Don Henley. Blue Hills Bank Pavilion. September 20, 2016

With one of the most distinctive voices in music, Don Henley clearly brought his "A" game to the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion on Monday night. There are other artists of his generation touring today that seem to think simply showing up is enough to satisfy an audience ("cough cough," looking at you Paul Simon). Thankfully that wasn't the route chosen by Mr. Henley. With a large backing band and a powerful trio of backup singers Henley tackled over 40 years of music (both his solo work and from the Eagles catalog) in a long (2+ hours) set that was pretty amazing in its breadth.

Touring to support his latest album "Cass Country" (released a year ago) Henley occasionally dipped into the new album. Songs like "When I Stop Dreaming" (with Dolly Parton on the album) fit nicely within his overarching catalog. Not too distinct or jarring when following the Eagles song "The Last Resort." Live, Erica Swindell steps in for Dolly and does a pretty fantastic job of it. Not easy shoes to fill. Each of his backup singers step in for the guest singers on the album as it is mostly duets. One of Don Henley's strengths throughout his career has been his ability to harmonize and he did it several times during the performance. It was nice to see him let the other singers have a bit of a spotlight.

If you were going to see Henley just for the Eagles songs you were not to be disappointed. It was pretty much a greatest hits performance. Yes, he does do "Hotel California." I'm sure there would have been rioting had he not. But the strongest spots in the set were his own compositions. I was happy he included "Dirty Laundry" from his first album "I Can't Stand Still." I still find it one of the more clever of his cultural critiques. But it was the songs from both "Building the Perfect Beast" and "The End of the Innocence" that had particular resonance. Perhaps I've simply aged into the music but, as his voice has gotten more gravely with age, there seemed to be added pathos to the songs of that era. He sadly did not do "All She Wants to do is Dance" but we did get "Desperado" as a closer which, while a bit of a downer, is an excellent way to finish.

There have been a bunch of "rockers" from the classical 70s era hitting the road lately and Don Henley is amongst the best. As I've mentioned, with the aging of his voice the songs definitely come across as more emotional (shocking considering that both the Eagles and Henley himself were once emblematic of corporate rock). The one misfire of the evening was his cover of Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Although timely (and dedicated to Trump) it isn't quite the right song for his vocal range. It was a bit odd. But even in his worse moments Don Henley is better than most performers out there.

For more on Don Henley, visit his website.