Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC |
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Charlotte,
North Carolina
PRINE PLEASES CHARLOTTE PATRONS About 1700 fans left the Ovens Auditorium Saturday night with smiles on their faces. John Prine presented a non-stop 2:20 show that left no doubt to those attending that he is indeed worthy of the praise that has been heaped upon him by critics for a quarter century. John's 1997 tour, begun February 28, visited Charlotte for his sixth performance of the season. Fresh out of Durham the night before, John and his two band members showed no signs yet of tiring. They were cheerful and enjoyed the interraction with their audience. Two dozen old favorites were presented by John, along with an unissued song, "Space Monkey," (to be on his new April CD release). This was a crowd to be reckoned with; they knew John, and it was obvious from their screams, squeals, and applause, that he was delivering just what they expected. While thirty or forty songs were requested from the audience, John stuck to his playlist. The only problem with a concert held by a master who has never released a bad track, is that through the years the sheer quantity of material dictates the absence of most from a performance that has time restraints. Indeed, had John done the tunes the crowd begged for, it would have been time for church the next day before he could have finished. The songs John sang reflected old favorites, newer releases, and overall a good sampler for any uninitiated to his diversity. While two songs in a lengthy shower would tire the vocal chords of nearly any of us, John delivered his program without any weakness visible in the delivery. JOHN PRINE'S SETLIST FOR THIS CONCERT CROWD PICKS FAVORITES THROUGH APPLAUSE While Charlotte's crowd liked virtually the entire Prine show, their applause in some cases showed a bit higher score on some. Let me give my impressions... SHOW STOPPER--#1 FAN FAVORITE --"Lake Marie"...John had smiled frequently through the evening when fans screamed out this title, hoping he'd sing it for them...and finally he did, after 21 previous songs. It was worth the wait. This song was played for all it was worth; the band jammed and improvised for 10-12 minutes, taking advantage of its natural form to dart in and out, expand, and show off their musical talents. The telling of the story by John was most effective...he changed the lyrics slightly, as in "whichever came easier." The crowd listened raptly to the story, as he played to the hilt his talking-singing styles...this one received a standing ovation at its conclusion. This performance alone was worth the price of admission. #2 HIT OF THE EVENING---"Dear Abby" This is one of John's best-known songs, and the audience cheered at the beginning as soon as they recognized it. The performance was good and John took liberties with the lyrics on this one, as he did on several others through the night..."Signed, Recently Married!" #3 HIT OF THE EVENING--"Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian"...John sprinkled plenty of his novelty songs in, and the audience loved them. The suggestive lyrics were not lost on this crowd, who hung on his every word, and understood and laughed at all the right spots. Rather than take his performances A-Z, I'd like to say that all were well done. The instrumental on them was in many cases odd and unusual; John was using two fellows who haven't been exposed to his music that much, apparently, but who are adaptable and willing helpers. John and his two sidemen were all dressed in suits. The pony-tailed helpers were quite neat and clean looking, while John looked, as is often the case, rather odd in his black suit and black shirt... Lighting in the theater was complimentary to his band; it was from overhead and lit them well, as they stood a bit farther back on the stage than John did. John, unfortunately, took a bit of getting used to! His hair these days looks like it's fighting with him and winning, and is spiked without his being aware of it. John is quite pale, at least beneath the unforgiving lights of the stage. Beaming from directly overhead, it highlighted the fore-mentioned head, while leaving his eyes sunken like a cadaver's. His face looks pasty for the first hour, and then you get used to it. John's frequent smiles during the show helped take away the attention from his strange appearance. Lighting for John, while it would be less comfortable for him, should come from forward to avoid this initial look... Instrumentation, mentioned earlier, should be commented upon. These band members have been given a go-ahead from John, obviously, and their different "comment" on how to perform the background music is both interesting and most palatable. John must be given credit for allowing his music to be "changed," a trait that would not be found in many high-ego artists. I had the idea that they enjoyed working with John...and well they might: after about 40 minutes they were let off the stage, while John plunged on with almost an hour by himself. "No Smoking" means no smoking in the theater, not on stage! John had at least a half dozen during his performance, with a quick puff and a drink of liquid after each number. One comment he made was to the effect of, "damned Generics!" John: everybody in the place paid an average of $1.00 per song you performed! Break down and buy some Tailor-Mades! I enjoyed the whole show. I had never seen Iris Dement before, although had heard of her from frequenters of the Chat Page. She opened for John, and joined him in one of my all-time favorite numbers, "Unwed Fathers." She MADE the song, it was fabulous, in my opinion. John deferred to her lead and sang a plaintive harmony on this touching song. The crowd enjoyed it, too, but I was ready to be put away for the night: it was indescribably good. Fans of "bottleneck" guitar playing will enjoy watching Jason Wilbur on many selections using this technique. He turns in a nice job on mandolin when the song calls for it. Indeed, he had half-a-dozen instruments at ready at all times. He did most of the back-up harmony on John's songs. The bass man, introduced as a Nashville resident from Wooster, MA, was David Jakes. David seemed in another world, always playing, always smiling pleasantly, but only singing on one occasion that I noticed. He too demonstrated versatility, playing stand-up string bass with both finger-picking and bowing. He was equally comfortable with the electric bass, and at one point played a tiny tuba (which John referred to as something else...). At one point John broke a string right as the song finished, and before he turned around, there was a replacement brought on stage. The "roadie", who was also a musician, was very adept at being there before his efforts were expected. He joined in the finale, "Paradise", as did Iris. I have seen many concerts by this man. Some were longer, most were shorter, all were notable and worthy of remembering. This was, however, the first time I ever saw Al Bunetta, who came out, didn't introduce himself, but who introduced Iris. He is reminiscent of Allen Ginsburg, a fifties beat-poet! Of interest when John was introducing "New Train," was his dedication of the number to his two boys, Jack and Tommy, "two and one," according to him. The inevitable dedication to Steve Goodman after "Souvenirs" was nice, as was the playing of "The Easter Tapes" CD previous to the show. John relates well to his audience, as those listeners to his live cuts have evidenced. At this show, he did finally get where he was kidding and telling stories, but it took him awhile. He pretty much stood protected behind his four light boxes on the floor and seemed ill at ease until after doing several numbers. His smiles then seemed to old friends, rather than nervous grimaces made to placate his customers. John seemed a bit disrupted by the constant screams for requests from the dark theater. Once, when about ten titles were yelled out from ten places around the room, he grinned and said, "I'm familiar with them all!" John introduced "Space Monkey" humorously...introduced "All the Best" as a love song...even though, he says, when he wrote it was about his divorce. Now, with alimony paid and the divorce over, he says, "I wish her all the best!" Kinda nice. In "Quit Hollerin' at Me!" he adds a line, "Don't Make Me Use This Thing!" He mentions in 'Lake Marie', "His Irish Bride!", certainly not part of the original lyrics but a tribute to Fiona...he tells the crowd that he wrote "Souvenirs" driving in his car to his first gig's bar, where fear of not having new songs for the nightly faithful put the pressure on him. ...wondering, when he got there, if he could play the right chords to the song he had sung himself in the car! Mentions writing "Sam Stone" while he was delivering mail..."it was a long route!" John's finale song, "Hello in There," evoked a lot of applause. This song was the FIRST where he left the safety of his big black boxes and ventured out closer to the edge of the stage. It is a place he would find effective to use to deliver the occasional solo number in future shows, I believe. John's shyness is part of his appeal. Each of us has natural tendencies to avoid, at any and all costs, getting up in front of others. I believe the audience reads this, and appreciates him for being just like them. John comes off like the common person's troubadour, and it helps his fans feel close to him. I talked to many persons before the show. They ranged from about 20 to around 60. Many of the couples had one hard-core "Priney" in the house, and the other tagged along to make a twosome. I found myself behind a lady from California who screamed, jumped up, yelled out titles, and just had the time of her life. She had a frenzy I see exhibited here on the chat room from time to time, and it was inffective. There were also many who have Internet access; I spread the word where I could. Of note: I'm surprised, with Al Bunetta's management behind him, that John didn't remind his audience of the upcoming album...or even have advance copies to sell...or past issues to sell. I always assumed this was part of the fringe of marketing; T-Shirts, etc....
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