SIX O'CLOCK NEWS
I GOT EXCITED JUST BEING PART OF THAT SCENE
REVIEWS OF THE
JOHN PRINE IN '99 CONCERT TOUR
KENTUCKY SHOWS

Louisville Scene - (dead link, hopefully I will find it again someday, sorry)

FROM Jack
Just got home from my first Prine concert and damn was it good.  R.B. Morris opened with about a 45 minute set and was excellent.   John came out and went straight into Spanish Pipedream. He put on about a three hour show done a four song encore. Some of the best parts were the telling of his stories in Kentucky.  He told the story of how his grandma really went to school at Berea College (which is south of lexington,ky) and not Bowling Green and granpa smoked KOOLS not CAMELS very funny story. All in all it was a excellent concert.  Hope all my pictures come out.

FROM: ©by Chip Manley
    A few days have passed since the show, and thanks to the webmistress of the JP Shrine, I have finally been able to finish the set list from the Prine show last Saturday night in Lexington's Opera House. The Opera House is a fairly small venue, and Prine fans had packed it to capacity, anxiously awaiting JP's first Lexington appearance in 2 years. My wife and friends and I took our seats, about 15 rows back, center stage, and waited for the show to begin.
    R.B. Morris started off the night with a 45-minute set. Personally, I had hoped to see Todd Snider take the stage as he had earlier on the tour, but Morris did not disappoint. His solo set was highlighted by his cover of Tom T. Hall's "Don't Forget the Coffee, Billy Joe". Morris was entertaining, amusing, and a perfect show opener for Prine.
    John took the stage a few minutes after 9pm, with David Jacques and Jason Wilber accompanying him. They immediately kicked off a rousing rendition of "Spanish Pipedream". The crowd left their seats, the sing-along started, and the show was off to a blazing start. A little later, John took a break to introduce "Grandpa Was a Carpenter", one of my favorites. He said as he was riding from Knoxville to Lexington, he saw the Interstate exit sign for Berea, KY. That jogged his memory about a family reunion once held in Berea, after he had written "Grandpa". His relatives told him, 'John, your grandma went to school in Berea, not Bowling Green, and your grandpa smoked Kools, not Camels'. And John said, "I told them, hell, I can't rhyme Berea and Kools..."
    After about 50 minutes of songs, Jacques and Wilber left, and John had the stage all by himself. He played a solo acoustic set for about 30 minutes, stopping often between songs to deliver some great stories. As he brought out his black guitar, he told of Moses, the Guitar Man in Tennessee, who had decorated and styled the guitar. The guitar body was adorned with a silver-reflective broken heart and at the end of the neck, almost too small to see, was a raccoon "member", given to him by a fan at a stop in Lexington several years ago. John said Moses had asked him if he ever thought about putting "John Prine" on a guitar. Prine replied, no. "Then Moses said, ' Well, if you're ever going to, this is the one to do it... I'll put your name on the neck, halfway between a broken heart and a permanent hard-on." After laughter swept the hall, Prine smiled and said, "But my heart's not broken anymore".
    Jacques and Wilber rejoined John on stage during "Sam Stone". They followed that with an upbeat version of "Bear Creek Blues". The regular set was finished a few songs later with a kicking version of "Lake Marie". After a well-deserved break, John retook the stage, and finished the evening with a 3 song encore, "Hello in There", "That's the Way the World Goes Round", and (of course) "Paradise". R.B. Morris joined JP on stage for "Paradise" and even sang the "World's Largest Shovel" verse. The show ended with resounding currents of applause from a grateful audience. John left the stage a few mintues before 11pm, after a great 2-hour show. 
    All in all, John sounded great. I was concerned that after his cancer surgery, his voice might be affected, but despite the occasional scratchiness, John sounded just like John. He mentioned his health problems early on, and joked about them, saying "I never could sing really, so not much has changed." This was the first time I'd seen him since 1994, and it was worth the wait. One of the highlights was getting to hear three of my favorites in a row, "Souvenirs", "Fish & Whistle", and "Grandpa". We also saw a lot of friends there, too, so if Jim, Heather, Andy, Becca, or Vicki is reading this, "Let's get together for the next one, too!" 
    I took the time to keep a set list, so here it is: 
1. Spanish Pipedream
2. Six O'Clock News
3. Souvenirs
4. Fish and Whistle
5. Grandpa Was a Carpenter
6. You Got Gold
7. Linda Goes to Mars
8. All the Best
9. Angel from Montgomery -- begins solo acoustic set --
10. Dear Abby
11. Daddy's Little Pumpkin
12. Donald and Lydia
13. A Good Time
14. One Red Rose
15. Big Old Goofy World
16. Sam Stone
-- acoustic set ends during "Sam Stone" --
17. Bear Creek Blues
18. Ain't Hurtin' Nobody
19. The Sins of Memphisto
20. Lake Marie
-- encore set --
21. Hello in There
22. That's the Way the World Goes Round
23. Paradise
    If you can get to see John on this tour, do yourself a favor, and get there! Hope you have as great a time as I did! Thanks for letting me share my memories.
Chip Manley

"YEAH LITTLE BUDDY GONNA GET YOUR CHANCE -
MAKE THE PUBESCENTS ALL WET THEIR PANTS"