John Prine performs The Glory of True Love in Concert
Video of John Prine's Paradise
We saw John Prine in concert in Bloomington, Indiana, last night. Our friends who went to see Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with us last summer insisted we would love him. We did. I was only familiar with one John Prine song, "Grandpa Was a Carpenter" which was on the NGDB's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" album. Terry bought that CD when our kids were little and they both loved the song and knew every word.
John Prine is 63 but looks older. Fans say he never was handsome in the pop star way, but his face has weathered into that of a folk or blues singer of old who lives out the lyrics of his songs. His songs are stories and the concert was a beautiful peek into his heart. He and his band played for about forty-five minutes, then the band left the stage and Prine played accoustic guitar and sang solo for about thirty minutes, then the band rejoined him for the last forty-five minute set. He played with amazing energy for the entire two hours and then pleased his loving fans with two songs for an encore. His songs range from silly to profound, blues to ballads, lively to mournful. Most of the audience appeared to be faithful fans who knew every word of every song.
In the first video above, Prine is playing along with his young lead guitarist. This young man is from our hometown and now lives in Bloomington so the crowd gave him a homecoming welcome. We didn't know this until we ran into his sister-in-law and her mother before the concert. They are friends of friends from our small town who weren't in town for the concert, but were Christmas shopping. Later, at the concert Terry ran into an old friend from our hometown who now lives in Bloomington and he told Terry the same thing about the lead guitarist. It's a small, small world in southern Indiana!
If you ever get a chance to see John Prine in concert, you won't be disappointed. Warning: song lyrics will stick in your head for days afterward and you'll want to see him again.
A bonus: as we left the auditorium at 11:00 p.m., the first snow flakes of the season were falling.
Blessings,
Sandy
1 comments:
It sounds like a memorable and lovely evening. I loved the section in the first video where the two guitars are playing together...and off each other. Isn't it glorious to watch musicians intertwine their stuff?
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