NEW YORK FAIR & SQUARE JOHN PRINE CONCERT REVIEWS

Palace Theater Albany, NY
July 15, 2005 With Support: Jason Wilber

By: Jimi The Harp
This was my first John Prine show ever.I have been into Mr.Prine since 1975 . All I can say is God Bless John Prine. You Rock My Brother.

By: Michael Lisi - freelance writer
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=379972&category=POPREVIEWS&BCCODE=&newsdate=7/17/2005 
  Prine shines in Palace show 
  First published: Sunday, July 17, 2005 
  ALBANY -- John Prine is a folk singer who doesn't bury his message between the lines, especially when he's taking aim at some of his favorite targets. Politics, war, the media or social commentary 
  Prine shoots from the hip, airing poignant personal observations with goofball humor or cutting sarcasm, always with an air of melancholy.
  The singer-songwriter sparkled at the Palace Theatre on Friday night, wowing a small but boisterous crowd of about 1,500 with a fine two-hour performance that featured plenty of Prine favorites and a nice sampling of songs from his latest effort, "Fair & Square," his first studio album in nine years.
  Prine usually heads to Ireland during the summer, but he decided to stick around this year because of the success of the album. He beamed when he shared that with fans, who sang along with most of the tunes, cheered loudly after every song and shouted out requests. Prine didn't oblige the requests, but there wasn't any need; his song selection was stellar.
  Backed by bassist Dave Jacques and talented guitarist Jason Wilber who opened the show with an impressive 30-minute set of country-tinged folk tunes Prine was upbeat and wonderful as he and the band tore through rockers such as "Bear Creek Blues" (an old family song that he dedicated to June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash), and "Lake Marie."
  Prine's stinging version of "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" was fiery and defiant; the song is still as moving as it was when he wrote it in protest of the Vietnam War in 1968.
  He let his quirky side show, strumming through versions of the lilting "Fish and Whistle," "Crazy as a Loon" and the bright "That's The Way That the World Goes 'Round," pushing the wit with his offbeat vocal phrasings and cranky, craggy crackle. And if that wasn't enough, he shooed his band offstage to do a memorable six-song solo set that included a touching rendition of "Long Monday" and favorites such as "Donald & Lydia" and "Dear Abby."
  Vocally, Prine was near perfect, his husky rasp amazing on songs such as "Angel from Montgomery," "Glory of True Love," "Six O'Clock News" and "Sam Stone." Prine, a throat cancer survivor who had surgery in 1998, is singing lower than he used to, but that isn't a bad thing.
  At age 58, Prine is still in his prime when it comes to music. The man sounds great, he's playing great, and the new stuff he's written is some of the best work he's done in years. And he can still pull it off live, as he proved at the Palace. 
  Wilber easily won over the crowd with his opening set, offering up a handful of accessible, intelligent, folk songs that earned him loud applause and an encore.
  JOHN PRINE with Jason Wilber Where: Palace Theatre, 19 Clinton Ave., Albany
When: 8 p.m. Friday 
Length: Prine, two hours; Wilber, 30 minutes 
Highlights: "Dear Abby," "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore," "Six O' Clock News," "Angel From Montgomery" 
The crowd: Close to 1,500 nicely dressed 40-somethings and 50-somethings, cheering loudly and singing along with Prine through most of his two-hour set

By: Grande Ho's B-in-L
John sounded nice but he need's to tell new stories or at least don't retell them word for word.

The Town Hall, New York, New York
June 15, 2005 With Support: Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez

By: JerseyBoy
Sensational show, as expected. John was in fine voice and seemed to be enjoying himself as much as the audience. The new songs already sound like old friends and the classics were, well, classic, including a particularly beautiful rendition of Mexican Home. My favorite moment was John opening his solo segment with a gorgeous Long Monday, and after finishing the last verse throwing in this two line gem before chuckling and stepping away from the mike: “Seven deadly sins laying at the bottom of the deep blue sea/Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear to be.” Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez performed a great opening set, and when they joined John, David and Jason for the finale of Paradise the show ended with all the fervor and excitement of a revival meeting, with some blazing fiddle breaks by Carrie. No encores though, probably due to the tough unions in New York City, so the show ended at 11pm sharp. John’s political comments went over well here in NYC of course, and this was one of the most respectful, polite, yahoo-less crowds I’ve experienced at the dozen or so Prine concerts I’ve been lucky enough to attend over the last few decades.

By: JON PARELES
great picture and full review at this link - http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/arts/music/15prine-extra.html  
Rock Review | John Prine --- When an Ex-Girlfriend Is Getting Married 
  John Prine's songs use reassuring sounds: major chords, a fingerpicked guitar, Appalachian-flavored melodies and his gruff, kindly voice. At Town Hall on Wednesday night, he was a jovial character, offering self-deprecating stories about himself and his songwriting. But his songs aren't so cozy. They revolve around inevitable loss as romance, opportunity, hope, memory and life itself all fade. 
  He can be wry about it or unblinkingly direct, and while he occasionally finds sanctuary in love, he doesn't count on it. The solace he offers is the pithy stoicism he learned from old mountain and country music like "Bear Creek Blues," a Carter Family song that he turned into something like rockabilly on Wednesday night. He doesn't evade the pain; he stares it down, sometimes cracking a joke. "All the Best," addressed to an ex-girlfriend getting married, begins with grudging good wishes and continues, "I wish you don't do like I do/And ever fall in love with someone like you." 
  Onstage, his backup was spare and virtually ideal for songs that suggest front porches, folk clubs and quiet honky-tonks: Jason Wilber on guitar and mandolin, who's adept at everything from sighing slide-guitar descants to twang, and the quietly supportive David Jacques on bass and electric bass. 
  Mr. Prine's songs have turned out to be more durable than he expected. Even as a young songwriter in his 20's, he was thinking about old age in songs like "Angel From Montgomery" and "Hello in There" - songs that look back on long, disappointed, increasingly lonely lives and only seem more resonant now that Mr. Prine is 58 himself. At Town Hall, he also sang "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore," a sardonic song he wrote during the Vietnam War about the equation of piety, patriotism and hawkishness; "Jesus don't like killing," it insists. He stopped singing it at the end of the 1970's - "I had a local taxidermist stuff the song and mount it," he said - but brought it back now, he said, by request of the president. "It wasn't a formal request, but he's asking for it," he said. His new, misanthropic "Some Humans Ain't Human" more specifically denounced the war in Iraq. 
  In April, Mr. Prine released "Fair and Square" (Oh Boy), his first full album of new songs since 1995. Many of them are written with collaborators, and they are slightly more cozy than the older, bleaker songs that shared the set, but not by much. In "Taking a Walk," he revisits an old girlfriend and feels "as welcome as a Wal-Mart Superstore"; in "Crazy as a Loon," after misadventures in city after city, he finds himself "staring at a lake/wondering just exactly how much they think a man can take." Mr. Prine's pithiness allows his songs no self-pity, just matter-of-fact acceptance, leaving the music to provide what comfort it can.

By: Smokey Joe, NYC
I haven’t seen Prine for some time. I tried to remember the old days, and reflected on past concerts, and how his fans were almost always at near cult status in their rapport with him. I was curious to see if any of this had changed in any way, and for the most part, it had not. I watched the crowd as they came in and sat down, and realized, as I expected, that it was an older group, and most likely the same people that have been going to his shows over the course of his career. It was clear that almost every person there knew every word to every song, and many sang right along with him (which is annoying when someone is singing in your ear and you can’t hear the artist-but such is life at a Prine concert). They anticipated his jokes that they have heard dozens of times, such as the lines in Dear Abbie, and then laughed like it was the first time they ever heard them. Yes, his fans are getting older, and I guess you could say we have learned how to behave at a concert. Or maybe (hopefully) we are maturing right along with Prine. Not too many people were yelling out requests in between songs, no one was off dancing in the corners or in their seats, and no one was drunk. We did smell some weed getting lit up at one point, but that was isolated, yet I say thank you to that person who helped remind me of the good old days by lighting up. As my friends said, who had never seen his concerts before, as we walked out with the satisfied fans….Oh…this is a cult, all right! And I thought, but what a nice cult we are. We weren’t hurting nobody. I do disagree with JerseyBoy, and his review about Paradise. Chip Taylor had no business being on the same stage with Prine. He faked his guitar playing, looked very out of place, and he barely knew the words for the verse that he sang. Prine was being nice just to let Taylor out there to stand beside him. Where was Tom Russell when we needed him? As the guy in the bathroom said, you just keep getting better, John. Thanks for the show. 

By: Sammy Stoned
hey Smokey...I was at that concert also last Wednesday...what a show!!!...Im a relatively new Prine fan but had recently become impressed by his poetic songwriting, melodic singing ...the guitarist gave accented the music very nicely and the basist did a great job...funny... all that rich music with only three people on the stage...I was hoping some female accompaniment would pop out ...that didnt materialize But Prine was certainly entertaining ( ok ok he was f*ckin' great!!) ....particulary liked the way he swung from easy listening soft tunes to heavy strumming of Bear Creek and lake Marie...Prine (can i call him Johnnie) was flawless..clearly John Prine is an American Original...well wishing you all a Spanish Pipedream...

By: enlightened rogue
John was in prine form when the show began and was truly enthusiactic! But in my opinion the show fell a little short! after all this is the greatest city in the world!! I just expected a little more fire from john then we got! Aint hurtin nobodoy was awesome!!As was Sam Stone!! But the rushed encore was lame!!Lake Marie w/ out precussion is just that!!I still love Prine and alway's will!!But there were very little goosebump's!!!

Archives | Credits | E-Mail | Prine Links | Search | Site Map Sign Book | Supporters | View Book | Traders | Chats  Fan Sites | Newsletter | Fan Letters | Participate | Souvenirs  Bio | Films | Music | Photos | Postcards | Reviews | Shop | Tour
©1996-2006 The John Prine Shrine		Oh Boy Records Home of John Prine	Just John Prine