Review: Prine sings the gospel of song to a full house

Posted by arts_reviews

Posted: August 25, 2008 - 5:27 am

By Dawnell Smith
Daily News Correspondent

Throwing out the TV seemed like a dumb idea with the Olympics underway, but it sounded as sensible as carrying a flashlight in the glove box when John Prine played the Atwood Concert Hall Sunday night.

With music like that, who needs TV? Definitely not the full house of Prine fans at the Atwood who know that the down-home resonance of a Prine song outwits an overwrought tale of Olympian majesty any day.

Prine’s opening number, "Spanish Pipedream" (aka "Blow Up Your TV"), single-handedly captured the whole gamut of life in calloused lines built on the silliness of the human predicament and its accompanying sorrow and redemption.

Ever the brilliant songwriter, Prine kicked off the concert with songs from his 1971 debut album, "John Prine." Once he got through his old protest tune, "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore," he claimed to have hung the song up for good until the President beckoned it back.

"It wasn't a formal request," he said, "but I think he was asking for it."

The crowd of devotees howled in response, as roused by his way of talking as his politics.

A loyal following has always buoyed Prine’s career and they showed up in droves for the three-hour show, equally delighted at the old and the new, from folk-country standbys like “Sam Stone” and “Grandpa Was a Carpenter” to later rock/country/blues hybrids like “I Ain’t Hurtin’ Nobody” and “She Is My Everything.”

The show’s opener Jason Wilber performed a clever, confident acoustic set before donning a suit as Prine’s lead guitarist and multi-instrumentalist while the capable David Jacques fleshed out the trio on bass. Jacques’ soft touch made his stand-up bass a gem to hear behind Prine’s raspy voice.

Not surprisingly, people sighed in relieve when Prine dished out a languorous but gritty version of "Angel from Montgomery," but they also welcomed tunes from Prine’s many albums like 1973's "Sweet Revenge," 1976's "Prime Prine," 1995's "Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings," 2000's "Souvenirs" and 2005’s Grammy-winning “Fair and Square.”

Prine sandwiched a solo set between stints with the band in arguably the highlight of the show. Left on stage with just his voice and presence, Prine’s knack for storytelling sunk deep, not so much out of perfection as heart.

With his band back on stage for the finale, he raged into the eerie and wistful "Lake Marie" before powering through two encores, the whimsical "Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone" and working man epic, "Paradise."

Laid-back and grounded, Prine connected with the audience via his songs rather than too much chatter, saying just enough to leave the audience wanting more. An icon in Americana music, Prine has certainly played better shows in cozier venues over the years.

That hardly matters. With a play list as broad and rich as his, the only bad show is no show—and the folks in the Atwood knew it.

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