Home Up Boise, ID Vancouver, BC Seattle, WA Portland, OR Interlochen, MI Minneapolis, MN Fish Creek, WI Madison, WI Louisville, KY Edmonton, AB Sandpoint ID Whitefish, MT Chicago, IL Charleston, SC Birmingham, AL Yosemite, CA Clearwater, FL Jacksonville,FL Austin, TX Helotes, TX Vienna, VA Hanford, CA Dallas TX Kansas City, MO Peoria, IL
| |
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!
|