The Rhinestone Cowboy

My first show at my new job was in the Palladium itself, doing the load in and being deck crew for Glen Campbell.

In the afternoon, we were doing sound check with the band. They had finished their bit, and it was time for Glen and Jimmy Webb to do theirs. Glen was wandering about the stage because they weren't quite ready yet, and I was sitting stage left in case they needed anything. Glen saw me, came over, extended his hand, and said "Hi! I'm Glen Campbell" with a big smile. I took his hand and stammered, "I know!" He laughed, gave me a big hug, and started telling me stories about being a studio musician in the '70's and how much he misses it.

The show itself was wonderful. Jimmy Webb (composer of some of the most iconic songs of the 60's and 70's including "My Beautiful Balloon" and "MacArthur Park") opened the show. Jimmy was insanely nervous, and finally started breathing backstage when I wished him a good show. You could hear the nerves in his voice as he sang - then due to severe thunderstorms outside, we lost power. For some reason all the lights except the down special on Jimmy went out - when this happened, everyone laughed, Jimmy realized the audience was on his side, and he calmed down. He started telling stories (a lot about his time with Richard Harris in the U.K.) - in fact, they had a job getting him off the stage once he got going - he did nearly an hour and 15!

Then Glen took the stage. He is about 78 years old, and his voice is like honeyed butter. He did a lot of favorites, and even admitted when he messed up the lyrics, even though he had 3 monitors rolling the lyrics in front of him on the stage. Glen was charming, and his final song of "Rhinestone Cowboy" brought the house down.

For me, meeting this icon from my childhood (who gave me guitar pics for me and my mom), was a day I will never forget.