be fashionably late, the lights going down at 9:19 as the band took the stage. As soon as they were at their places they started the bass line to “Dirty Laundry”. The lights were still down as the song had started but DH had not yet taken to the stage. He abruptly walked up to the microphone center stage and began to sing as the spotlight illuminated him. He was dressed in black pants, an untucked white shirt and a black sport coat and was playing a copper colored Fender Telecaster.
As I faced the stage I observed six musicians who comprised the band and back up vocal talent. Moving from left to right facing the stage there was guitar player, Pete Thorn. Behind him was Will Hollis, playing a keyboard set up consisting of a Korg electronic keyboard and an organ. Moving to the right was bass player Lance Morrison, who used three different guitars throughout the show which were on stands right where he played. Drummer Scott Crago was next to him behind center stage. Michael Thompson on a keyboard set up consisting of a grand piano and a Roland electronic keyboard was next to the drum set and in front of him was guitarist Steuart Smith. Smith and Thorn changed guitars after every song while bassist Morrison kept his three guitars on stage stands where he played. Finally Mr. Henley took center stage.
Any fan of the Eagles, Don Henley in particular knows he is a perfectionist when it comes to the quality of his sound. He has stated publicly that he strives to mimic the quality of his recordings and somehow he manages to always succeed. Guitarists Thorn and Smith performed solos, keying off one another precisely , Thorn playing his solid body Suhr and Smith plying a single cutaway PRS.
The camera Nazis were very active early on so getting pictures at this show was difficult. However, I did manage to get a couple of decent shots of Henley, Thorn and Smith during the performance.
When I saw Don Henley in 2007, Pete Thorn was not with him. He is an amazing talent who not only played guitar but also provided backup vocals as well. I did not recognize the brand of guitar he was playing. Two of his guitars had similar body styles to the Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster but they were not Fenders. After the show I was lucky enough to run into him at the lobby bar and I asked him about the guitars along with a few other questions. He told me he joined the Henley band in 2009. He informed me the guitars are called Suhr and are custom made by John Suhr. Between each number he would change instruments by handing them off to a guitar tech and hoisting the ax he would use for the next number. I can understand why Mr. Henley added him to the band.
As the applause died down from “Dirty Laundry” the players quickly changed instruments and they moved into “Long Run”, Steuart Smith playing a Gibson SG and bassist Morrison moving to a Lakeland five string bass. Don Henley put his guitar down and sung holding the mic at center stage.
The normally chatty Henley opted to forgo the banter early on and kept the music going. As the lights came back up, he was once again playing the Telecaster as the group moved into “Sunset Grille”. For this one bassist Morrison was playing a blue green Music Man bass guitar and Smith was now playing a Fender Stratocaster, playing the guitar solo alternating with Michael Thompson who played a piano solo. This would be the closest Don would come to playing the drums for the night, walking over and banging on a pair of conga drums that were set up adjacent to Scott’s drum throne.
As “Sunset Grille” wrapped up Will Hollis and Michael Thompson changed places. The lights came back up and the group performed “Heart of the Matter” which drew a very loud ovation from the audience. As the performance progressed, I noticed that many people in the audience were singing along with DH. I once read that this is one of the highest compliments an audience can pay to a performer, one which Henley would receive repeatedly as this performance continued.
At the conclusion of “Sunset Grille” Don did his first talking of the night. He stepped up to the microphone and said, “Now I am going to perform a song written by a couple of guys from Nashville. Wish me luck!” He began to sing “It Doesn’t matter to the Sun”, a Garth Brooks song that has also been covered by others. The guys from Nashville are Wayne Kirkpatrick, Gordon Scott Kennedy and Tommy L. Sims. Luck? He sang the song as though he had written it. I was a little surprised that at no point during the show did DH discuss his upcoming album. I thought that “It Doesn’t Matter to the Sun” might be a cover that would be on the much expected album but Mr. Henley wasn’t giving anything up.
At the conclusion of ”It Doesn’t Matter”, Hollis and Thompson switched back to their original places, Steuart Smith hoisted a Music Man Axis guitar, capo on the second fret and Don picked up the microphone and began to sing “Everything is Different Now”. It sounded great as Don sang it very soulfully with a lot of emotion springing from his unique voice.
Once again the lights went down and when they came back up Don was still at Center stage holding the mic, Lance Morrison had put down the five string Lakeland bass and picked up the Blue-green Music Man bass and Steuart Smith was now playing a Gibson 335 and DH began to sing “New York Minute”. The performance was flawless, sounding very much like the original recording. I couldn’t tell who was singing the high and low background vocals but they couldn’t have been more perfect.
At the conclusion of “New York Minute” once again the lights went down, when they came back up Steuart Smith was hoisting a Gibson acoustic guitar, and Don said, “This song is about the girl I didn’t get.” He then began to perform “Last Worthless Evening” once again being accompanied by flawless background vocals.
At the conclusion of “Last Worthless Evening” DH became quite chatty. He picked up the microphone and a tambourine and said, “I want to do a song by that ‘other’ group I play with.” This resulted in a thunderous round of applause. He continued,” There is a documentary about the forty years. We wanted to do it while we still remembered. It is going to be shown on Showtime February 15 and 16. It needs two nights, well, because it covers 40 years. But I have a problem that reminds me of Ricky Ricardo saying, “Lucy, you’ve got some ‘splaining to do.” I’m talking about having to explain things to my three teen age children…do as I say.”
The lights came up on the whole stage, Steuart was now playing a Music Man Silhouette as Don began to perform “One of These Nights” , which evoke a loud round of approving applause from the assembled multitude. Don’s voice hit all of the highs and as a personal observation I think his voice has improved with age.
Once again the lights went down as the instruments were changed out. When they came back up Pete Thorn was preparing to play a 12 string Taylor acoustic guitar while Steuart Smith was preparing to play a richly finished acoustic guitar (I am guessing it was also a Taylor). After a brief cue Michael Thompson began the familiar beginning to “End of the Innocence”, the performance of which was incredible in the way the sound of all the instruments were blended together.
Yet again the lights went down briefly and when they came back up Steuart was ready holding a Music Man Silhouette guitar, Pete had once again returned to the solid body Suhr and they performed a cover of the Tears for Fears song ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World”. I think Don suspected that, like me, many in the audience have heard him do this song before and were wondering why he never recorded it. If you have ever been fortunate enough to hear him do this song you would think that he wrote it or it was written for him. The backing music was fantastic, capturing almost all aspects of the original Tears for Fears recording. The crowd ate it up.
The lights went down again, this time when they came up Smith was holding a Gibson SG and Thorn was preparing a Gibson Les Paul as Don announce he would now perform a cover of Canadian singer and song writer, Leonard Cohen, the 1988 song “Everybody Knows That’s How It Goes”. This was the first time I had heard Don do this song and once again I couldn’t help but wonder if it might not make an appearance on his upcoming album. I guess we will have to wait and see on that one.
Once again the stage lights dimmed and when they came back up Don was center stage holding his copper color Fender Telecaster. Steuart Smith was holding a guitar that looked like a Rickenbacker but lacked the recognizable Rickenbacker logo. The band started the familiar guitar line that opens “Heart of the Matter” which drew an immediate response from the audience. Whatever Steuart Smith was playing he captured the unique tone of those guitar riffs perfectly.
Once again the lights went done and when they came back up Henley and Smith had hoisted Fender Telecasters and Pete Thorne was holding a Suhr with a body that closely resembled a telecaster and I knew what was next…”Boys of Summer”. I was surprised that guitar lines that are normally played by Steuart Smith in performances of this song I had seen in the past, tonight’s heavy lifting was done by Pete Thorne, a role he assumed like he had been doing it since this classic song first came out. Thorne and Smith keyed off one another as they performed the many guitar lines featured in this song. This performance was memorable because it was a little longer than the song normally is as at one point the two guitarists echoed each other’s solo lines. It was something to both hear and see.
Once again the lights went down and as Don approached center stage holding his Telecaster he could be heard saying, “It’s time to warm it up!” Steaut had hoisted a charcoal colored PRS. He played the slide guitar parts embellishing it with a wah-wah pedal. Lance Morrison had moved to the Bluish –green five string Music Man bass. The first familiar notes to “All She Wants to Do IS Dance”. He warmed it up all right. He got everyone on their feet dancing. He was gesturing to the crowd and said, “C’mon up!” This resulted in the aisles being filled with happy dancers, much to the chagrin of the security people in front of the stage. This single act temporarily put the camera Nazis out of business and I was able to get a few pictures unmolested by them.
As the lights went down various guitar techs and stage hands entered the stage area and set the players up for the next song. As the lights came up Pete Thorn struck up the familiar beginning to “Life in the Fast Lane” which surprised me because whenever I had seen it performed before these parts were always played by Steuart Smith of Joe Walsh. Thorn tackled it like he could do it in his sleep. His performance on this song was fantastic. This was Don Henley at his best, this performance in particular rivaling this same song as it is performed by the Eagles. Then again, with the presence of Will Hollis, Scott Crago, Michael Thompson and Steuart Smith this was almost like a mini Eagles concert. By now it was 10:46 PM. AT the conclusion of Fast Lane Don walked up to the mic, simply said, “Thank you!” and the band left the stage to a thunderous standing ovation.
The players were off the stage for two minutes, returning at 10:48 for an encore. The lights had not yet come up but I knew what was coming next. I could see Steuart Smith preparing the double necked white Music Man Silhouette guitar which I knew meant “Hotel California” would be the next number on the set list. I did some reading –up on that guitar. One of the Steuart Smith bios read said that that guitar is one of two in existence. It is unusual in that the twelve string neck is the lower one, this design being favored by Smith as he tends to hold the guitar higher than other players (Wikipedia).
Sure enough, he struck up the familiar opening verse and he was joined by Thorn on a black Les Paul and each performed the guitar parts flawlessly. As each part came in the respective performer was illuminated by a spotlight until the guitarists were joined by the rest of the band at which point the whole stage was lit up. As the band performed the song the audience was loudly singing along once again paying homage to the performers. During the performance of this song Don would again play the conga drums. The performance concluded to a deafening ovation which the performers eagerly acknowledged.
After a couple of minutes I heard Michael Thompson play the beginning to “Desperado” and being a long time fan of the Eagles and Don Henley, I knew this would be it for the night. Once again the audience sang along loudly with Mr. Henley and he loved every minute of it, his serious expression occasionally giving way to a smile…he couldn’t help it. You could tell he was very satisfied with the evening’s performance because he knew he had left the crowd wanting more. The group finished the song and waved as they departed the stage. It was 10:58 PM. For extra dramatic effect the stage crew waited a minute before they brought the lights back up and there was a little groan as this happened for the assembled multitude knew the show was over.
Then there were a couple of surprises. Almost immediately as the show ended Michael Thompson left the stage and approached some people he knew in attendance. I approached him and asked if he would let me take a picture of him and Tiffany Twisted. He smiled and said he would be glad to. He then signed her jacket to “Long Road Out of Eden” CD.
Next, as we were trying to locate a couple of other “Border “members I walked into the wrong bar and walked right up to Lance Morrison and Pete Thorn who were sitting there having a drink and conversing. I approached them and once again asked if they would allow me to photograph TT in their company. They could not have been nicer, accommodating TT and myself, both gentlemen answering some questions I had which greatly helped with the writing of this review.
The other Border members present were Henley Honey, who was accompanied by her other half, who for the sake of this review we shall call him Henley’s Honey’s Honey (does that make sense?). Virginia is for Eagles Lovers, Dreamer and TT. Earlier in the evening I also met Witchy Woman. I have no doubt a splendid time was had by all.
The Set List:
Dirty Laundry
Long Run
Sunset Grille
It Doesn’t Matter to the Sun
Everything is Different Now
New York Minute
Last Worthless Evening
One of These Nights
End of the Innocence
Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Everybody Knows That’s How It Goes
Heart of the Matter
Boys of Summer
All She Wants To Do Is Dance
Life in the Fast Lane
Encore
Hotel California
Desperado
The Players:
Don Henley – guitar, lead vocals, percussion (congas and tambourine)
Pete Thorn – guitar, background vocals
Will Hollis – keyboards, background vocals
Lance Morrison - bass guitar, background vocals
Scott Crago – drums, percussion, background vocals
Michael Thompson- keyboards and background vocals
Steuart Smith-guitars and background vocals
I did manage to get a few good pictures and I will be posting them shortly...