September 9, 2006 Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, Halifax, Nova Scotia - John Prine with Jason Wilber and Dave Jacques. Guest: Dan Reeder  Surprise Guest: Jimmy Rankin

By: Judy
30 of us were over from PEI to see the concert! It was well worth the traveling time to get there. John definitely gave us a wonderful concert. People that I went to high school with, my parents, friends and relatives all came with me to attend. Thanks for making the reunion possible, thanks for the memories, and thanks for the tunes!! I hope you will consider coming back next year! You could sell out 7 nights in a row if you wanted!

By: Cape Breton Prine lover

John Prine was totally amazing!! We enjoyed the show so much! We got to meet him after the concert & he is the most personable, down to earth guy you could ever meet. Thank you John, it was a pleasure! Look forward to seeing you again soon. The only thing that could have ruined the night,( but I didn't let it) were these 2 women behind me who were very rude asking me to stop talking & singing......hello in there baby dolls!! She went as far as getting an usher from the Cohn to talk to me??? That was hilarious, cause the usher was more pissed at her for being such a wack job over nothing! Oh well she basically told me to ignore her, that you find them in all crowds! Who doesn't sing along at a Prine show? She was in the wrong place for sure! Was good to see Jimmy Rankin out on the stage, good job!!

By: STEPHEN COOKE Entertainment Reporter
Cheers for Prine no pipe dream

Songwriter enjoys singing his song in packed shows at Cohn

full story here: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Entertainment/527361.html

  John Prine is exactly one month shy of his 60th birthday, but retirement would seem to be the furthest thing from his mind, given his lively Friday night performance at Halifax's Rebecca Cohn Auditorium

  Then again, why would he, considering he can sell out rooms like the Cohn for two nights straight with a minimum of ballyhoo. People still want to hear his songs, and he clearly enjoys singing them.

  Prine kicked off Friday's show in fine, irreverent style with Spanish Pipedream, about an encounter with a philosophical stripper, backed by bassist Dave Jacques and guitarist Jason Wilber, who laid down some slick honky tonk licks out of the gate

  "That song goes out to our good friend John Allan Cameron," Prine proclaimed, earning a round of cheers for the ailing Celtic Godfather. "This next one is for someone who's not our good friend."

  With that the trio launched into Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore, an anti-war tune with the telling line, "Jesus don't like killing, no matter what it's for."

  "I quit singing this song 25 years ago, but thanks to our current president I've been able to dig out all my old Vietnam-era songs," said Prine.

  "Personally, I'd rather put this one back in the museum."

  The show got a bit mellow with Six O'Clock News, featuring a haunting bowed bass part, and Storm Windows, a wintery song that Prine said he "liked it so much, I kept singing it through the summer."

  But you couldn't fault classics like Souvenirs - "This used to be my mother's favourite song; I'd go over and sing it for her and she'd cook me whatever I wanted" - and Grandpa Was a Carpenter. Filled with autobiographical detail, they brim with the slice-of-life feel that makes them so poignant years later.

  It's a tribute to Prine's songwriting skills that songs from his latest album, the Grammy Award-winning Fair & Square, fit in so well with time-honoured classics.

  The Glory of True Love felt like an authentic old country crooner, complete with sweet finger picking solo from Wilbur, while Crazy As a Loon served as a vivid character study of "a man who's got a whole lot of bad blood in him, and he always blames it on whatever town he's in."

  Wilbur also contributed a chiming mandolin intro to Angel From Montgomery, which is about as close to a perfect song as you could ever hope to come. As Prine's voice gets more gravel in it over the years - due in part to his battle with throat cancer a couple of years back - lyrics like "to believe in this living is just a hard way to go" only seem to gain round in their realism.

  Prine played alone for a seven-song solo set, which ranged from the wisecracking of Dear Abby and Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian to the still-sobering tale of Sam Stone, who came home from Vietnam "with a purple heart and a monkey on his back."

  But when his two-man band returned it was with a vengeance on the blistering Bear Creek Blues, with Prine strumming like a fiend while Jacques and Wilber did their best impression of Johnny Cash's Tennessee Two.

  He even strapped on an electric for a passionate She's My Everything and the bluesy Wasn't Hurtin' Nobody, before ending the main set with a heartfelt Hello In There and Lake Marie, a personal history told on the shores of a favourite body of water. After two solid hours of peerless songwriting, it felt good to have dived right in.

  The show was opened by Prine's Oh Boy Records label mate Dan Reeder, performing a series of short, funny tunes with a dry voice and even drier wit. Knowing his limitations, he sang about only knowing Three Chords in the song of the same name, while Clean Elvis borrowed the chorus from I Will Always Love You, if only to warp that much more successful song in the minds of those who hear Reeder, for the rest of all time.
  Clearly, he's a man after my own heart.

By: HFX FAN

What a GREAT show ,better than last time and Thanks for bringing Jimmy Rankin out for the encore song Paradise. Too bad about the bonehead who yelled out "play a John Prine song" , that went over like a lead balloon.

By: Caper in Halifax

Hello in there----- Awesome show--- loved it. Hope to see you back next yr.

By: Happy in Halifax

I waited a long time to see this guy live. Missed him the last time he was in town. My only disappointment was that I should have went to both shows. What an awesome show. Thank you John for such a great time.

By: Maritime boy

Just got home, what an awesome show,John never fails to please. Jason and Dave where at the top of their game also.Got to meet Jason,a great guy.

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