Concert review: Glen Campbell at Birmingham Symphony Hall
Looking at him as he walks on to the stage to a standing ovation, Glen Campbell seems to be in great physical shape for a man of 75. But it's obvious from the outset that his un-winnable fight with Alzheimer's disease is taking its toll.
Glen Campbell – The Goodbye Tour
Birmingham Symphony Hall
Concert review by Andrew Owen
Looking at him as he walks on to the stage to a standing ovation, Glen Campbell seems to be in great physical shape for a man of 75. But it's obvious from the outset that his un-winnable fight with Alzheimer's disease is taking its toll.
At times he looks confused, at times he repeats himself, and at all times he relies on three monitors at the front of the stage for the lyrics to the songs he's sung for decades, the songs that made him famous.
And yet the voice is still there, clear, warm and strong, and he can still play a mean guitar – Alzheimer's hasn't robbed him of that.
At times it's quite heartbreaking to watch – "Do I start this one?" he checks, more than once – but there is nothing but goodwill from the sold out Symphony Hall. They know he's ill, but they've come to hear, one last time, the man who recorded Galveston and Rhinestone Cowboy.
And, with the help of a crack backing band that includes three of his children, Glen Campbell carries it off. They guide him through the evening, launching into another hit if he starts to ramble between songs.
"Some days I'm so confused, Lord, my past gets in my way," he sings on A Better Place, the last song of the night.
