KENTUCKY SHOWS
CENTRAL CITY MUSIC FEST/EVERLY BROTHERS HOMECOMING, 9/2/00    

©Daniel Patmore

• FROM: Fritz
      The only thing wrong with this show is that John only played for a little over an hour. During the course of the day we heard several folks (staff and others) say that John was only scheduled to play a very short set and that he wasn't feeling well. He came out a little before 9:30 with David Jacques and Jason Wilbur and looked great. The concert organizers would let folks into the first ten feet in front of the stage to take pictures so I got to see them play Paradise from there. We were only supposed to take two and leave but I cheated. Wasn't the only one though.
      Saw the rest of the show from my seat and just enjoyed the heck out of it. John sounded very hoarse when he said hello a couple of songs down the line but other than that he sounded and looked great. About three songs in John said he wanted to play the next song (Fish and Whistle) for his boys before they got eaten up by the mosquitoes. "Me, they'll have to carry me away," he said, and I was ready for him to play all night. Wasn't meant to be though but I think that was just because they had everyone on a real tight schedule all day long.
      As I was leaving after John's set a reporter stopped and asked me a few questions about what I thought of the show. Just for the record, I thought it was one of the best bargains I've run across in a long time. It was real well organized and they didn't try to rip us off with the concession prices (free parking even). Letting the fans up close to take pictures was a very nice touch. All the music was good and the Everly brothers were great. That was a bonus since I had only come to see John without even thinking too much about what I might think of the Everly Brothers.
      Anyhow, the reporter sent me a copy of the concert insert they put together and I just got it a couple of days ago. They've got a lot of nice stuff in it about John plus a full page of some great pictures. I used it to put together the set list below. It's pretty funny, though, because the writer seemed to be pretty sure he was supposed to worship John but didn't know his music very well. I've put a few of their song titles in  parentheses below.
  • Set List
  • Paradise
  • Spanish Pipedream (according to the paper "I Found Jesus", a recent hit)
  • Six O'clock News ("Spend the Night With Me" in the paper)
  • Fish and Whistle ("Fishing Whistle")

    ©Daniel Patmore

  • Grandpa Was a Carpenter
  • All the Best
  • Make Me an Angel
  • Dear Abby
  • In Spite of Ourselves
  • Sam Stone
  • That's the Way That the World Goes 'Round
  • Bear Creek
  • Lake Marie ("Standing by Peaceful Waters")

      They seemed to be all set to leave despite a standing ovation but the mayor came out to give John a plaque in appreciation of all the times he has played at this show. Apparently he made the first eight before missing the last three. After that John said they would take us home one more time and closed out with Paradise again.
      At any rate, the set list sounds about right to me except that they missed Souvenirs which was somewhere around seventh or eighth. John dedicated that one to Steve Goodman.
      If any of you want to try to get a copy of the concert section from the local newspaper you might want to get in touch with them at:
      The Times-Argus P. O. Box 31 Central City, KY 42330 ph:502-754-2331 
  It's dated September 6, headlined "Prime Prine Finds Paradise At Last" and makes a great souvenir.

• FROM: Angel
  Tried to see John in Little Rock in May but was rained out, very disappointed. Was thrilled to find out he was going to be in Kentucky. Drove 4 hours to see him in Central City and was worth the drive, he was awesome. Am a new fan and don't know how I managed all these years with out his music. Thanks to my friend who introduced me to John's music, both will always be a part of my heart.

• FROM: Dayner
  When we got to the show. Someone from security we was talking to said John wasn't feeling good. He put on a good show but having seen him at least 10 times we could tell he just wasn't in to it and wasn't feeling well at all. When he talked (which he didn't but maybe once or twice another rarity he's voice was really hoarse and strained more so than usual. We left the concert feeling worried and concerned for him. Has anyone heard anything lately about his health? Maybe he just had a cold or a touch of something. He opened and closed with Paradise and the mayor presented him with an award for being one of the original performers for the Homecoming. The crowd really loved  In Spite Of Ourselves. Trace Adkins said he was God! 
  

• FROM: John Wyatt
  I drove 9 hours from Muncie Indiana (one way) to see Prine. It was definitely worth sitting through about five painful hours of crap waiting for him to take stage. The only thing that detracted from witnessing the mans' genius was the ignorant local yokels who boo'd and made fun of him in anticipation of seeing Trace Adkins, some f***ing pretty boy who struts around in tight rustlers and sings songs other people wrote for him. Other than that John Prine at Central City was better than Johnny Cash any day of the week.
  

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