Thursday April 19 - Seattle, WA - John Prine at the 5th Avenue Theater with Special Guest: Mindy Smith  Back up band: Dave Jacques & Jason Wilber

By: Maudeen

This was my third John Prine concert, and although not my favorite, I think the man is incapable of doing a bad concert. We had great seats (sixth row, center) and the only real negative was an obnoxious couple sitting immediately to my right who when they weren't talking to one another, were singing along (loudly), whistling, taking flash photos, or walking over me to get (more refreshments, to the bathroom, who knows?) but I digress. Opening act Mindy Smith did an adequate job. Her song dedicated to the memory of her mother, "One Moment More" was particularly touching. Here is the set list for the evening - please forgive any mistitled songs:

I missed hearing Big Ol' Goofy World and That's the Way the World Goes 'Round (or the Happy Enchilada song and story) and a few other favorites but realize he can't do them all in two hours. The consensus from people I talked to after the show was that it was "fantastic" . I was happy I went even though we had a long drive back to Port Townsend on a weeknight -- it was well worth it.

By: MA

As a result of constantly playing Prine on Saturday morning golf expeditions I had two new converts in tow as we crossed the border for the delayed Prine show. The Mount Baker Theatre is a lovely old style theatre built in the mid '20s and has been well maintained and lovingly restored. The evening started off with the rather quirky songs and stories of Dan Reeder. He captured the audience with his simple strumming, stories and between song banter, in many ways not unlike early Prine stage presentations. I must say however that neither of the wives laughed as loud as the men to the song proclaiming that he had all the fu*&%^g work he wanted. After a half-hour intermission the theatre lights went out and rapturous applause greeted John and the boys. The terrible mix made John's voice sound disembodied and nearly unrecognizable during Spanish Pipedreams. The surprise of hearing Picture Show next was spoiled by the still muddy sound. By the time John launched into Flag Decal the sound problems appeared to have been fixed and it became apparent that in fact John's voice sounded strong and was absent of the raw throaty rasp that had been present in the last few concerts we had attended. John took the time to explain a family medical emrergency was the cause of the shows postponement, fortunately the problem has now been rectified. While many favorites were played incuding Angel form Montgomenry, Saddle in the rain, Please don't bury me, Six O'clock news, Souvenirs, The great compromise, Jesus the missing years, Hello in there, Glory of true love, Taking a walk, and Bear Creek. Two takes were required for Lake Marie as John's first attempts were the death knell for at least 3 perfectly good guitar strings. Dan Reeder joined John back on stage for the lone encore, Paradise. The song's highlight was the verse sung by Jason Wilbur. The show was not a classic Prine concert. There was very little of the usual interaction between John and the audience. There were no between song stories. Eventhough most of us have heard them a hundred times, they are part of the charm of a John Prine performance. In fact it seemed at times that the whole perfomance was hurried and had a kind of another town another show feel to it. While it was still a good show , my own personal history of attending 15-+20 shows over the last thirty five or so years tells me so it could have been far better. Clearly every perfomerr has an off night, and it pains this long time fan to say this was one of those. Not bad, pretty good, ...after all everything was just about the same. I still can't wait for the next chance to see one the greatest singer-songwriters live.

By: We'veGotGold
Sad that the sound system wasn't up to par for those farther back. It was a great concert from down in front. John never disappoints. Love his musicians, too. Still knockin' em out of the park for me, Johnny. Nice tribute playing Steve's guitar. He's probably loving it, wherever he is. Hopefully up there with my late husband, (one of your biggest alltime fans) having a ball watching you still jammin' it up. Thanks for a great introduction to your live performance for my daughter & her boyfriend & another friend not familiar with your genius. & Thanks for the great presale deal. Bloomington is a great place to be from, Jason. I'm a transplanted hoosier myself. Had some great times on that beautiful campus at IU. You make us all proud. Y'all come back now, ya hear.

By: Doug Campbell

John Prine without words, can you imagine it? At least in the seventh row of the balcony, there was no making out any lyrics except on a few of his quietest songs. Even when Prine simply spoke to the audience over his PA he could barely be understood. The instruments, except Prine's, were overly amplified into a muddy mess. Fortunately have other superb John Prine concert expriences to remember, but this will not be so for the uninitiated young people I took to this event.

By: Sharon Wootton

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