Cherokee Creek Music Festival, Cherokee, TX - May 16, 2015

[VAisForEagleLovers]

There has been nothing on Twitter during Don's performance! I guess the 'rules' are being strongly enforced, or else every cell phone tower in the area stopped working.

I opened this thread so that those who are there and using a phone or tablet to post a review will have an easier time of it.

[shunlvswx]

Found something, but its very short.

https://instagram.com/p/2xMvGWuSxx/

[Houston Baby]

We have made it safely back to our lodging in San Saba. The concert was TOTALLY amazing, UNBELIEVABLE!! Don was super chatty, in a wonderful mood, and don't even get me started on how brilliant blue his eyes are. Nancy and I were in the front row of chairs; however, we got up and stood right in front of Don along with everyone else. I have never been so close to him. He was wearing a gray/green plaid shirt over a gray henley. And he looked so good in his black jeans. His hair looks slightly lighter with a touch of gray and he still has his short beard/goatee.

~ This is Nancy now; I decided to type while HB finishes her dinner, but we are doing it together ~

He was joined onstage by Will Hollis, who also had a beard; Michael Thompson, whose hair was shorn; Steuart Smith, and Scott Crago. I don't remember the name of the others; besides the bass player and other lead guitarist, there were two young female backup singers. They looked to be late teens / early twenties maybe.

Note: We might be remembering what he said out of order. It gets a little jumbled together. However, we nabbed setlists so the song order is right!

Don started with an energetic Dirty Laundry. Afterwards, he talked about how he'd written that in 1982 but the media had only gotten worse since.

I thought Don would tell everyone to sit down like he usually does, but he didn't say a word! We already knew from earlier announcements that there would be no photos, videos, or cell phone cameras allowed, but he reminded us that he hoped we would watch the concert with our eyes. He joked that he had once played a show with Bruce Springsteen and when someone had asked Bruce if they could record it, Bruce replied that he didn't want it recorded so that they could remember it as better than it was.

He added that the show wasn't that good anyway - it was in Beverly Hills! Don winked at all the Texans hooting that we were better than those Beverly Hills folks. The weather turned out to be much more moderate than we feared. In fact, it was really nice for most of the day. Don remarked that he hadn't seen the Texas hill country look so "beautiful" in years - that rain was good.

He said that while he never liked Andy Warhol's work, he thought Warhol had said some interesting things, including that everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. He spent a few minutes talking about how mediums like Facebook, YouTube, instagram and other social media had enabled people to have their 15 minutes for nothing. He listed a few examples - famous for nothing, famous for being famous, etc. He joked that nowadays, all you had to do was make a sex tape and you'd be famous. He also joked that he was glad there hadn't been TMZ and social media in the 70s, or he would have been in trouble.

This discussion led directly into Everybody's Famous, a song along these lines written Jeff Foucault. Playing up to the local crowd, Don joked that Jeff was from the north, but that it was "alright because he knows how to fly fish." Don has done the song live before. He said he thought it was "very interesting" and that he planned to record his own version of it one day. I liked it.

After that, he said something like "My next song is about someone who's famous for making a hamburger" and laughed that he found that to be very admirable! The song was Sunset Grill. A great performance.

He then introduced Witchy Woman by pointing out that although it was the second single from the Eagles LP, it was the highest charting one. He said, "Take It Easy only made it to 12. Witchy Woman went to 7. It's not important now, but it was then." He grinned at that. Fantastic job on the song!

After that ended, he asked if anyone was from New York. A couple people hollered that they were. He responded with a smile that he would refrain from making jokes about New York then. He jumped into New York Minute and his voice actually sounded a bit hoarse in a couple parts, but it didn't interfere with the power of the song.

When introducing Last Worthless Evening, he said it was a song about a party he'd gone to in Beverly Hills. Then, he paused, and said, "I'm not going to tell that story. I'm just going to skip it and do the song." I don't know why he did that - perhaps because he'd already dissed Beverly Hills lol - but the song was gorgeous.

The mics got switched around and Stu, Will, Michael, the other guitarist, and the two backup singers joined Don at the front of the stage. Don said, "This is a song my other band used to sing, but now they can't hold their breath long enough" (or something like that). The song: Seven Bridges Road. HB was excited to hear it. I couldn't help but compare it to the version I'd heard the Eagles do.... but hey, it was still done well. Don positioned and directed everyone. It was cute.

Here's where I about fell over... Don said that he'd written the next song with fellow Texan JD Souther, who'd just released an album Tenderness we should check out. Since they'd co-written several, I didn't know which it would be... to my astonishment and delight, it was my favorite Don Henley song ever, Talking to the Moon. As soon as that beautiful piano began, I gasped - absolutely thrilled - and the lady next to me asked me, "Are you excited?" I barely managed "yes" before he began. AMAZING. SO AMAZING. WORDS CANNOT SAY... LOVE!!! I feel privileged to have been there to see him do it. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Next: the sexy One of These Nights. I was reminded of our Survivor. He definitely sang it passionately.

The next song was End of the Innocence, which he introduced as written by Bruce Hornsby. Absolutely beautiful.

Without preamble, he went into Everybody Wants to Rule the World. A few people seemed surprised he was covering it (as I was when I first heard him do it back in 2005) but he rocked it! He joked afterwards, "No, I didn't do that song. That was a Tears for Fears song" because some people seemed confused, lol.

He was doing less talking now - I guess he figured he needed to get a move on - because he headed right into the lovely Heart of the Matter next. He made the unusual move of going high on "I'm learning to live without you now" as it is on the record; typically, when he sings it live, he plays it safe and keeps the vocal lower. I really enjoyed hearing it the original way.

No intro to this next one either, but I recognized it. Not sure how many other people did, though, because it's rather obscure: Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat. I'm not sure if he's played it live before - but it's late, maybe he has and I just don't remember! He had a lot of fun with it, though! He really seemed to enjoy singing it.

Next: the iconic Boys of Summer, which he hit out of the park.

All She Wants to Do Is Dance rocked the house, as many of us were acting it out by gettin' down!

Time for the final song before the encore: Life in the Fast Lane. "Are you with me so far?" Heck yeah!

Technically, the next two songs were the encore, but Don laughed and said something like "We're not going to go walk off the stage and have you all call us back. We're just going to stay here and play the rest of the songs." We all applauded. I agree with him there - it does seem kind of silly to pretend you're finished when you know full well you're not!

As soon as Stu got out the doubleneck, people knew what was coming and started to cheer. As always, Hotel California thrilled the crowds!

The end came all too soon: Desperado. He did his typical moves of holding out the mic to us to sing "let somebody love you" towards the end and holding the "loooooooooooooooooove" out a long time at the very end. The crowd went wild!

Afterwards, Don thanked everyone and said that "his other band is coming to a theater near you" next week. He remarked that he'd loved playing this setting and that "it doesn't get any better than this."

Finally, he smiled slyly and told the crowd, "You can sit down now." With that, he turned and left! Hilarious!!

I have to say, I think this is the best Don Henley show I've seen in years, maybe even ever. It makes us even more excited about the show Tuesday!

[Houston Baby]

BTW, there was not any mention of the new LP.

[Glennsallnighter]

Sounds like a brilliant night, and some of his best songs. Glad you all had such a good evening. He sounds in great form too. But I'm sorry there's no news on the Album front. Enjoy the build up to Tuesday night!!!!

[DivineDon]

Thanks ladies that was awesome! I think I'm even more in love with Don then I was before your review and I didn't think THAT was possible. ...he sounded soooo cute ♥♥♥

[Funk 50]

Fabulous review!


Thanks ladies

This discussion led directly into Everybody's Famous... Don has done the song live before. He said he thought it was "very interesting" and that he planned to record his own version of it one day. I liked it.

I find it inconceivable that Don hasn't recorded any of the wonderful covers, he's done over the years. He, and his band members must, at least, want to listen back to the tracks to see what they sound like before playing them in front of an audience.

I know Don's not the type to release a career anthology with outtakes and demos but I'd love to hear a collection of his countless unreleased live covers.

[L101]

Thanks Soda and HB, that was an amazing review!!

It sounded like such a brilliant night especially since you were standing so close to Don in such an intimate and small setting
Don't know how I would have coped standing so close to him

I'm glad he sang all his best songs especially 'Talking to the moon' but by his leaving out 'It don't matter to the sun' makes me hope that he has finally recorded it and its on the new album !!

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Awesome review, ladies, and thank you so much for taking the time to post it right away. It sounds like a great show! I'm so glad the weather cooperated.

I'm so glad it went well and that everyone enjoyed themselves, especially Don!

[Funk 50]

He then introduced Witchy Woman by pointing out that although it was the second single from the Eagles LP, it was the highest charting one. He said, "Take It Easy only made it to 12. Witchy Woman went to 7. It's not important now, but it was then." He grinned at that. Fantastic job on the song!

I forgot to ask Houston Baby. Which version of Witchy Woman did Don perform?

The "wind" issues Don mentions when introducing Seven Bridges Road may also partly explain the new HOTE version of Witchy Woman.