Gig review: Don Henley, Glasgow
It had been a difficult year, said Don Henley, with a dignified economy of expression. In January, his Eagles bandmate Glenn Frey passed away, closing the book on this country rock supergroup, probably for good.
Don Henley | Hydro, Glasgow | Rating ***
Perhaps this was why Henley sought intimacy over power in the vast Hydro, urging the audience to “be here now” rather than experience the gig through a mobile phone screen, remembering his mother’s family and gathering his musical family around him in a semi-circle for a number of campfire harmony singarounds.
These stripped-back moments carried the most poignancy, even if the crowd favoured the rockier numbers such as Dirty Laundry. The massed singalongs continued with the inevitable airing of Hotel California. Henley’s last thought, however, was with Frey, endowing Desperado with extra pathos.