John's Review of the Manhattan Beach Show
Date: June 14, 2008

I had only heard about the show about a week [before the event], and was able to snag VIP tickets from a friend who knows him. A lucky break for me. The show was in the city of Manhattan Beach (not Crosslake as the thread title says, or Brainerd, as Glenn kept saying. Crosslake is about 5 miles away. Brainerd is about 30 miles away). Glenn has been to the area several times, fishing and playing golf; and he's friends with Rick Born, the lodge owner and multi-millionaire who put on the show. Rick has had Glenn play at his house near Minneapolis, too, at a party for his friends. Doncha wish YOU could hire Glenn to play at your house party?

I thought it was a very good show. Glenn had a cold, which may explain why he wasn't as animated as he usually is. The sound was good overall, though the closer you got to the stage, the worse it was, since the speakers were all facing farther outward. Usually, there are speakers pointed down at the folks in the front rows, but there weren't on Saturday. Ironically, the people who paid the most for their tickets got the worst sound.

Deacon was a lot of fun to watch (and I went with my 16 year old nephew, who thought Deacon was the highlight), but the best thing for me, as a father, was watching Glenn as he watched Deacon perform. The pride on his face was so much fun to see. And, it seemed like Glenn took special pride in seeing his son perfom so well on Father's Day weekend. Since Deacon was taking Henley's vocal parts, he would copy Henley's vocal inflections, too, which seemed to amuse Glenn. Deacon's 'guitar duel' with Danny at the end of Hotel California was a real treat, too.

Despite a slow start, and a rain delay, it really was a fun show to watch. Go Glenn!