I have seen him in concert probably 10 times or more, once 3 times in 8 days (Madison, Eau Claire, and St. Paul)! This concert had to be one of the very best! The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in the Portland Center for the Performing Arts looked to be sold out! The audience was totally attentive. John has gone through a couple hard bouts of throat cancer, and no one knows when his last go-round is going to be...He played for two hours straight! He started out with his band, 3 backing musicians, then they took a break and he played 6 or 7 songs by himself on the guitar. His vocals were rough, but strong. Then his band came back out to finish the evening.
He told several stories during the evening, but my favorite moment was at the end of my favorite Prine song, Lake Marie. His usual ending is the line, "Oh baby, we gotta go now!" Then the band plays a riff behind his talking as the song fades away. This time he said his line, then added, "And baby loves to cha cha!" As the band continued playing, John turned away from the audience and shook his booty, doing a little cha cha step from side to side for about 45 seconds. The place went wild!!Thanks, John, for another great time! Love you!!
For those of you who may not know John's work, I've included a few gems that you can find on YouTube.
Angel from Montgomery (duet with Bonnie Raitt)
Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (duet with his wife at the time)
Unwed Fathers
In Spite of Ourselves
Souvenirs (JP with Steve Goodman)
Hello In There
Please Don't Bury Me
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