John Prine shows?

[EC]

i haven't been paying attention - have these started?  i see there's one tonight...

boy oh boy.  BOY.  this is exciting.

[dragonboy]

Jim James opening for John Prine? What I'd give to be there...
Hope anyone that's going has a GREAT show!

[BH]

I hope we get setlists and at least one gets taped.....

[Icaros]

Just got back from tonight's show.  Lucked out and got a second row center seat.  Didn't bother staying for John Prine.

Jim was accompanied by Carl on either steel guitar, acoustic guitar, or keyboard for all but "What a Wonderful Man."  Sounded great.  Made me cry.

Setlist (may not be exact order):

Tonight I Want 2 Celebrate w/ You!
Hopefully
I Needed It Most
Gideon
What a Wonderful Man
Nashville to Kentucky
Golden
Anytime
Bermuda Highway

Obviously, the set should have been twice as long.  Hope it's not the exact same thing tomorrow night.

[dragonboy]

Wow...just got goosebumps!
Thanks for posting Icaros  :)

Didn't stay for John Prine?

[Icaros]

Yeah, I don't have the patience to sit through shows anymore unless it's something I really really need to see.

I watched some Prine videos on YouTube after I got the tickets, but nothing really kicked me in the guts.

[tomEisenbraun]

What instruments did they play for Tonight I Want To Celebrate with You?

[aMD]

wow, tonight i want to celebrate with you.  that's the first live performance I know of.  I hope this was recorded.

Thanks for posting, but you should've really stayed for John Prine, but to each his own I guess.

[dragonboy]

Thanks for posting, but you should've really stayed for John Prine, but to each his own I guess.

I thought the same thing but I respect Icaros's decision to leave when he did.
On the one hand he could have stayed to check out a folk legend but on the other hand he had just seen the greatest artist/performer of our generation (well, 2/5's of...)
Fuck, I'm so jealous!

[Icaros]

The instruments for "Tonight I Want..." were Jim on acoustic and Carl on steel.  It sounded very different from the recorded version.  I didn't recognize it until I got home and found it on the CD.

Honestly, I'd never even heard of John Prine before this, and I thought I'd at least heard of everybody.  I don't mean to disrespect a legend, but I have other things I'd rather do, and he got my money anyway.

Like I said earlier, I'm pretty burned out on shows and just about never go anymore.  The fact that Jim James was playing a show where I wouldn't have to wear earplugs or be smashed up against some sweaty animals is what brought me out of my boycott.

[BH]

Oh man, Tonight I Want 2 Celebrate!  I've always hoped Jim would do this live!  I love the fact that he is pulling out some classics on his solo sets.  Nashville to Ky too!  Since this is John Prine I guess taping is probably not allowed, huh?  Did you see any tapers?

[Icaros]

Setlist for 2nd night in SF:

Old September Blues
Bermuda Highway
It Beats 4 U
Wordless Chorus
Gideon
Golden
Hopefully
Anytime
Tonite I Want 2 Celebrate w/ You!

Last night I wrote that Carl played keys on a few songs, but I think I was tripping.  He played the steel guitar for most of the set, and acoustic on a few numbers.  His slide playing sounded like the ghosts of a million dead cowboys.  Awesome.

Also, Jim played that little Casio looking thing on "Tonight I Want..."  I could have sworn that he played guitar on that track last night, but then again I thought CB played keys, so who knows.

Jim was really funny tonight.  His best line was:

"That was called Wordless Chorus.  It's about conveying emotion without using words.  That's why the chorus has no words."

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.insidebayarea.com/music/ci_4542860

CONCERT REVIEW
Prine is still in his prime
By Jim Harrington, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Article Last Updated:
 
Rock stars have been mixing humor and heartache for decades. Country players have been doing it, often unintentionally, for even longer.
Yet, the degree to which John Prine — a musician who straddles the line between rock and country — accomplished the combination on his self-titled debut of 1971 stands as a true innovation in the history of popular music.

Fast forward 35 years and the singer-songwriter is still balancing laughter and sorrow — perhaps better than ever before. His most recent work, 2005's "Fair and Square," is filled with great tunes that can put a tear in your eye and a smile on your face.

Grammy voters obviously knew a good thing when they heard it, at least in this case, and awarded "Fair and Square" the trophy for Best Contemporary Folk Album earlier this year.

On Monday night, Prine again tugged on the heartstrings and tickled the funny bone with a set of old and new favorites at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco. It was a superb evening of music that put a definite spotlight on why Prine is considered one of the finest songwriters of his era.

Another fine lyricist, Jim James, opened both Monday's show and the one that followed at the same venue on Tuesday. James is a strange bedfellow for Prine. He's best known for fronting the fine four-piece My Morning Jacket, an exceedingly popular rock band that will close out the year with a three-night run, Dec. 29-31, at the Fillmore in San Francisco. (Those tickets go on sale Nov. 5 through Ticketmaster outlets.)

Accompanied by MMJ guitarist Carl Broemel, James proved the skeptics wrong with a fine set of dreamy, hypnotic songs that nicely complemented Prine's folk-rock offering. Plus, there weren't as many skeptics in the crowd as one might think. A number of fans came specifically to see James, and some even left before Prine took the stage.

Their loss.

Opening with a solid take on the first album's "Spanish Pipedream," a tune that has become better known over the years as the "Blow Up Your TV" song, Prine made like the postman he once was and delivered the goods on this night.

The vocalist-guitarist kept the pace lively as he moved to 1991's "The Missing Years," arguably his finest album to date, for the fun "Picture Show" and then floored the crowd with the heartbreaking "German Afternoons" track "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness," a song that was covered in remarkable fashion by Nanci Griffith on her "Other Voices, Other Rooms" disc.

He had fans rummaging through old yearbooks and scrapbooks in their minds with his begrudgingly sentimental "Souvenirs," one of the key tracks from Prine's sophomore outing, 1972's "Diamonds in the Rough." Prine then jumped up a year to 1973's "Sweet Revenge" and turned "Grandpa Was a Carpenter" into a regular hoedown.

Prine's voice isn't as strong as it once was, and that was a bigger factor on Monday night than it was during his show last year at the Fillmore. Part of that has to do with age, given that Prine turned 60 just last month. It also can likely be credited to the surgery and radiation treatment that Prine underwent in the late '90s for cancer on his neck. Truthfully, however, the weakness in his voice was more noticeable when he spoke than when he sang.

The rest of the night was filled with stellar versions of some of Prine's most beloved tunes, notably "Fish and Whistle," "Dear Abby," "Angel From Montgomery" and the sad, but comical "Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone." He also performed a number of "Fair and Square" tracks, including "Glory of True Love" and "Crazy as a Loon," most of which were every bit as strong as the old fan favorites.

The encore climaxed with a powerful version of "Paradise," which benefited from the return to the stage of the two My Morning Jacket members.

Paradise.

That's a pretty good summation of what it was like to be at John Prine's concert on Monday night.

Write music critic Jim Harrington at jharrington@angnewspapers.com. Check out Harrington's blog at http://www.insidebayarea.com/music.
 

[Icaros]

"...and some even left..."?  

I sure didn't see anyone else, and there was only one entrance.

This guy should've interviewed me on the way out!

[dragonboy]

This guy should've interviewed me on the way out!

;D

[tomEisenbraun]

He's best known for fronting the fine four-piece My Morning Jacket, an exceedingly popular rock band that will close out the year with a three-night run, Dec. 29-31, at the Fillmore in San Francisco. (Those tickets go on sale Nov. 5 through Ticketmaster outlets.)
blog at http://www.insidebayarea.com/music.

exsqueeze me?

[ali]

James proved the skeptics wrong

what skeptics? it makes it sound like he & mmj are just starting out.... and if you ever mention a band in a review, AT LEAST manage to get the number of band members right.

[whothrewthecake]

that's so exciting that they got to sing with JOHN PRINE on stage

[aMD]

wow.  jim and john prine sang paradise.  i NEED a copy of that.  Not only for the covers comp but just to hear it!

[RIGHTON]

Leaving before John Prine?

You are so cool.