Wow! Is all I can say about Don Henley's performance April 19th in Tucson, AZ!
It was the last date of the Inside Job Tour that ran the last 2 years.

We arrived at 3 pm, the concert started at 8 pm! We were hanging around the venue, and at 4:28, here comes Don in his tour bus. Two minutes later, we hear the beginning of his soundcheck! We were in the right place at the right time!

The stage was not the same as in the first Phoenix show; only a red curtain was draped on the back of the stage. Don went through 5 songs during the soundcheck and it lasted 45 minutes.(He did The Genie, but did not do it during the show). We did hear Don ask the band, "are we ready for Vegas?".(Referring to the Tiger Woods benefit he was playing April 20th). We were getting excited for the show!

Don came out at 8:45, after a short set by the opening act, Jill Sobule. Don was wearing the same blue jeans as he wore in the soundcheck, but had changed into a brown silk shirt over a white t-shirt. He looked very fit, and his hair was slicked back, pretty short! We had 4th row, center seats, so it was perfect viewing!

Don comes out, guitar in hand, and starts playing Dirty Laundry, and to his surprise, no one moved! We jumped up, cheered, started dancing and we were the only ones on our feet! Granted the nearly sold out audience was older, of course, but still no excuse to stay in your seats! It was noticed by Don, too. He looked around and probably thought he was in for a long night! It turns out it took over one hour into the show before everyone decided to have some fun, get on their feet, and start dancing! (This was after Don said, "C'mon, get up!" for Life In the Fastlane!)

Don's voice was impeccable, the best I have ever heard him sing!(I have seen him solo 3 times) He pulled out all the stops, hitting higher notes than you could've imagined, and stretching them out! He was letter-perfect on every song. There was absolutely no strain in his voice, it was very strong. He had a "gleam" in his eyes, too! He seemed to be truly enjoying himself, reaching for the limits on every song! Amazing, as he was not getting the feedback from the audience he definately deserved! He was in rare form, waving to the girls in the second row, doing a lot more talking than usual, joking around, making faces during the songs. He truly looked like he was having fun! At one point, he stopped the show for a minute, came back wearing a brown suede jacket, saying "this will be the only costume change, this isn't a Cher concert!" He laughed and everyone else did, too!

The best part, of course, was the music!
Don played 2 hours, nonstop and did the usual songs and a few he did not do in the Phoenix show.

The lack of Eagles' songs in the first half of the show was definately noted. It seems Don was saying this is a Henley concert, not an Eagles' concert. The crowd did not get up and dance until Life In The Fastlane. Speaking of the Eagles' songs. Yes, Don was perfect, as usual, but the backing vocals were DEFINATELY not the same! Gone was the all-male backup singers and the horn section that was with the first part of the tour. Hotel California was the regular version, not the Salsa version as in Phoenix!

Don introduced the band. I did not recognize anyone, but here is the band. Stuart Smith, Mike Thompson, Richie Garcia, Rob Led, Lance Morrison, Will Hollis and Frank Simes. (I apologize if I've misspelled any names, I was writing as fast as I could!) We realized we would soon be seeing Stuart Smith with the Eagles!

Don did mention, (with a big smile) after his last bow, "Oh! BTW, The Eagles are on tour this summer!" (The gleam was in his eyes as he said this!) He waved and walked off the stage and it was over!

It was a great show, (made even more wonderful by sharing it with someone special!) It left us wanting more! We are anxiously waiting for the Eagles' show in Albuquerque!