Sunday, April 13, 2008

"Blow up your TV, throw away your papers. . ."














After years of adoration and idolization of the major songwriter to come out of Chicago, in my opinion, I finally got to see John Prine live in Rochester, MN. I thought who else could possibly be as obsessed with this ghoulish icon? How wrong I was! More than a thousand fervent fans packed the concert hall, and also knew ALL the words to John's great songs. After his bout with cancer ten years ago, I was worried he wouldn't sound the same. He did, and maybe even better. It was like coming home to a comfortable chair and having it enfold me.

His opening act, Paul Thorn, was a great surprise, too. With his kooky song writing ("Joanie, the Jehovah Witness stripper", for one), he made an impression and made me think maybe Tupelo, MS, wasn't all bad.