MANITOBA CANADA PRINE CONCERT REVIEWS

Centennial Concert Hall - Winnipeg, MB
August 13, 2004 - support: Greg Trooper

By: Leonard "Old Hippie" Hogg
The Prine concert was great. Greg Trooper opened and did a fine set of songs, very talented artist. I bought his CD. 
John came on at 9 and he was in fine form, his voice was a bit raspy but he seemed to work it off as the night went on. He did 3 new songs, one was "The Other Side Of Town" and I didn't get the names of the other 2 but they were very good. He also did "Bear Creek" He did all his standards to perfection. Dave and Jason were right on, as usual. John was dressed very casual, he was wearing black sweat type pants and a golf shirt. He sure likes Winnipeg, he mentioned that it's one of his favourite stops. He played till 11:30 and did a 3 song encore after getting a standing ovation. Greg Trooper joined him and the boys for "Paradise" to close a fine effort. He didn't mention his new CD. We didn't get back stage, one day. We all got new Prine T-Shirts, they were selling quite well. The hall was 3/4 full and the crowd just hung on to every note, our seats were excellent. One lady sent John a dozen roses that were on stage to sing "That's The Way The World Goes Round" for her husband who was having a birthday. John looked great but I think he gained a little weight over the summer. The sound was a little off, the sound man didn't balance it well. John played a new electric guitar on 3 songs, a little beige Fender, kinda like a Telecaster, but a little different. I picked up Jason's new CD too, I gave it a quick listen last night, very good. The only bummer part of the evening was at a little English pub we stopped at for a pre-show beer, it was like $6 for a pint of draft, that's unreal. We stopped for supper at an Italian restaurant named "Paradise" John dedicated "Flag Decal" to President Bush. He talked about playing for beers in pubs in Ireland over the summer. All in all it was one of the best Prine concerts I've been to, a night to remember, I was the only guy there with 3 ladies. We were so engrossed in the concert, we never moved a muscle the entire time. "hey, how lucky can one man get" (photos courtesy of the Old Hippie)

By: Rob Williams 
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/Spotlight/2004/08/14/582232.html
  Prime time John Prine thrills Winnipeg fans 
  You can't keep John Prine down. He's survived a battle with throat cancer and had hip replacement surgery but he still sounds and moves as good as ever. 
  Prine treated an appreciative crowd of 1,000 to a definitive overview of his long career last night at the Centennial Concert Hall, featuring material from his 1971 debut album and new, unrecorded numbers that will surely rank as classics one day.
  Playing acoustic guitar and backed by a bassist and electric guitarist, Prine switched between slower numbers like Spend the Night With Me, Souvenirs and Angel From Montgomery to more rockin' tunes like Fish and Whistle and Grandpa Was a Carpenter throughout the night. Fans were held in quiet awe during the softer songs, giving them a chance to reflect on his considerable songwriting talents, while singing along to the quicker numbers and yelling out requests for songs like The Frying Pan, which he accepted and played without accompaniment. 
  Prine's voice has a raspy sandpaper-like quality to it, but he still manages to sound strangely sweet singing love songs and just rough enough around the edges on his political numbers like Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore. 
  "You may wonder why I'm singing this song in Canada, but it's in case some Americans slipped across the border. I got a letter from our president asking me to sing it. Maybe he remembers it from his draft-dodging days," Prine said to fits of laughter. 
  The setlist was different from his Winnipeg show last year, but what didn't change is Prine's witty repertoire between songs, with stories about his summer in Ireland where he fished and played music for fun at a pub.
  Nashville-based singer-songwriter Greg Trooper opened the show with a humourous, engaging set, getting the audience to join in a sing-a-long and leaving the stage early to come back out for an encore.

PREVIEW - Centennial Concert Hall,  August 13
By: Rob Williams
found at http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/Spotlight/2004/08/12/578891.html  
Thu, August 12, 2004 John Prine is still in his prime.
  More than 30 years after his first album, the Nashville singer-songwriter is still going strong, having survived throat cancer and a hip replacement. He is considered one of America's greatest songwriters by fans and countless other musicians, despite flying under the commercial radar for most of his career.
  Prine was born in Maywood, Ill., Oct. 10, 1946, and did stints in the U.S. Army in Germany and the postal service before making his debut at an open-mike night in Chicago. He thought he could do better than the amateurs on stage; he was right. After Prine played three songs, the bar owner offered him a job. His music eventually caught the ear of Kris Kristofferson, who helped Prine secure a record deal. His 1971 self-titled debut was both intensely personal and political, featuring the future classics Illegal Smile, Spanish Pipedream, Six O'clock News, Angel From Montgomery and Sam Stone. 
   Over the years he has released 17 albums and had his songs covered by everyone from Don Williams and Johnny Cash to Bonnie Raitt and Paul Anka. His last studio album was 2000's Souvenirs, a 15-track collection of re-recorded older songs. - Prine has also tried his hand at acting, appearing in the films Daddy and Them (2004) and Falling From Grace (1992), directed by Billy Bob Thornton and John Mellencamp respectively. He released his own DVD, John Prine Live From Sessions at West 54th, in 2001 and runs his own record label, Oh Boy!
  Although he no longer gives interviews following his throat surgery, Prine recently told audiences on his European tour that he is nearing completion of a new album. He returns to Winnipeg tomorrow for the second time in just over a year, joined again by Nashville-based singer-songwriter Greg Trooper.

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