Henley Stages Benefit for Walden Woods

WHAT does Henry David Thoreau have to do with Don Henley, Elton John, Sting, Aerosmith, and Melissa Etheridge? It's hard to know how the celebrated 19th-century naturalist-philosopher would react to a benefit rock concert to preserve the quiet woods near his beloved Walden Pond in Concord, Mass.

Mr. Henley organized the celebrity-studded concert for Labor Day at Foxboro Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. The stadium's management donated use of the facility, and the cable music channel VH-1 is also supporting the concert. Revlon, which underwrote earlier Walden benefit concerts in New York and Los Angeles, is also underwriting this one.

Over the past three years, Henley's Walden Woods Project has bought more than $8 million-worth of historic and environmentally sensitive land near Walden Pond.

On July 12, the project acquired the Boston Properties office-park site for $3.5 million. The purchase was made through a loan from the Trust for Public Land and must be repaid within two years. Revenues from the Monday concert will help toward repayment.

Tickets, which went on sale Aug. 13, range from $125 to $35 and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at (617) 931-2000 for pickup at the stadium.

(The concert will be reviewed next week in the Monitor.)