Seattle, WA
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Seattle, WA |
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LARGE TURNOUT FOR JOHN PRINE --October 18, 1997 © Jerry Briggs John Prine entertained this Saturday night audience with song after song in a most memorable concert. With over 1800 fans in attendance, John Prine and his band, consisting of Jason Wilbur on guitar, mandolin, and harmonica, and David Jacques on electric and stand-up bass, continued their successful tour of the Pacific Northwest. With funny stories informing the crowd of "the rest of the story" behind his songs, John held the audience and sucked applause out of them at every turn. His ability to charm and win an audience within three songs is an attribute for which most performers would die. John grabbed them, and he then refused to let them go this evening until he had sung twenty-seven of his original compositions. Ranging from funny (Blow Up Your TV, Space Monkey, Please Don't Bury Me, Bottomless Lake), to tragic (Six O'Clock News, Sam Stone), to nostalgic (Souvenirs, Paradise, Grandpa Was A Carpenter, Mexican Home), John pulled the strings on his audience's emotions all evening long. Grinning both to the crowd and to his musically gifted band, John seemed to be having as much fun as his audience. He was relaxed, funny, and was in rare form with his often-raspy voice. Christmas In Prison, while on this year's CD "Live On Tour" album, is nonetheless rarely performed on this year's concerts. Tonight it was done, and John's voice has never been smoother or mellower than it was in delivering this old gem. John has been to Seattle before. The acceptance from the audience suggests he may soon have to consider a site with even more seating capacity. John once again scored a home run every bit as big as Moises Alou's in Florida. While the Mariners had no representation in this first game of the World Series tonight, John went to bat for the city and will be remembered long after the series is history. The beauty of the surroundings in the 5th Avenue Theater set the expectations for the evening's entertainment here in Seattle this Saturday night. Thanks to Mitchell, John's Tour Manager, the complimentary tickets for the evening's show were in the third row, right in the middle. I settled down in the soft padded seats, glad for the width of them, and watched both Iris DeMent and John Prine put on exemplary shows. Iris started off the evening, and again had the full attention of an audience that arrived early enough to hear her music and to enjoy her off-the-wall comments. Iris is a real person, and the audience senses that quite early. She is able to lightly poke fun at herself, and allows the audience to relax and realize that she is exactly who she is. Her encore after a lilting set was proof that her work this evening was appreciated. Iris was obviously pleased at her reception; the second night in a row with a standing, applauding, cheering audience. She smiled, acted almost embarrassed by all the adulation, and sang a final song. "I notice I get more cheers when I turn and leave.... I'll have to turn that way more often!" John and his band were greeted by yells of approval. The bands, always outfitted very neatly, were in suits and John had his normal jacket and black shirt. David Jacques' rented bass this evening was the shiniest I have ever seen, and the lighting from the balcony, a vast improvement over the previous night's visibility in Portland, caused him to stand out in his relative shadowy spot. His work was often spotlighted, such as in "Ain't Hurtin Nobody" and "Hello In There". The audience showed him their appreciation. John seems to enjoy letting his musicians bask in their "show-off" spots, and encourages the spotlight to go to them through his stage movements. When he walks and the spot follows, soon the object of his intent is fully visible. It is the mark of a good boss to give employees credit for their good work, and John does this almost subconsciously. Tickets for this show outsold the previous evening by several hundred, but there were extra seats still available, and a last minute "cash" price of $24.50 was offered to last-minute patrons, and probably thwarted the scalpers out in front. While possibly causing discontent with fans that paid more, probably by the next day this was forgotten. The show was undoubtedly a profitable date, and the thinking was clear that "any seats sold for any price at this point is just extra profit." Makes sense! I located Scott, a regular in the chat room. He is the guy who was so concerned about attending the concert that he bought his tickets early and put them in the freezer under his beef roast to make sure that if the house burned down, he could still go to the show! Maureen (Teresa) and her sister Sharon, met the night before in Portland, had bought tickets for the Seattle show as well, and they attended. John, meeting them in Portland, promised them passes to next week's Eugene Concert! They got their pictures taken both places. 5th Avenue Theater does not allow any pictures, anywhere anytime, but John had no problem with it, and he even took a picture of me with my two long-lost nieces who reside in the area. The mood in John's spacious dressing room was pleasant and quiet. John was relaxed, pleasant, and still basking from the feeling gained from having pulled off still another successful show. Of interest in the show was John's inclusion of Please Don't Bury Me and Mexican Home. Last night in Portland he had thrown out The Great Compromise. Each night concerted efforts from the crowd had pleaded for "Bad Boy "(Portland) and "Killing The Blues." Neither of these is a part of John's 1997 tour, but bring up an interesting thought. John has a ton of beautiful material, but not the time to perform it and still get in the expected classics. Perhaps the inclusion of long-gone songs from the past might add even more sparkle to his show. His efforts on these three (four, if you throw in hardly-ever-done Christmas In Prison!) were highly successful. The crowd, of course, was unaware that any of these were an exception, but their reactions and applause indicated that John had made a good choice. Theater management told me that John's concert here was a "four-wall" date. This means that his booking agency, Monterey, called and arranged for John to be here, agreeing on a price to rent the theater's "four walls" for a night. Explaining that the price was just for the rent, he went on to say that then it was custom-designed for exactly what John required in the way of staff from Seattle. Monterey takes their cut of the monies collected, and in turn promotes the date and guarantees rental payment, regardless of fan turnout. The business end of a band on the tour appears to be most interesting. Mitchell handles much of that on the road, and was seen signing the time cards of the help used during sound-check. He is the detail man, handles a thousand little chores, and is of service to John not only as a friend, but also as a go-between. John can watch TV before a show while Mitchell is running around like a crazy man getting all the ducks in a row. This particular show had unusually pleasant and aggressive ladies in the lobby selling his shirts, CDs, and fly swatters. Many dollars of income are brought in by this vending at each date, and it is Mitchell's job to drag the recycled-from-China boxes all around to the shows, count them out, recount after the show, collect the money, pay the commission, and reload them for the next show, less perhaps one or two or those boxes, depending upon the night's sales. It is interesting how well served John is when he does take time off from
his touring. His life at home apparently is good, and he comes back remarkably
regenerated, new, fresh, and in top attitude. This tour ends...for a few days...after
tomorrow's Vancouver, BC engagement. Back to Nashville for three days, then back out to
Denver. This type of work-rest-work may be paying off. I look forward to both the third of
three on this leg of the tour, and to next week's dates. We'll see how the brief R & R
at home helps each of the guys. 1. BLOW UP YOUR TV --band leaves-- 11. DEAR ABBY --band returns-- 21. PLEASE DON'T BURY ME --encore-- 26. UNWED FATHERS (WITH IRIS DeMENT) |
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