Glen Campbell
22 February 2011
Riverside Resort, Laughlin NV
Though I had seen Glen Campbell three times prior to this occasion, I wanted to mark this date to see/hear his completely overhauled band lineup. Glen now features four (4) of his children in his live band!--Aside from his long time band member, and oldest daughter Debbie, Glen now also features his son Cal on drums, his son Shannon on acoustic guitar, and his daughter Ashley on keyboards, banjo, and vocals.
Of all band members including Glen, Ashley garnered the most attention from the audience--besides as cute as a doll, she showcased a level of talent that could rival even her father. Her duet with Debbie on a Dixie Chick-flavored version of Stevie Nicks' "Landslide" was sweet.
Glen remarked how Ashley always competed with Glen when she grew up, and both portrayed this rivalry in an unusually brisk version of the Dillards' "Dueling Banjos".
Debbie & Glen sang happily on their duet of the Cash/Carter hit "Jackson".
Nostalgically, Glen zipped through a 70-minute set including all of his major hits, less "Country Boy" and "True Grit".
His medley of "Don't Pull Your Love/Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" is still amazing.
In recent years Glen has seemingly adopted a relaxed attitude, often improvising different arrangements of songs on the fly, giving orders mid-song to the sound mix technician, and cracking inside jokes to band mates. By the way, I happened to notice that longtime keyboardist, arranger TJ Kuenster giving off some strong negative body language during the show. TJ is a consummate perfectionist, and any band member straying from the program often received a cold glare from the "angry old man" on keyboards.
Glen seemed very enthusiastic about performing on stage with his kids! He seemed proud almost to the point of tears.
[***1/2] - Steven T.