Don Henley w/ JD and the Straight Shot at Xcel Energy Center, St Paul (18 June 2017)

Father’s Day evening in the Twin Cities was made even better, with an appearance from one of the musical fathers of The Eagles—

That band‚Äôs co-founder and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Don Henley played the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, with a two-hour set of music that covered his more than forty-two years in the music business. 

The challenging task of introducing yourself and your music to an audience that was mostly unaware of them was given to openers JD and the Straight Shot, an Americana blues and roots rock group, out in support of their fifth studio album, Ballyhoo!, which was self-released in 2016.

The group is led by guitarist/vocalist Jim Dolan and filled with seasoned musicians (featuring Byron House [Robert Plant, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton] on upright bass; Erin Slaver [Martina McBride, Rod Stewart] on fiddle/violin and Marc Copely [B.B. King, Rosanne Cash] on guitars) and rose to that challenge by huddling close to each other and made the cavernous arena, seem like a small barn for their intimate 45min. set. 

Performing as an acoustic six-piece live, the group eased into their set with opening number, ‚ÄòGlide‚Äô, with Dolan‚Äôs noteworthy raspy vocals sounding like a mix of Randy Newman, Tom Waits, and Dr. John.  Several songs played could also be heard in films, such as ‚ÄòPerdition‚Äô (from Janie‚Äôs Got a Gun) and ‚ÄòViolet‚Äôs Song‚Äô (from August: Osage County). With the title track to the Ballyhoo! album, Dolan donned a tall hat and burgundy coat, looking like a New Orleans medicine man with the band grooving accordingly and they even worked in snippets of ‚ÄòPaint it Black‚Äô and ‚ÄòWhole Lotta Love‚Äô into their own ‚ÄòLet it Roll‚Äô toward the end. 

It was only after the lights came up, could you see several radios of all vintages, suspended from the ceiling over the stage.  Lights again darkened and the spotlights shone on each of the radios (maybe 42 in all?) as an audio portion was played to give the audience a history lesson of events or music of the times from the post-war era onward.  Then, the stage shone bright as Don Henley and band appeared and began acapella, singing ‚ÄòSeven Bridges Road‚Äô at the front of the stage. 

Henley is still out in support of his country-tinged album, Cass County (Past Masters Holdings/Capitol Records), though the night was also a musical celebration of his forty-two years as a musician. While he did play a handful of the newer songs, Henley thankfully chose not to ‚Äúover countri-fy‚Äù any of his earlier classics and most were played as people were familiar with. 

And like previous shows on the tour (including last fall at the State Fair), Henley insisted on no audience cameras whatsoever (thus, our stock photos), with security chasing and shoulder-tapping anyone with a cellphone in the air, trying to get a quick still frame or shoot quick video.

‚ÄúAs you can see, I brought a few people with me‚Äù Henley and his dry wit quipped after ‚ÄòSunset Grill‚Äô , referring to the whopping fifteen people on stage with him, including a five piece horn section and crack band including drummer Scott Crago and guitarist Steurt Smith (who The Eagles hired to replace Don Felder in 2001). 

Politics were largely on the backburner for the evening, though there were a few indirect references and Henley seemed to sing again-poignant songs like ‚ÄòThe End of the Innocence‚Äô with a little extra vigor. 

Henley recognized that Minnesota had a Cass County (one of nine states to have one), and the new songs often featured one of the three backup singers, who each held their own vocally, against his signature tenor.  ‚ÄòWitchy Woman‚Äô was a new arrangement of the 1972 Eagles song, ‚Äúthe way we should have done it in the first place‚Äù Henley said, and The Eagles‚Äô ‚ÄòPeaceful Easy Feeling‚Äô was dedicated to Glenn Frey, who performed the unmissable lead vocals on the recorded hit.

One of the musical highlights of the night was 1976‚Äôs ‚ÄòThe Last Resort‚Äô, the closing track on the Hotel California album that was rarely played live, due to the complexity the song required to be performed- ‚ÄúI have the personnel now‚Äù, Henley said.  ‚ÄúWe‚Äôve been doing this song for therapy‚Äù, Henley said, introducing his faithful cover of Tears for Fears‚Äô ‚ÄòEverybody Wants to Rule the World‚Äô, a song we heard the original duo play in this very building, just a month before. 

After a rolling ‘Boys of Summer’, Henley split the five-song encore, beginning it with an amped-up ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ which featured a stirring dueling guitar solo. Though known as The Eagles’ drummer, Henley never sat behind the kit this evening, but occasionally banged on the basic snare/cymbals set-up, next to the drums.

The newer Eagles song ‚ÄòWasted Time‚Äô became a male-female duet with backup singer Lara Johnston, the chorus of ‚ÄòDesperado‚Äô sounded like a church choir with the combined power of the band and audience voices, and ‚ÄòAll She Wants to Do Is Dance‚Äô gave everyone one last chance to move about after some two hours. 

Though his stage presence wasn‚Äôt that much to take in, Don Henley succeeded on the sheer magnitude of the band‚Äôs technical sharpness and all those familiar songs everyone knows by heart, destined to still have airplay, for decades to come. Realizing that the songs are why the people keep coming out and anchoring his show with so many classics, this musical father knows best.