We debated which song John would open with, and the old standby Spanish Pipedream came through for me. John made a comment that Spanish Pipedream wasn't really the first song. He said that he wrote that one to give people time to get to their seats so he could play the real first song. Now speaking of songs, I couldn't help but notice the political statements that John made on the Fair and Square album. (He still calls em records and I still call em albums....) This was the most politically charged show I've ever seen him do. It's no secret that John leans to the left politically, and I'm not getting into a discussion about politics here with you, I'm simply making a statement about the show. Enough of that. Now, he did "Flag Decal" which WOG and I had never heard him do live. Then during "Some Human's Ain't Human" the original song says "When you're feeling your freedom and the world's off your back, some cowboy from Texas starts his own war in Iraq", During the show, John changed the words to say "Some beady eyed guy from Crawford starts his own war in Iraq". Interesting. Then during a rendition of "Illegal Smile", during the part where he says "The judges name is....." he threw in "Roberts" instead of Hoffman. Now, I don't want a bunch of political emails. I'm not taking sides here, John did not talk any politics at all during the show, I'm just explaining the "feel" that I got was a very politically charged atmosphere in which John was making a statement.
Now, about Mindy Smith. I jumped right into the Prine show and didn't even mention her. Shame on me. I'd never heard her before, and didn't know who she was, but I was pleasantly surprised. I actually enjoyed her opening act. Most opening acts I've merely suffered through because they're not very good, or I'm too excited about the headliner. I would have to say that in this case, I came home and looked Mindy up on the net to find out where I could buy her cd's. If you don't know who she is, she's the wonderful voice on "Long Monday" and "Morning Train". Good stuff. Held my attention. Not a bad deal for an opener.
Now onto the musicians. I was very happy to see Dave Jacques on bass, standup and electric, Jason Wilbur on guitar and mandolin, and special guest Pat McLaughlin on mandolin, guitar, backup vocals and some funky chicken dancing. In case you didn't know already, Pat cowrote "Crazy as a Loon", "Taking a Walk", and "Morning Train". I missed Phil Parlapiano, "Mr. Squeeze" at the show, but the musicians were excellent as always. Jason Wilbur is a proffesionalist who, as far as I could tell, never missed a note. Buy the way, if you're interested, you can check out some of Jason's solo stuff at jasonwilbur.com.
The last time I saw John Prine at the Ryman Auditorium was in the mid 90's on the "Lost Dog's" tour. I caught him at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville a few months back and he just didn't look like he felt well. We didn't know what to expect at the show, but when John hit the stage, the energy literally exploded. It took me back ten years. He looked and sounded great. Put in little funny lines at just the right times. I couldn't have asked for a better show. Hope you enjoyed the review, and if you have anything to add, anything at all, just Email me and I'll add your comments here. Thanks for stopping by. Come back soon for more monkadelic updates in the Prine and Groovy Music world.
Oh, by the way, Here's the set list: