Gig review: Glen Campbell, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

IT SEEMED only appropriate that Glen Campbell, whose voice is a reservoir of plaintive emotion, should wring out one last drop of pathos by calling his farewell jaunt The Goodbye Tour.

There was a lot of love in the room for the veteran country performer as he bowed out after more than 50 years in the business. Were it not for the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease, he would probably truck on further but the effects of the illness have been apparent in his performances for a few years and now he uses an autocue to keep him on track lyrically.

As far as possible the show was pre-scripted, but that did not detract unduly from a set which ticked off all the obvious classics alongside material from his final album, Ghost On The Canvas, which attempts to distil the classic Glen Campbell sound with plangent guitar breaks, easy-on-the-ear melody and those beseeching vocals.

The guitar solos are not so lithe any more and the voice is undeniably weathered (though still splendid in its own way) but the audience made the adjustment, applauding his career as much as this performance.

His band, including three of his offspring, filled in where required. But the standout moment came when Campbell was left largely on his own to do what he does best, a poignant version of Jimmy Webb’s The Moon’s A Harsh Mistress with just piano accompaniment. Campbell still radiates positivity, a touching way to bring down the curtain on a distinguished career.

Rating: ***