Until last weekend, I’d only seen John Prine play at festivals. He has become a staple at Newport over the past few years, and was a highlight at The Cook Brothers’ after show in 2018. The other festival I saw John play was the Fleadh in London in the spring of 2004. It was raining that misty British rain and there were about 300 of us crammed into a tent while most of the festival crowd watched a very drunk Adam Durwitz and The Counting Crows suck at music. John started that set with “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore,” saying, “I wrote this song during the Vietnam War and I stopped playing it for a while. But George Bush made me get it back out again.” One of the best parts of that experience for me was being a few steps back from a father and son; the son was maybe fourteen and the two of them sang every word to each other, smirking at the funny lines.
My son is eleven and he recently got interested in John’s work. I played him “That’s The Way That The World Goes ‘Round,” from the Live album (1990) and he especially liked the story John tells about the happy enchilada. So, I got to see John Prine with my son. While I’ll admit that maybe everything sounded that much sweeter to me that night, this is one of the best concerts I’ve seen all year.
It makes a difference, perhaps, that John is touring in support of The Tree of Forgiveness, which opened at number 5 on the Billboard 200 chart when it was released. It’s a really, really great record, so there is nothing nostalgic about this show. You’re listening to a songwriter with a lot to say about the “Caravan of Fools” currently squatting in the White House and the small moments that make up our lives. He told a great story about the inspiration behind “Egg & Daughter Nite, Lincoln Nebraska, 1967,” which I won’t ruin for you, except to say when he heard a friend describing this childhood memory, he said to him, “Hold on, the song’s writing itself!” Of course, it’s Prine’s skill at translating those memories and vignettes from our lives into song, turning a cliche on its head, and taking pleasure in the odd ways we communicate with each other.
And as much as the new songs were truly, truly fantastic, it doesn’t get much better than Prine singing, “Hello in There,” a song written when he was in his twenties, full of empathy for older people, as an old man himself. David Jaques’ bowed bass on “Hello in There” and Fats Kaplin’s pedal steel both perfectly underscored the reflective emotion of the song.
The band as a whole was unbelievable. Jason Wilber (who, as John noted to the crowd, is “a very fine songwriter himself”) has played guitar in John’s band for twenty years, and it shows. He knows just how to accompany without overwhelming the lyric; it’s all subtle and so gorgeous. Fats played everything (pedal, electric guitar, mandolin, kazoo, and fiddle) but when he picked up the fiddle, he transported the songs to another plane. When he played fiddle, I closed my eyes–I didn’t want any distractions from how rich and creative those sounds were. Jaques was, of course, as good as they come–and he’s played with John for twenty-six years. And Kenneth Blevins on drums might have been the unsung hero and MVP. He played mostly with brushes, so it was all pretty understated, but especially on a song like “Storm Windows,” which can stall a bit through the chorus, Kenneth kept the train on its tracks and kept songs moving forward.
John played a fairly extended solo set in the second half of the set list. He started the solo portion with “Angel from Montgomery,” with the whole crowd singing along (with some folks maybe needing to dial it back a little bit for their fellow audience members). He followed that with “Souvenirs,” which he co-wrote with Steve Goodman. My son turned to me after that one and said, “This is amazing.” Hell yeah. After “Donald and Lydia,” he played, “That’s The Way That The World Goes ‘Round,” singing ‘happy enchilada’ in the third chorus without telling the story (most folks seemed to know it anyway).
Ben Dickey, who opened the show and played Blaze Foley in the movie Blaze, directed by Ethan Hawke, joined John to duet on “Mexican Home,” and Blaze’s classic song, “Clay Pigeons.” Ben is well worth checking out; he’s a good guitar player and a self-deprecating and easy-going performer. And, in a huge compliment, John said after Ben left the stage, “I haven’t picked like that with someone since Steve Goodman.” John played “Sam Stone,” starting solo and David and Jason joined mid-way through the song. He introduced it, saying that it was the first song he played in public and then when he finished, nobody applauded, they just kind of looked at him and he looked back at them. All these years later, I’m not sure I’ve really ever heard a song like it.
The band came back out for “God Only Knows,” and a triumphant version of “Lake Marie,” which had John cutting a rug and dancing off the stage. For the encore, they played “When I Get to Heaven,” which, in true Prine fashion, blends humor and sentiment perfectly. For, “Paradise,” the finale, John invited Ben Dickey back out and Fiona Prine also joined for harmonies. Everyone sang along. My son and I were singing to each other.
This is an amazing live show: one of the greatest songwriters of all time at the top of his game. You can’t beat it.
Photo Credits: Ken Templeton