Merlefest 2006: Thursday Night -- John Prine

I've never seen Prine live. Oh. My. God. He said he played his set in reverse, starting with the crowd favorites Paradise and Angel From Montgomery. I'm just so bowled over that there's not much to say... it was just incredible.

Getting there on Thursday, the first thing I noticed was that there were lots more people than usual for a Thursday night. We're starting to call this the "Prine effect." Good job whoever decided to book him for Thursday! You really drummed up some attendance! Almost the entire crowd even braved the very, very cool weather to see the entire set.

His voice was more gravelly than the older nasally style I normally associated with (my meager knowledge of) John Prine, and the new sound really suited him. It added such a hint of drama that I was constantly drawn into the lyrics. He was backed by only three instrumentalists, but they had a very unique and tight vocal harmony style.

The bass player switched between a dog-house upright bass for the acoustic songs and a blazing electric bass for the rowdier numbers, including an insane version of "Bear Creek," the classic folk/country song. Isn't "Bear Creek" an old-time number? I always associate it with bands like the Reeltime Travelers and Big Medicine here in NC.

The two guitarists/mandolinists were interesting. I think Prine deliberately picked a young guy and a middle-aged guy to handle the switch-off between electric guitars, acoustic guitars, and acoustic mandolins. The mandolins really gave each song a distinctive sound, and both players had a style much different than the other. (And in all fairness, the older guy rocked harder than than the younger guy!)

All in all, this was definitely one of the very best performances I've ever seen at a Merlefest, and in my five years of attendance, that's saying one helluva lot. I only wish they'd be posting that set over at Festivalink. Sigh.

More CDs to buy:
* John Prine's latest CD