Concert for Walden Woods, Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, MA, 9-6-1993, Part 5: Don Henley with Jimmy Buffett

This is the fifth and last part of the 1993 Concert for Walden Woods. Don Henley, the most famous lead singer of the Eagles, founded the charity organization behind the concert, and this has been the charity cause he's most involved with over the years. Plus, he was massively popular at the time. So it made sense that he would be the headline, final act. However, he also got a significant assist from Jimmy Buffett on two songs.

I've explained more about the cause for this concert in my Part 1 write-up. So please refer to that to learn more. Henley also talked about it some in his lengthy banter before the song "Hotel California." But note that I edit the banter in that spot down considerably, probably cutting it in half. That's why it has "[Edit]" in the title. I cut off stuff I wouldn't want to hear every time I played this album. Most of it was a list of thanks, including a bunch of corporate sponsors supporting the concert.

Generally speaking, this concert was much like a typical full Don Henley concert from that era, including versions of many songs he'd done with the Eagles. However, one interesting twist is that Jimmy Buffett joined the stage about halfway through the set, and sang lead on two of his songs, including his classic "Margaritaville." The other song he chose, "Volcano," was less well known, but it had an environmental theme that fit with the charity cause of the concert. Furthermore, Henley sang lead on part of that song, and it seems some of the lyrics were tailored just for this concert. After that, Buffett left the stage and it continued like a typical Henley solo concert.

This album is an hour and 21 minutes long.

01 The Boys of Summer (Don Henley)
02 The End of the Innocence (Don Henley)
03 One of These Nights (Don Henley)
04 talk (Don Henley)
05 The Last Resort (Don Henley)
06 talk (Don Henley)
07 Well (Don Henley)
08 talk (Jimmy Buffett & Don Henley)
09 Margaritaville (Jimmy Buffett & Don Henley)
10 talk (Jimmy Buffett & Don Henley)
11 Volcano (Jimmy Buffett & Don Henley)
12 talk [Edit] (Don Henley)
13 Hotel California (Don Henley)
14 Life in the Fast Lane (Don Henley)
15 The Heart of the Matter (Don Henley)
16 Sunset Grill (Don Henley)
17 Dirty Laundry (Don Henley)
18 All She Wants to Do Is Dance (Don Henley)
19 Desperado (Don Henley)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16221517/VA1993_CncrtfrWldnWdsFxbroStdmFxbrghMA__9-6-1993_05DnHnlywthJmmyBfftt.zip.html

The cover is just like the cover for Part 1 of this concert, with only some of the text changed. Read my Part 1 write-up for more of an explanation.

Concert for Walden Woods, Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, MA, 9-6-1993, Part 4: Aerosmith

Here's the fourth part of the 1993 Concert for Walden Woods. This time around, it's the band Aerosmith. For more about the concert and the cause it was for, check out my Part 1 write-up.

At first glance, it seems unexpected that Aerosmith would perform for free for a charity to preserve the nature around a pond made famous by the 1800s author Henry David Thoreau. They're not known for their activism, like other acts in this concert, such as Sting and Don Henley. But it makes more sense who you consider that Aerosmith is very much a Boston band, and the Walden Woods (and pond) are located on the outskirts of Boston. 

Anyway, this is a rather short set, considering that Aerosmith was hugely popular at the time. This was the shortest set of the concert (although I don't have the recording of the full Sting set). But a short set is better than no set at all, and all of the songs they played were hits and/or classics.

This album is 34 minutes long.

01 Toys in the Attic (Aerosmith)
02 Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith)
03 talk (Aerosmith)
04 Cryin' (Aerosmith)
05 Dude [Looks like a Lady] (Aerosmith)
06 Livin' on the Edge (Aerosmith)
07 Walk This Way (Aerosmith)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16216784/VA1993_CncrtfrWldnWdsFxbroStdmFxbrghMA__9-6-1993_04Arsmth.zip.html

The cover is just like the cover for Part 1 of this concert, with only some of the text changed. Read my Part 1 write-up for more of an explanation.

Concert for Walden Woods, Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, MA, 9-6-1993, Part 3: Sting

Here's the third part of the 1993 Concert for Walden Woods. This time, it's a set by Sting. If you want to know more about the concert as a whole, please read my write-up to the first part.

Unfortunately, this is a very short album. There are only four songs by Sting here. According to the database at setlist.fm, Sting actually played a much longer set. This album only contains the first four songs. Here are all the songs he played after that, in order:

Synchronicity II
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Roxanne
King of Pain
Bring on the Night
When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around
Nothing 'bout Me
Every Breath You Take

It was a surprisingly Police heavy set for that stage in Sting's solo career. Note that all but one of them ("Nothing 'bout Me") are Police songs.

I don't know why so much of his set is missing from the bootleg that I found. (According to setlist.fm, the sets from all the other performers are complete.) My guess is the whole thing was broadcast live on local radio, and someone didn't want his entire set broadcast. Let's hope that someday the rest of the recording is made public. 

Anyway, what's here is fine music. It's particularly interesting that included a cover of the Beatles classic "A Day in the Life." Sting never released this on any of his studio albums, but he did include a live version on an obscure 1994 EP called "Demolition Man."

This album is 21 minutes long.

01 If I Ever Lose My Faith in You (Sting)
02 Love Is Stronger than Justice [The Munificent Seven] (Sting)
03 talk (Sting)
04 A Day in the Life (Sting)
05 Fields of Gold (Sting)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16216751/VA1993_CncrtfrWldnWdsFxbroStdmFxbrghMA__9-6-1993_03Stng.zip.html

The cover is just like the cover for Part 1 of this concert, with only some of the text changed. Read my Part 1 write-up for more of an explanation.

Concert for Walden Woods, Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, MA, 9-6-1993, Part 2: Melissa Etheridge

Here's the second act in the 1993 Concert for Walden Woods. For more about the concert and the cause it was for, check out my Part 1 write-up.

The parts I'm posting are in chronological order of who played when in this concert. So next up after Elton John was Melissa Etheridge.

In 1993, Etheridge was probably at the peak of her popularity. In late September 1993, she released the studio album "Yes I Am." It went on to sell six million copies in the US, the best selling album of her career.

This concert took place two weeks before the release of that album. So that's probably why it's light on songs from that album. The only song from it was "I'm the Only One," which was released as the first single, one day after this concert. Otherwise, she played songs from her previous albums. However, "Let's Get It On" is a cover of the classic Marvin Gaye song.

This album is 43 minutes long.

01 Ain't It Heavy (Melissa Etheridge)
02 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
03 Must Be Crazy for Me (Melissa Etheridge)
04 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
05 I'm the Only One (Melissa Etheridge)
06 Chrome Plated Heart (Melissa Etheridge)
07 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
08 Bring Me Some Water (Melissa Etheridge)
09 Let's Get It On (Melissa Etheridge)
10 Like the Way I Do (Melissa Etheridge)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16216755/VA1993_CncrtfrWldnWdsFxbroStdmFxbrghMA__9-6-1993_02MlissEthrdge.zip.html

The cover is just like the cover for Part 1 of this concert, with only some of the text changed. Read my Part 1 write-up for more of an explanation.

Concert for Walden Woods, Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, MA, 9-6-1993, Part 1: Elton John

Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, and philosopher. His 1854 book "Walden," about living a simple life in natural surroundings near Walden Pond, close to Concord, Massachusetts, has been highly influential. By the 1980s, a part of the forest around Walden Pond was protected as parkland, but a part of it was not, and housing developments were encroaching into the area.

Don Henley, the main leader singer for the Eagles, had been influenced by Thoreau's writings in college. He made it his cause to protect the Walden Pond area. In 1990, he founded the Walden Woods Project. Through a series of benefit concerts, this project was able to raise millions of dollars, which went to buying more of the land around the pond and converting it into more protected parkland.

If you want to know more, I suggest this Wikipedia page:

Walden Woods Project - Wikipedia

This is part of one of those series of concerts. I don't know much about the other ones, because I haven't found any quality recordings of them. But for whatever reason, an excellent bootleg exists of nearly this entire concert, which consisted of sets by Elton John, Melissa Etheridge, Sting, Aerosmith, and Don Henley. Probably, the concert was broadcast on a local radio station at the time.

Concord is not far from Boston, so this concert took place in Foxboro Stadium near Boston, a huge stadium where football and baseball games are played. I'm guessing there probably were 50 to 60,000 people at the concert.

The year prior to this concert, Elton John released the studio album "The One." So he played a few songs from that: "Simple Life," "The One," and "The Last Song." But mostly, he did his biggest hits.

This album is 52 minutes long.

01 The Bitch Is Back (Elton John)
02 Philadelphia Freedom (Elton John)
03 Levon (Elton John)
04 Simple Life (Elton John)
05 The One (Elton John)
06 The Last Song (Elton John)
07 Take Me to the Pilot (Elton John)
08 I Don't Wanna Go On with You like That (Elton John)
09 Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (Elton John)
10 talk (Elton John)
11 Pinball Wizard (Elton John)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16216757/VA1993_CncrtfrWldnWdsFxbroStdmFxbrghMA__9-6-1993_01EltnJhn.zip.html

For the life of me, I couldn't find ANY photos from this entire concert, other than one poor black and white one of Don Henley. However, I did find some artwork from a T-shirt sold at the concert to help raise more money. So I used that as the basis for the covers of all five albums of this concert, with only some text changes between them. I had to widen the design to get a better fit with the square album cover space. As a result, the trees in the design are a lot wider than they were on the T-shirt.