Venue: NOLA JAZZ FESTIVAL, GENITLLY STAGE, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
Date: FRIDAY MAY 2
By: Ima Prinefan
Verify: x4kjs

Review

http://blog.nola.com/living/2008/05/missing_bass_player_signals_ne.html Missing bass player signals a new addition to the John Prine family Posted by By Dave Walker, TV columnist, The Times-Picayune May 02, 2008 8:29PM Categories: Jazzfest John Prine opened his Gentilly Stage-closing set Friday with "Spanish Pipedream," which contains the lyrics, "Blow up your TV, throw away your paper," advice I can only halfway officially endorse. Then Prine explained that he was missing his usual bass player, Dave Jacques, because he was having a baby. "Actually his wife's havin' it," Prine said. "He's just standing around not knowing what to do." About halfway into the set - just before "Dear Abby," and as the rain began to intensify -- Prine wondered how the delivery was progressing. "I bet Dave's had that baby by now," he said.

Venue: NOLA Jazz fest - | Gentilly Stage
Date: 5:40 p.m. friDAY, may 2
By: Alison Fensterstock
Verify: x4kjs

Review

john prine http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2008-04-29/feat5.php -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Singer/songwriter John Prine's career has spanned nearly a half-century of contemporary folk music. The soft-spoken former mailman has garnered his share of accolades along the way. Not only has he picked up a host of awards, but he carries the distinction of being the only singer/songwriter invited to read and perform at the Library of Congress at the behest of former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prine hit his commercial high point in the late '60s and early '70s in the thick of the hippie folk scene, though his songs were not the fiery protest tunes that got other neo-folkies held up as leaders of the revolution. PBS documentaries will likely never use a Prine hit as a soundtrack for slow-motion footage of the Vietnam War, the Chicago riots or marches on Washington. He left it to other songwriters to make sweeping musical statements about the movement, the revolution and the change that was going to come. Prine's songs, instead, looked at the microcosm, using tender wit to paint simple, beautiful portraits of individuals — like a musical Sherwood Anderson or Raymond Carver. His sense of humor made for a few great protest songs, including the classic "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven" and the pothead anthem "Illegal Smile." But for the most part, Prine has always made his point through storytelling, not speechifying. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prine is a survivor — not just of the tumultuous last quarter of the 20th century that made him a folk icon, but also of a life-threatening bout with throat cancer that, among other things, left his already characteristically growly voice a full register lower. He kept a low profile for almost a decade after he underwent surgery to remove the tumor in this throat, but in 2005, he released the Grammy-winning Fair and Square, which features guest vocals from first-weekend Jazz Fest performer Alison Krauss. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- john prine 5:40 p.m. friDAY, may 2 | Gentilly Stage --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Venue: Capitol Center for the Arts, Concord, NH
Date: Fri April 25, 2008
By: Tom Spine at
Verify: x4kjs

Review

Sunday, April 27, 2008 ............ Concert Report: John Prine @ Capitol Center for the Arts ............ Full Blog review is at : http://tomspine.blogspot.com/2008/04/concert-report-john-prine-capitol.html ............ Hey, look at that - we saw a concert at a venue other than the Tupelo Music Hall! Patti and I went up to Concord on Friday night to see John Prine at the beautifully restored Capitol Center for the Arts. ............ While perhaps not as widely known as he should be, John Prine has somewhere around 20 albums under his belt, dating back to his self-titled debut album in 1971, which happens to be number 458 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. He has won two Grammy awards - in 1991 for The Missing Years, and in 2006 for Fair and Square, and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. Of all this, though, I suspect John is most well known for writing "Angel from Montgomery", which has become a signature piece for Bonnie Raitt. Prine's deceptively simple lyrics somehow make each and every song almost instantly familiar, telling stories of depth and complexity with simple phrases and nothing extraneous; "Angel" is no exception: ............ John's two-hour set opened with three up-tempo old favorites, "Spanish Pipedream" (also known as "Blow Up Your TV"), "Picture Show", and "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore". John was accompanied by a bass player (Dave Jacques, I think - playing both stand up and electric bass) and a guitar player (Jason Wilber, I think - playing both electric guitar and mandolin), and the three of them cranked the energy level for these three songs, instantly getting the audience enthused. "Flag Decal", a sarcastic commentary on patriotism and war, is just as relevant today as it was in 1971: ............ The next three songs slowed the pace down. First up was "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness", which Nanci Griffith did a beautiful cover of on her Other Voices, Other Rooms album. Next up was "Souvenirs", dedicated to the memory of Steve Goodman (they co-wrote it), and then "Far From Me." ............ And so the set went, mixing the pace every few songs. John played five songs solo in the middle of the set, including "That's The Way The World Goes 'Round" with its now obligatory "happy enchilada" story before the final chorus. ............ But John tells a wonderful mistaken lyrics story in which a fan once asked him to sing the song about the enchilada. John replied that maybe she had him confused with another songwriter, "perhaps Jimmy Buffet, he writes songs about food!" But the fan insisted it was John's song. "You know, the song about the happy enchilada": ............ John's solo portion ended with the band returning during "Sam Stone." As with "Flag Decal", this heart-wrenching story of the tragic effects of war on returning veterans is as relevant today as it was in 1971 ............ "Sam Stone" has been called "the best Dylan song Dylan never wrote", and Dylan actually showed up unannounced at the Bottom Line in 1972 and backed John on harmonica on the song. Johnny Cash also covered "Sam Stone", although Johnny changed "Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose" to "Daddy must have hurt a lot back then, I suppose". ............ After "Sam Stone" John switched from acoustic to an electric guitar and the band ripped through the Carter Family's "Bear Creek", "That's Alright By Me", and "She Is My Everything", the latter written for his (third) wife: ............ After all that electric energy, it was time to bring the pace down with perhaps the saddest song of all, "Hello In There" ............ For the encore, we got both "Illegal Smile" (with big audience sing along on the chorus) and "Paradise." I remember John once telling a story in which bluegrass legend Bill Monroe, after hearing John sing "Paradise", remarked that it sounded like a song which he himself had written but had forgotten all about. John says that was the best compliment he had ever received about one on his songs. ............ We had a full two hours of Prine, and the audience was with him every step of the way. The opening act was Chris Knight, who I had never heard of before but who clearly had a few fans in the audience. His 30 minute set was well received. He's got a gravel voice full of Tennessee drawl, but his songs sounded a little too much straight country for my taste. ............ The set list... Spanish Pipedream (aka Blow Up Your TV) / Picture Show / Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore / Speed of the Sound of Loneliness / Souvenirs / Far From Me / Please Don't Bury Me / Fish And Whistle / The Glory Of True Love / Crazy As A Loon / Angel From Montgomery / / Solo: // You Got Gold / Blue Umbrella / Dear Abby / That's the Way that the World Goes 'Round / Mexican Home // Band returns: // Sam Stone / Bear Creek / That's Alright By Me / She Is My Everything / Hello In There / Lake Marie // Encore: // Illegal Smile / Paradise ......... Opening act, Chris Knight: // Enough Rope / Old Man / To Get Back Home / William / River Road / /Encore:// It Ain't Easy Being Me

Venue: Robinson Music Center, Little Rock, Arkansas
Date: Martch 2008
By: JACK W. HILL
Verify: x4kjs

Review

Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008 .... URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/224078/ ...... There are those places where you expect folks to be rowdy and loud, and there are also those places where such behavior comes as a surprise — a shock, even. When you go to an athletic event, you aren’t surprised to hear loud exhortations and occasional salutes or taunts. And if you find yourself at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert down by the river, you might know to be on the lookout for flying whiskey bottles. ::::::::: A loud rock concert at Alltel Arena is likely to attract loud fans, but most attend shows to hear performers, rather than to hear themselves “perform” and, for whatever reason, attract attention to themselves. ::::::::: The word that comes to mind is “boorish,” which is defined as “rude, awkward, ill-mannered.” It seems the perfect word for some situations. ::::::::: And after the surprise wears off, anger can sometimes bubble to the surface, followed by a desire to have someone do something, especially at an event such as the John Prine concert at Robinson Center Music Hall in early March. People whose seats were in the mezzanine were subjected to “boorish behavior.” ::::::::: Prine, a singer-songwriter with a backing band, is not loud enough to drown out clowns, as it turned out. While those of us at the concert who were seated on the floor weren’t disturbed, phone calls and e-mails from concertgoers demonstrated clear agitation. ::::::::: One person who wrote, Jack Heinritz, put it succinctly: “Three or four rowdy characters were whistling — loudly and shrilly — loud and shrill enough to physically hurt, even from a distance, during the opening act,” he wrote. “These guys would throw their heads back and whistle through their teeth for sometimes 10 seconds at a time. I observed several people approaching these men, and asking them to ease up. They got the finger, plus louder and longer whistling. ::::::::: “ I was hoping they were Prine fans, who would settle down to hear his songs. Wrong. If anything, they got progressively louder and more obnoxious. Understand, this isn’t just be- tween songs; it was during the songs. By the third Prine song, I’d estimate 30 to 50 people had left.” Out $ 113. 70 for his two tickets, Heinritz left when his wife developed a severe headache. On their way out, he tried complaining to someone who looked like an authority figure (he was wearing a blazer and dress slacks ) and was told nothing could be done, although “lots of people complained on their way out,” he was told. “My thinking is, if a baby is crying in a theater, interfering with others’ enjoyment of a movie,” Heinritz wrote, “an usher will ask the parent to remove the baby from the theater. Except for the age of the offender — and the element of intent — is this any different ? If security at the Robinson Center can’t do anything about such a disruption, why are they there?” ::::::::: OFFICIALS HORRIFIED For their part, city officials were horrified to arrive at work the following Monday and find a couple of irate emails and three phone calls from unhappy Prine fans. In a crowd of more than 2, 500 people (close to capacity, which is 2, 609 ), the number of bad actors was small — apparently a pair of whistlers — but loud. “Normally, this doesn’t happen here,” said Phyllis Lucas, director of event operations for the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, which oversees activities at Robinson Center. “We have safety officers and they go in and observe the situation, because what one person considers ‘rowdy’ may not be what another person considers ‘rowdy.’ ::::::::: “ Every time we went to observe, they were fine, on their best behavior. This is only the second time in my 34 years here that I remember ever having a person that we’ve had to ask to pipe down. We can’t eject someone with force out of the building. If a person refuses to leave the building, then that’s when we call the Little Rock Police Department, and ask them to go talk to the person.” ::::::::: The shrill duo refused a staff request to leave, but then re-considered and did so before the arrival of police officers. ::::::::: “We tried to handle it as swiftly as possible,” Lucas said. “If something happens again, we’ll call the LRPD sooner. To a patron, it may have looked like we’re not doing anything, but we are. We do care about our patrons’ entertainment experience.” ::::::::: And though the powers that be were not able to rescue the Prine concert from disruption, they at least restored Heinritz’s faith in his city officials. Noting that the Little Rock Police Department had been called, “but when they arrived the offending parties had left the building,” Lucas offered the bureau’s official apologies and — best yet — a refund of the Heinritzes’ $ 113. 70. ....... Read the rest of this article & post your comments here: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/224078/

Venue: Capitol Center for the Arts, Concord, NH
Date: April 25, 2008
By: Tom
Verify: x4kjs

Review

Here's the set list from Friday night in Concord, NH... Spanish Pipedream (AKA Blow Up Your TV) Picture Show Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore Speed of the Sound of Loneliness Souvenirs Far From Me Please Don't Bury Me Fish And Whistle The Glory Of True Love Crazy As A Loon Angel From Montgomery Solo: You Got Gold Blue Umbrella Dear Abby That's the Way that the World Goes 'Round Mexican Home Band returns: Sam Stone Bear Creek That's Alright By Me She Is My Everything Hello In There Lake Marie Encore: Illegal Smile Paradise Opening act, Chris Knight: Enough Rope Old Man To Get Back Home William River Road Encore: It Ain't Easy Being Me

Venue: CCA - CONCORD, N.H.
Date: APRIL 25, 2008
By: SALLY
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Review

WE SAW JOHN LAST NIGHT IN NEW HAMSPHIRE. IT WAS A WONDERFUL CONCERT! JOHN JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER. THE SHOW WAS SO ENJOYABLE AND THE AUDIENCE WAS GREAT, AS THEY WERE QUIET SO YOU COULD REALLY HERE EVERY WORD ALONG WITH THE MUSIC. HE SANG ALL OUR FAVORITE SONGS OF COURSE AND TOLD A FEW JOKES ALONG WITH THEM. HE DID A LOT OF SMILING TOO. .HE IS THE BEST........AND SO TALENTED !! I HOPE HE COMES BACK SOON....PLEASE....

Venue: Concord, NH
Date: April 25
By: Ima Prinefan
Verify: x4kjs

Review

A not so great picture of the the concert - but it still sparks a great memory http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-a-v-e-f-o-s-t-e-r/2442434946/