Don Henley with JD & The Straight Shot
Budweiser Stage
Toronto, Ontario
June 13, 2017
Former Eagles drummer/vocalist Don Henley landed at Budweiser Stage for a night of nostalgia June 13th. But not before JD & The Straight Shot started the night off with a nine-song set that lasted nearly 45 minutes.
JD & The Straight Shot, a country blues and roots rock band based out of New York City, is led by frontman/guitarist (and New York Knicks owner) James L. Dolan. The band got underway with Glide, the first of five songs off 2016’s Ballyhoo! album. The band also played a couple of new tunes and two covers, Spirit‘s Nature’s Way and Little Feats‘ Let It Roll, which ended their time on stage.
JD & The Straight Shot also includes bassist Byron House (Robert Plant, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton), violinist/fiddler Erin Slaver (Martina McBride, Rod Stewart) and guitarist Marc Copely (B.B. King, Rosanne Cash) along with Saturday Night Live Band drummer Shawn Pelton (Sheryl Crow, Levon Helm, Billy Joel) and Dolan’s son Aidan.
JD & The Straight Shot was a wonderful complement to Don Henley. The band sounded fantastic and I was happy to finally see them and hear them live. But it wasn’t enough as they have a lot more material they could have played (they have been around since 2005 and have multiple album releases). I hope they do come around again so we can hear more of what they have to offer.
It wasn’t too long until Henley and his band came out onto the stage and got their show rolling with Seven Bridges Road – all sung in harmony.
It was a night of hit songs as Henley dug deep into his repertoire playing a great mix of Eagles‘ material, solo material and he even threw in a few covers including the 80’s hit Everybody Wants To Rule the World by Tears For Fears – a song Henley called “therapeutic” and got most of the crowd up on their feet dancing and singing along.
About halfway through the show Henley dedicated Peaceful Easy Feeling to his “lost brother” and Eagles bandmate Glenn Frey who passed away in January 2016 at age 67.
The main set also included such songs as Dirty Laundry, Sunset Grill, Witchy Woman, New York Minute, One of These Nights,The End of the Innocence, The Heart of the Matter and ended with The Boys of Summer off his 1984 solo album Building the Perfect Beast. Two songs off his latest album, Cass County (2015) were also played – That Old Flame and When I Stop Dreaming.
After leaving the stage briefly, Henley and his band back came out to play the first of three encores! For the first encore they played Life in the Fast Lane and Hotel California. After leaving the stage for a third time, the band returned and performed Wasted Time and Desperado as their second encore.
And I thought that would be it, as did many others. Before going to Budweiser Stage, I had looked up recent shows Henley played and saw he had only been doing two encores. But to the surprise and excitement of myself and fans, Don Henley and his band came out one last time for a great rendition of All She Wants to Do Is Dance – also from Building the Perfect Beast. It was after this third encore that Henley’s two-plus hours on stage finally came to an end for the night.
It was a fun and enjoyable concert – compliments of JD & The Straight Shot and the legendary, Don Henley. I highly recommend seeing this show if they land into a venue near you!
JD & The Straight Shot Setlist:
Glide
Redemption Train
Nature’s Way (Spirit cover)
Perdition
Violet’s Song
Moonlight
Ballyhoo
Better Find a Church
Let It Roll (Little Feat cover)
Don Henley Setlist:
Seven Bridges Road (Steve Young cover)
Dirty Laundry
Sunset Grill
That Old Flame
Witchy Woman (Eagles song)
When I Stop Dreaming (The Louvin Brothers cover)
New York Minute
One of These Nights (Eagles song)
It Don’t Matter to the Sun (Garth Brooks cover)
Peaceful Easy Feeling (Eagles song)
The End of the Innocence
The Last Resort (Eagles song)
The Heart of the Matter
Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears cover)
The Boys of Summer
Encore 1:
Life in the Fast Lane (Eagles song)
Hotel California (Eagles song)
Encore 2:
Wasted Time (Eagles song)
Desperado (Eagles song)
Encore 3:
All She Wants to Do Is Dance
All photos by Joel Naphin
©2017. Please DO NOT copy or use without permission.
JD & The Straight Shot:
Don Henley:
