Don Henley at the Mountain Winery

He was with me on my old car radio some 30 years ago, cruising through hot, Indiana, summer nights with the window down, singing "Witchy Woman" and "One of Those Nights."

He was with me a few years later, cruising up Hwy 395, then finding myself at a campfire at the foot of the Sierras singing "The Boys of Summer" and "Sunset Grill." The "End of (his) Innocence" coincided with mine, seduced by my new town at the time - LA. And he was with me in spirit as I played and sang "Heart of the Matter" for the 527th time at bars, coffeehouses, parties, and a girl's front porch.  

Tonight he played these songs, and songs from his days with the Eagles, and all the best songs from his celebrated solo years, and with the help of a rock-solid band, diverted down a couple of funky, 80’s by-ways including a “Tears For Fears” song. Watching and listening to him tonight, I realized that he’s been with me my entire adult life. His songs have moved me, validated me, as if to say “You’re not such a freak. There’s other people that think this way. Other people that see the world this way.” His lyrics, his causes (Walden Pond, et al), his tenacity, his seeming balance between the bohemian of the 70s to the spokesman and poet he is today – he’s been one of the few, modern-day, “moral compasses” in my life.  

And to see him tonight with my awesome girlfriend in this amazing place – the wistful “New York Minute,” the spiritually powerful “Everything is Different Now...” and I’d look over at her and think “All those years. I thought you’d never come,” and get a little misty-eyed.

Maybe he’s at a place in his life, maybe it’s this place, or both, but he put on such a  performance. He was so in-the-moment - responding to the crowd, telling great stories, and singing and playing with passion. And at times looking around at the crowd, singing along with songs we’ve known for years, and again feeling that validation that “oh yah, there’s other’s like me. This is my tribe…I want them all to be my facebook friends.”

Starting off the evening with a great dinner there on the Chateau Deck, and finishing the evening by running into our good friends Stacie and John, the night couldn’t have been more perfect. And everything is different now…



Photo by Stacie Tamaki