Calgary, AB

Don Henley will be appearing in Calgary, Alberta on August 9th. Ticketmaster is handling the tickets for this show. If you will be going to the show or have questions about the show, hit the comments button below and add a message.

Comments

[Tanook]

I was waiting with finger on the button for 1 p.m. today to order my VIP Package! Can't wait! I have never seen the Eagles or Don in concert so when I saw the package, I couldn't help myself! It will be sooooo worth it! Quite a chunk of change in US $ compared to Canadian $ but I would have kicked myself in the butt if I didn't take the opportunity to meet him!

Hopefully I will be seated somewhere in the middle of the row near centre stage! Will have to see....

Just hoping the Eagles return here to play in the next couple of years! THAT IS MY ULTIMATE DREAM CONCERT!!

[Tanook]

Well, posting this review at 12:30 a.m. as just got settled back home. Want to try to give you a taste of Henley in Canada...

I did the meet and greet through ILOVEALLACCESS and it was absolutely wonderful. Don was a wee bit late coming to us so his assistant Tony, came in and gave us an update. Don was not feeling very well (very sore throat) due to being on tour almost continuously, performing over the last 7 days (5 shows). Not to mention the temperature changes which affect him too. It was rather cool here over the last three days and he had just left an area where the temperature was in the high 70's the night before and coming here to in the mid 50's. At one point, he asked someone what date it was...saying "I forget, they all seem to blend together nowadays".

He was still very gracious and appreciated everyone coming to see him. He was very accommodating and signed everything everyone brought. I brought a copy of the newest Waldon book for him to sign, which he seemed very pleased to see. I also brought him a carved leather guitar strap for that famous "tele" (telecaster guitar) that he plays (not assuming he would put it on it) The strap has a story hand tooled into the leather going all the way along and he looked at it and said "looks like something to do with the desert" and I said he was right and that I put the explanation of the story behind the design in an envelope for him that I gave him. He smiled and thanked me and said he would check it out. The story behind the strap is one of a mystical little musician common to the Southwest American desert who goes from village to village playing his instrument and entertaining the people. Apparently this little fellow is still revered by the native American people of this area today. I saw this strap and the story behind it and it struck me as the same thing Don is doing this summer, so I had to give it to him as a belated birthday gift. I also gave him a letter explaining how his music has affected my life in so many ways.

Now the show, all I can say is WOW! For having an extremely sore throat, he hit those top notes pretty dead on but you could tell - IT HURT! He went through the whole set and two encores - although I highly expected him to cut one encore out due to his throat but he trooped on and did everything! You could tell on the lower notes that his throat was really tender as he faded on some notes but the backup band was really great to help him out. I was totally impressed with his professionalism on giving it everything he had to put on a GREAT SHOW! I would have understood in his condition. I asked him if he would head to Alaska right away and he said his daughters were coming up to Alaska and they were going to go fishing. He was leaving tomorrow to head there. Hopefully, a few days rest and recuperation will help his health. At the end of our time with him, he posed for a photo with each person and sometimes had it taken a couple of times because he was sucking a throat lozenge and the he felt the picture wasn't right. One girl wanted him to sign her pass and laid her chest on the table for the pass to lay down and he just kind of backed away from her and signed it quickly..everybody was kind of shocked at her and she looked up and she said "shush, we are bonding," to which Don replied "yeah, to the table!". I did ask if I could give him a hug and he said , "of course" and that was very sweet of him. I did get to put my arm around him during the picture. He seemed genuinely happy to meet everybody there even though you could tell he was not well.

He did all the political statements tonight - Rupert Murdoch, Bush and Cheney, and received rounds of applause from the crowd...he seemed pleased that the Canadians seem to feel the same way about the Bush Administration as he does. He said, "Well, I'm getting a better welcome here than I did down in the States" The crowd applauded again for his efforts. He did not mention Linda Ronstadt at all tonight but really did not have to. He said if someone did object, " they could throw their drinks in the air and have him escorted from the building"...which did get another round of applause. I think he really appreciated the fact that he met a crowd that did not object to his opinions being stated. I heard not one boo all night during his statements - only applause in agreement. He also told the story about the Sunset Grill and Witchy Woman and paid tribute to his good friend Randy Newman, as well as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sam Moore. When people recognized those names and applauded, he smiled and seemed happy we knew about them, unlike some places in the states where he didn't get a response at all or very little.

At the end of the second encore, he thanked everyone for coming and told us to take care driving home tonight and take care of each other. The band was very gracious too and sounded amazing. Frank Simes outdid himself tonight and Steuart Smith was outstanding. Scott Crago on drums was a monster and Will Hollis and Michael Thompson on keyboards were exceptional. All in all, an outstanding performance and well worth the VIP money I shelled out for the experience.

The Set List:

Dirty Laundry
Everything Is Different Now
Sunset Grill
Everybody Knows (OPS)(did a great job on it too)
Witchy Woman
New York Minute
Last Worthless Evening
You Must Not Be Drinking Enough
Political Science (OPS) (nailed that too)
Heart Of The Matter
Boys of Summer
Life In The Fast Lane
All She Wants To Do Is Dance

ENCORE 1

End Of The Innocence
I Will Not Go Quietly

ENCORE 2

Hotel California
Desperado
Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Awesome Rendition of this too!)

My only hope now is that the Eagles have their meeting in January and decide to keep going...I did tell Don to come back soon and if those other three guys want to tag along, that would be ok too..to which he chuckled and said "oh yeah, ok". Here's hoping I will get the see them soon.

[Kenny]

I drove down from Edmonton to see Don Henley. It was an awesome show! I thought New York Minute, End of the Innocence, the "Drinking" song and Everybody Wants to Rule the World were hi-lights. Mind you, it was all great. You would never know that he was suffering from a sore throat. The band was excellent and the crowd was into it! Hope he makes it up to the City of Champions soon.