Concert Review – Glen Campbell

Realistically I possibly would have bought a ticket just to hear Glen Campbell sing Wichita Lineman. A guarantee of him singing Galveston would have just about sealed the deal. If you were to throw in a fine rendition of By The Time I Get To Phoenix, as the third leg of the Jimmy Webb trifecta, then I would have been a certainty to be there with bells on.

I got all three and on that basis alone I was completely satisfied with this concert. But I wasn’t expecting the Theme From The Lone Ranger!

The latter was one of several wild cards this wily veteran performer dealt from the pack. Campbell took to the stage after an intro tape finishing with King of The Road – clearly a statement about Campbell’s longevity as a live performer. He looked great for a sixty-five year old – he looked bloody amazing for seventy-three, which is his actual age.

Sure Campbell’s voice doesn’t quite reach the higher notes with as much authority as he once did but outside of this his vocals, especially in the lower registers, were flawless. And the support of some fine backing singers at the right moments more than compensated when they were needed.

His guitar playing is outstanding. He is a fast dextrous player and although he has a definite style of soloing that he doesn’t stray too far away from he also plays some very impressive guitar songs that prove his bona fides in that area. The aforementioned Theme From The Lone Ranger was one such curio, and a performance of Classical Gas was another.

But Campbell’s most impactful performances (outside the Webb trilogy) came on three great ballads – Dreams Of The Everyday Housewife, Highwayman and Only Make Believe. These are songs were his voice excels and although they not as identifiable with Campbell as some others, they were still important to the show.

The show was broken up by a section were two of Campbell’s daughters, his oldest Debby and his youngest Ashley joined Dad on stage. Ashley was a bit of a revelation – she’s a banjo playin’ country filly who provided a highlight when she duetted with her older sister on Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide. When they were joined by Glen for a trio performance of My Sweet Babies Arms they somehow escaped a potentially schmaltzy moment and turned it into a memorable one.

Other songs that I haven’t even mentioned included a duet with Debby on Jackson, Southern Nights, Rhinestone Cowboy, Gentle On My Mind and Try A Little Kindness. By the time he closed the show by tipping his hat to his time as a Beach Boy with a medley of I Get Around and Surfin’ USA we had been treated to a night of great songs that sometimes turned just a little surreal, but surreal in a good way.

Surprisingly he chose not to delve into his contemporary covers album from last year where he performs songs from Tom Petty, Foo Fighters, Travis, The Replacements and the Velvet Underground. It would have been interesting to hear a couple of those songs in the context but its hardly cause for complaint.

Glen Campbell is one of the great interpreters of great songs and he proved that again in this concert.