SIX O'CLOCK NEWS
I GOT EXCITED JUST BEING PART OF THAT SCENE
REVIEWS OF THE
John Prine In Spite of Ourselves 
Concert Tour 1999
PENNSYLVANIA SHOWS

FROM: robert
Attended the Berklee show in Boston on Friday Sept 10. As expected, he was AMAZING !!!!. My wife and I brought 2 couples who had never seen John in concert (or heard his recordings) and they absolutely fell in love with him and wonder why it took 30 years to find out about him. Musically, he was very strong, along with his accompanying musicians, was not that chatty, played for over 2 hours and just mesmerized the whole audience. No disappointments here - he was AWESOME. Hopefully he'll make the Boston pass real soon - for we miss him already. Great job John - keeping rockin!

FROM: Mules(in the chat room) a.k.a. Steve Muller
I caught the Berklee show on Sept 10th. My 7th Prine show since 1986...As usual, it was great..don't think I've ever seen a crowd so happy to see John..maybe it's the bout with "a case of cancer" as John put it!! My fav song was Far From Me. Don't recall ever seeing him sing that one...One Red Rose was a surprise as well. Noticed John changed keys as his voice changed..interesting! Said his voice was "hoarse from the hotel AC"....It rained like hell the day of the show..John called it too much of a good thing! He's so different now that he's older and a non'smoker, but he seemed thrilled to be performing once again. "In spite of ourselves" is one of the funniest songs I've ever heard! Lake Marie was the highlight...those guys were rockin! During "Hello in There" John just stopped playing and moved his capo...guess he's still gettin used to that new voice! Great show, but what'd I expect????

FROM: Chris Barlow
A quick one on the Boston show: John was introducing the song "In Spite of Ourselves" and explaining that there wasn't a female present on stage to do the duet as heard on the new disc. He steps away from the microphone to begin the song intro and some guy hollers out: "I'll do it!" John smiles, steps back up to the microphone and says dryly: "I knew that YOU would." The whole place was on the floor!   He did it by himself! He pointed out the female parts of the song as they came up, so we'd know. He was being very silly. The whole place loved it!

FROM:Brad Fitzgerald
I saw John in Boston last night, Sept. 10. Here is the set list. 
Spanish Pipedream
Spend the Night with Me
Souvenirs
Fish and Whistle
Grandpa Was a Carpenter
Far From Me
You Got Gold
All the Best
Angel from Montgomery
Dear Abby
Everybody
Donald and Lydia
Big Old Goofy World
Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian
What I never knew I never will forget
Space Monkey
Sam Stone (with tuba bass lines!)
Bear Creek Blues - rocker!
Milwaukee Here I Come (new CD)
In spite of ourselves (new CD)
Lake Marie (rockin' jam at the end)
Hello in there (stand-up bass with a bow)
Encores:
Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone
Illegal Smile
Paradise
It was a GREAT, sold-out show. People were very appreciative of John, and vice versa.

PHILADELPHIA FOLKS FESTIVAL

FROM: Mike Litwin
When Mr. Prine recently played at the Philly Folk Festival I was in the front row (not because I fought for but because everybody let every body move around) and it was a great show. And as hot as it was he and the group were dressed up to a tee country style and was part of a great day.

FROM: Burt
hi to all i saw john on saturday at 4:00 at the philadelphia folk fest he was great (one of his best concerts) i love that new song called: lets talk dirty in hawaiin(hope i spelled it right he sang for a little over an hour it was worth my driving from brooklyn new york AGAIN IT WAS GREAT !!!!!! his backup was good his voice excellent and he did all his songs nice and slow
FISH AND WHISTLE
DEAR ABBEY
SAM STONE
SOUVENIRS(GREAT)
THAT'S THE WAY THE WORLD GOES ROUND(FANTASTIC )
AND SOME OTHERS I CAN'T REMEMBER PEACE TO ALL BURT I ALSO HAVE SEEN HIM AT : NEWPORT FOLK FEST ALICE TULLY HALL(LINCOLN CENTER) PHILADELPHIA FOLK FEST(1975) LENOX MASS AND OTHER PLACES I CAN'T REMEMBER

FROM: Theresa 
PHILLY FOLK FEST & THE ILLEGAL SMILE PROTEST IN THE CAMPGROUND
I am just curious if the Folk Fest officials requested him "NOT" to do "Illegal Smile". Does anyone know? In the campground there were protesters, against the new rules enforced this year (no smoking in the concert area, no drugs, no alcohol, no percussion instruments, yada, yada). A flyer was handed out stating that due to the "impending crotchification" of folk fester baby boomers, who now choose to sleep, rather than celebrate the fest; To show your support for contraband of your choice, join us at the 4:00 John Prine concert on the main stage, by bringing your "Illegal Smile".   I didn't really notice any signs, drunks, drugs, or drums as we were all to intoxicated with the show. I wonder if John was even aware of the situation. I thought if he was, he may have done the song anyway, but may not have been invited back again - by the crotchified ones. Does anyone know if Johnny was aware of the "Illegal Smile" Protest movement? If so, please let me know. I really reallly enjoyed the show, and sang along with every song like everyone else around me. I saw him in Vegas in June and he was just as good there too. Prine forever!

FROM:John B  
Saturday, August 28, 1999 at the Philadelphia Folk Festival. John made his first appearance at the Festival since 1974 and it was KILLER! Prior to getting tickets, a call to the Festival folks indicated that 8 out of 10 calls were about John's appearance. It was extremely hot and humid for the afternoon and one could overhear comments about the anticipation of John's appearance. Some folks (including myself) referenced John's last appearance in 1974 when he had a bit of a beer buzz going, fell off the chair and Steve Goodman had to finish the show. The MC actually told this story when he was introducing John to the stage. Although the set only lasted about 65 minutes it was just amazing. I had the pleasure of taking some people to their first Prine show and the one comment made was "I was surprised to see whenm I looked around that most of the people were singing along to the songs". The set list went pretty much as follows: Paradise, Sam Stone, Hello in There,Souvenirs, Dear Abby, All the Best, Fish and Whistle, That's the Way the World Goes Round and Lake Marie (simply an outstanding version! Blew me away). I would estimate there was about 8 to 10 thousand people covering the hill side to hear John. That's an amazing number for the afternoon show. The festival promised they won't make us wait another 25 years before they invite him back and we will keep the pressure on to make sure they adhere to their promise. I already need another LIVE fix for John.

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