The sold-out crowd at Mountain Winery roared when Eagles frontman Don Henley took the stage in an ironed plaid shirt Wednesday night. Henley got through “Dirty Laundry” and “Sunset Grill” with the help of a full bandtrumpet, sax, and trombone players, two back-up singers, two keyboardists, and three guitaristsbefore addressing the audience and the freakishly warm Saratoga night. “We’ve a lively bunch, aren’t we?” the 64-year-old said to the cheering crowd.
We all know the guy can singthe Eagles aren’t one of the best-selling American bands of all time for nothingbut he’s also quite charming and hilarious. He told a story about being turned down by a hot blonde and getting made fun of by Jack Nicholson at one of those “legendary and highly overrated Hollywood parties” back in the ’80s, said he burns “corn liquor” in his pickup truck in Texas, then advised getting naked on the Internet if you want to become famous.
The guy could do no wrong. The crowd ate up all his jokes and he seemed to be getting standing ovations at the end of every song. His biggest hits garnered the most applause, of course: “New York Minute,” “Last Worthless Evening,” “End of the Innocence,” and “All She Wants to Do is Dance.”
With a raspy, powerful voice like his, the song choice hardly mattered though. He played a few more upbeat, lesser-known songs and covers toward the end of the set, and though they weren’t as popular as his ballads, hardly anyone left their seat. The ushers danced in the aisles and there didn’t seem to be any good time for a bathroom break.
At the end of “Everything is Different Now,” a song about getting married, Henley and the seven other musician onstage all sang together, filling the entire venue with sound. If you weren’t watching, you would have thought a choir of 25 was pumping out the vocals from backstage.
By the time Henley got to “Boys of Summer,” the entire audience was on their feet. It felt like a giant sing-a-long. And he hadn’t even sang any Eagles songs at this point. But he no doubt feels obligated to play at least a few, even though he’s maintained a successful solo career for three decades now. So he ended the 2-hour set with “Life in the Fast Lane,” and predictably selected “Hotel California” and “Desperado” for the encore.
Some dude on the main floor tried to beat Henley to the punch and awkwardly warbled “Desperadoooooooo!” during the two seconds of silence between the start of the piano and the first verse, but Henley brushed it off. He’s probably seen and heard it all over his 40-year career in music, which he thanked the crowd for as he left the stage.
