By: Valentine
    Man, it's late but I wanted to extend a few thoughts on tonight's show. First of all, the patriot theater at the war memorial (some long winded moniker) is truly a beautiful venue, seems that they must have poured in twenty or thirty million but it certainly looks well spent. Having been born in Philly, I've always considered Philadelphia more the birthplace of politics than the birthplace of liberty and that was always evident to me whenever I would travel through the Trenton/Princeton area, what with the battles of Trenton and Princeton and the whole Washington crossing the Delaware thing right upriver from the war memorial and I've never been more proud to be a citizen of this great country than I was tonight and that thought was inspired by the power of the smile of one John Prine. He is indeed a powerful author of introspective human elements as well as one helluva performer but I was truly impressed at not only the effect he had on his audience but the incredible ability he has to touch your soul. keep in mind that I have been a fan just about forever and I've seen him a number of times but tonight his smile simply gave me goosebumps. His awesome talents were overshadowed by his humility and grace. The show was great, the highlights were far too many to list here but Johnny started out the evening playing the Gibson J-200 with Spanish pipedream and almost immediately broke the D string. Now me being pretty much a Martin man, this did not phase me since he picked up a D-28 Martin for the next tune. The Gibson had a real big sound but the Martin had a much sweeter tone, in my opinion. John commented on how it had been a long time since he had broken a string but not long after that he broke the G string and just a few measures later into the same tune, the B string broke. I am convinced that if he had come out for at least another encore, he would have gotten an entire new set put on during the show, but anyway, there was a bit of a problem with the vocal throughout the first few tunes, this after Todd Snider's vocals were loud and clear. The funny thing is that no adjustment had been made until a young lady from the back of the theater yelled out to fix his mike. Thanks to her, an adjustment was made almost immediately that definitely fixed the problem and the evening progressed. As usual John started strong and never stopped, giving it all for a couple of hours. Great show and man what a smile. The show concluded with John actually handing Todd snider the Martin right off of his back and JP picked up the Gibson for a wonderful version of Paradise, T.S.. singing a nice high part on the chorus and J.P.. even gave him a verse to sing. A nice powerful rendition that had the crowd applauding well before the song had ended and when J.P. added a loop or two to the instrumental fade, the crowd held their applause in three four time, a nice touch and man what a smile.  

THE SETLIST
1. That's The Way That The World Goes 'Round   2. Bottomless Lake   3. The Other Side Of Town   4. In Spite Of Ourselves   5. Sam Stone   6. Bear Creek   7. Ain't Hurting Nobody (dedicated to Waylon)   8. Great Rain   9. Sins Of Memphisto  10. Hello In There  11. Lake Marie  12. Spanish Pipedream 13. Six O' Clock News		14. Souvenirs  15. Fish & Whistle  16. Grandpa Was A Carpenter  17. Picture Show  18. Far From Me  19. All The Best  20. Angel From Montgomery  21. You Got Gold  22. Donald & Lydia  23. Dear Abby  24. Please Don't Bury Me  25. Illegal Smile  26. Paradise (w/Todd Snider)

By: HotfnTuna at aol.com
Me and my best friends Bill, Maria, and my Donna. Went to see another our best friends, Johnny as he's affectionately known when we sit around and listen to him while tossing back a few cordials on a Saturday night. This Saturday night was special we did it with Johnny in person. Todd Snider now another friend was a spectacular open for Johnny he did a great job setting the mood. The war memorial is a great place not a bad seat in the house and the acoustics are fabulous. Johnny hit the stage bout 9:10ish pm and gave us 2 hours plus of great songs and he's fantastic humor. Johnny was right on target all night but his Gibson musta been tired he broke 3 strings on it and used the Martin most of the night which sounded great...during a brief period of silence between one of Johnny's stories....I screamed out Johnny........and broke his concentration and got him to laugh...what a great feeling felt like we'd been tradin' jokes all night a real homey feeling and that's probably the best thing ya could expect out of seein' a show and that's what John Prine is all about. So for those of you who've yet to see him do what you have to ,but do yourself right and see one of his shows and to those who have I'm sure you'll agree with all I've said. And Johnny if'n ya ever read these reviews remember all the Saturday nights we've spent together and the very special one we just spent...... your Friends Jim, Donna, Bill and Maria

P.S. if the Gibson is gonna really be Firewood toss it this way and I'll trade a cord of jersey's finest Oak....LOL

John Prine to perform at Patriots Theater
By: http://www.nj.com/features/times/index.ssf?/features/times/03-01-I3AD1TCD.html
    John Prine, one of the grand troubadours of folk music, will perform in concert 8 p.m. tomorrow at the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial on Barrack Street in Trenton.
    A native of Illinois, the 55-year-old began playing guitar at age 14 and joined the folk scene in Chicago in the 1960s after stints as a postman and in the Army.
    With the help of Kris Kristofferson, he landed his first record contract in 1971 and moved to Nashville.
    After forming his own record label, Oh Boy Records, Prine scored a Grammy nomination for his album, "German Afternoons," in 1986. He later won a Grammy for 1991's "The Missing Years," which featured guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty and consequently became his best-selling album to date.
    In 1995, he released "Lost Dogs And Mixed Blessings," followed in 1997 by "In Spite of Ourselves" and 2000's "Souvenirs."
    Tickets are $42-$43. For information, call (609) 984-8400.