The Rhinestone Cowboy will bring his farewell tour to Portland.
Glen Campbell, who announced a year ago that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, will perform with his band on Oct. 16 at Merrill Auditorium.
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Portland Ovations announced details of the concert Thursday.
“In terms of being able to bring an icon to Portland, this is huge,” said Aimee Petrin, executive director of Portland Ovations, which will host the concert.
Tickets will go on sale to Portland Ovations’ members Tuesday. They will be available to the public July 20. Prices range from $45 to $65.
Campbell has dubbed this his Goodbye Tour. After announcing he was afflicted with the disease, he released his final record and arranged a long farewell tour. He has said he will stop playing music and disappear from the public eye after this tour.
The tour began last year and is still wending its way across the country. The Portland date is one of the last on Campbell’s announced itinerary.
He played his final concert in Los Angeles last week. Campbell lives near L.A., and the concert drew many musical luminaries, including Kris Kristofferson, Lucinda Williams and Jackson Browne.
Petrin, an avowed fan, began tracking the tour many months ago in hopes of bringing it to Portland. The agent booking Campbell’s concert dates is the agent who worked with Portland Ovations to bring Willie Nelson and Steve Martin to town.
“We have a good relationship with the agent, and we just started talking. The tour is reasonably priced, and it seemed like something we could afford to do here in Portland. He is not out to gouge. He is just out to say goodbye,” she said.
Campbell, 76, has earned praise for his performances. In Los Angeles, he played for about an hour, mixing his widely known songs like “Gentle on My Mind” and “Galveston” with songs from his 2011 CD, “Ghost on the Canvas.”
Patrick Doyle, a former intern for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, now is an assistant editor for Rolling Stone magazine. Doyle interviewed Campbell last year at his home in Malibu, Calif., after the singer announced his disease.
“His mind was right there when he was talking about the older memories and working as a session musician with the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Jan and Dean and the Monkees. He played guitar on all that stuff,” Doyle said by phone Thursday.
“I spent nearly two hours with him,” Doyle said. “He could not remember what he did earlier that day and would repeat himself a lot. But for the most part, he was right there.”
Doyle said he has no doubt that this is Campbell’s last hurrah — and that the Portland date is likely to be one of the last ones on the tour. Doyle saw the show in New York, and hopes to get back to Portland to catch the show at Merrill.
“He definitely won’t be performing much longer,” Doyle said. “There are not going to be many more opportunities, and it’s pretty amazing it will happen at Merrill. … Sometimes he forgets the lyrics, but the crowd helps him out by shouting out the words to help get him back on track. It’s a pretty moving show. “
Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at:
bkeyes@pressherald.com
Twitter: pphbkeyes
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