Helotes, TX
On the Road with WOG and John Prine

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JOHN T FLOORE'S COUNTRY STORE, HELOTES, TX


MARCH 28, 1997
copyright 1996,1997 Jerry Briggs (WOG) 

     Summer has come to this rustic village located 15 miles away from the Alamo in San Antonio. Today's 90 degree heat was a welcome change from the chillier late-spring weather that the previousconcert dates had offered.
    From Fargo, Duluth, and Milwaukee just 10 days ago to the tropical weather experienced here is quite nice.
It's 6:30 pm, and John and the crew have just left the stage after a sound check that tested outseveral of tonight's numbers. RB Morris has just come up for his check-out of the local setp.
    Unusual in many ways, this concert will be held outside. Steve Laughlin, the actual owner of the operation, had booked John in during January, using the Farmer's Almanac to elect to have it held outsideinstead of in.
    In talking with his mother, Laverne Laughlin, I learned tht this old saloon/restaurant has been around since 1938, with Steve and his parents having owned the place for the past seven years. The business building has been officially accepted to the National Historical Register, according to Mrs. Laughlin.
    CB Laughlin, the father of Steve, has retired from regular work but works here" body ever' day. Have to. Too much work to lay off any!" Five days from now Willie Nelson will be here, at $20.00 a ticket. At any given week, they are selling any of four or five different shows. The phone was ringing constantly as I talked to CB before he would open the doors to let the already long lines of people in, a full hour before the kickoff by RB.

Mitch, John's road manager, had told me in Dallas about Steve. Acting on my complaint to him in Kansas City that I had been unable to purchase tickets for this show, he called and found that they sell them only at the door, never using an agent such as Ticketmaster.
    "We don't charge an extra fee, like they do," Laverne told me." There's nothing extra added." She took me over to huge kettles where she had already prepared most of the food they offer for sale during their events. There are tamales, sold by the half-dozen, $2.50 . If you prefer the Sausage Platter, it is $7.25 and she has already done the cooking of them. Nachos for $2.00 involve opening up bags of them and keeping the cheese warmed up. The last item is BBQ Buns, with buns in the warmer and Barbeque already simmering.
    Temporary seating has been set up in front of the stage. Normally this prime area is used for dancing, and the actual seating of customers is done at the multitude of picnic table inside the area. This place began as a rural Mom-and-Pop grocery, then they added on the "dance hall" which is about 60 by 100. Food was sold on one side, then you had to go out the door and back in the dance hall to get your booze. The McLaughlins strive to keep it "rustic" since the snowbirds like to come down and be treated to Texas-style hospitality during the slower winter months.
     Outside seating will work for this show; the Farmer's Almanac was correct! CB, Steve's father, says he lives and dies by it. Asked what would have happened if it rained, he grinned and said, "Then I guess they'd a got wet!" No alternate plans were there to move it inside..."holds 397 inside, we might get as many as 2000 out there, don't know!"
It was an interesting spot for a concert.

PRINE TAKES THE ALAMO;
TO MOVE TROOPS ON TO AUSTIN

    John Prine lived up to the expectations of his many fans at Helotes, TX Friday night. This venue, located 9 miles out of the 10th largest city in the US, San Antonio, has only 1525 persons calling it home.
    It would been a great night for looting in Helotes: about 1300 were in attendance at this show.
Under-the-stars and a clear, crisp night, the setting was perfect for John. The acoustics were tempermental, but all attending heard about all they needed.
    No set list was made: this was the first time in five concerts that I took no notes, just sitting back and totally enjoying the show as a fan. The songs presented wandered from humorous to silly to deeply touching. For the second night in a row John sang "One Red Rose," and it definitely hit home with the Texans.
    Of interest, also, was when John, on-stage doing a song, had a piece of paper thrust at him on the stage. When his song was up he approached it, took it back to his gadgets table, and placed a capo on the 5th fret of his guitar. "OK, since you came all the way from Tuscon," he grinned. He then broke into "Mexican Home," (the slow, sad version) and did a great job. Momentarily stumbling over a new verse in the middle, he never faltered, but kidded about it and carried on. Crowd laughed with him in approval.
    John's anecdotes before many of the songs showed his voice box was definitely in pain, as he was raspy. This didn't carry over much into his singing, and only one fan I talked to noticed it. She said she'd told her friends that it sounded like he was getting laryngitis, and they disagreed.
Five shows in the last six nights is probably the culprit. John has one more show on this leg of the '97 tour, and that will be in Austin, and will make six shows, seven days!
    Some performers who give their audience a dozen or so songs and then a couple encores might also get strained and tired. John doubles that output, and he seems to refuse to leave the stage until he has treated that particular audience to what he believes they will like.
John is very sensitive to calls, laughs, and nuances emitting from the audience. He misses nothing, and he has an instinct that is responsible for his building each night a new clique of fans. When John came to San Antonio, he left with a whole raft of new fans. Willie will be there, in this same venue, Wednesday night. Waylon has appeared. While rustic, the equipment is in good shape, and this "Jack T Country Store" is a good place for a performer to be appreciated.
    Later talks with fans indicated that this show was the first where folding chairs were EVER set up. Steve Laughlin, the owner of Jack T, decided early on that the normal dance floor would not be good for a John Prine audience. So seats sold, at the door only, $20.00 ("we don't have an upcharge like Ticketmaster!") said Seve's mother Laverne.
    Steve's decision proved to be good. He reported advance sales of 800 tickets, and of course more were sold as the event was starting.
A comment from a patron who attends lots of events at Jack T Country Store: "I looked at the audience and I couldn't believe them. They were listening to every word. These are the same people who get in here and dance like crazy at other concerts! "
    She, incidentally, loved the show. "John never has been to this area before, and we've always wanted him to. I've been a fan for 20 years and never got to see him until tonight!"
    Another lady, however, informs me that, although she didn't go, John was at Sea World "a year or two ago."
CB, Steve's father, informed me that John was originally booked for last May, with Guy Clark, and that it fell through, so in January got rescheduled here. Helotes/San Antonio fans were glad!

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