Don Henley in Berkeley, CA - July 23, 2016

[FWIW]

Very excited for the show later today! As far as souvenirs, I always go for the t-shirts.

I got an email with show information. It said there is no opening act tonight; Don will start playing promptly at 8pm. Yay! It also said there is no photography permitted, but I hope Don relents and let's snap away during HC as he has done with his earlier shows.

[sodascouts]

Eh, I don't typically go for people shouting stuff. Even if one person shouts something funny or clever, it'll encourage the people who think screaming "I LOVE YOU DON" repeatedly during quiet moments is a good idea.

With merchandise, I always buy a T-shirt with the tour dates on it for a souvenir. Typically, T-shirts are $40 now (ouch). I'm an American size 8 and a medium fits fine. I always buy a mug as well (typically $15-$20). If they have a tourbook, I'll always get that, but they don't seem to do that anymore.

Then, if I have some money left over, I see if they have anything else really cute that I want to buy. They often sell hoodies (more expensive than the T-shirts), bags, hats, and other types of merch. Since the T-shirts with the tour dates are not always very cute or flattering, I will typically buy a second T-shirt that I think will look better on me. I didn't buy any of Joe Walsh's "JOE WALSH TOOR" shirts because I am an English professor and would be embarrassed to wear that misspelling across my chest, joke or not. The last time Don visited, I got a cute ladies' T-shirt WITH tour dates, a rarity that I immediately seized upon!

I don't know if you want to go as crazy as I did, but I love "practical" tour merch like clothes and mugs that I'll be able to use 'til I wear them out, and every time I do, I think of good times.

PS No opening act - you lucky ducks! lol

[RudieCantFail]

Thank you JCL, TLR, DD, FWIW, and SodaScouts for giving me some heads up about merchandise and the info about the lack of an opening act.

[FWIW]

Just a quick update to say that the concert was wonderful! Don was in fine voice and seemed to be in great spirits. I plan to post a more detailed review a bit later, after I get some sleep!

[RudieCantFail]

Yep, I definitely agree w/ FWIW. It was great, and Don's voice was wonderful. I was a little worried, since I saw a couple videos of him singing in the UK portion of the tour. I just thought he didn't sound as rich, but I just think audio/video recordings don't do him the same justice for compression or whatever magical audio recording reasons that happen in phone mics. With my own ears, it was great and sounded way better than the video. I recorded audio of about 1 hr 48 min of the concert, so Don would probably be ashamed of me. I re-listened to it in the car ride home, and it just doesn't sound as good for some reason.

[eagles557]

Hi Rudie,
Would you mind uploading your audio of the concert? I would love to hear it.
Thanks!