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| John Prine 2011 - photo by Bob Conroy |
Such talent! Turns out that Dement is married to Iowa’s Greg Brown and he came on stage for the encore which, of course, was “Paradise”.
We planned to go out to dinner before the concert but did not preset the location so it turned into “Where do you want to go eat ?” followed by the required rejoinder “I don’t care, where do you want to go eat?” We exchanged this several times, trading roles each time but getting no closer to a final answer. Finally, we talked ourselves into Jethro’s BBQ by Drake University on the theory that school is out so it would not be too crowded. Epic fail! As we pulled into the parking lot there were aging frat boys spilling out into the parking lot, beers in hand. (btw, just when did a punk with a beer get labeled a “Young Professional” or “YP”? )
Jethro’s was too loud for us from the parking lot, never mind going inside, so we headed downtown and figured we would have an extemporaneous dining experience also known as winging it. After an interesting drive down University Ave to 6th Ave we arrived at the Civic Center. Where do you want to go eat?” followed by the required rejoinder “I don’t care, where do you want to go eat?” morphed into “Where do you want to park?” followed by the required rejoinder “I don’t care, where do you want to park?” We ended up parking a block north of the Civic Center after three scoops of the loop.
As we approached Nollen Plaza we noticed a lot of those YPs with glasses of wine. Yes, it was Winefest. The YPs were dressed up, i.e., most of the women wore dresses with the appropriate bling while their escorts had their shirt tails tucked in for a change. I know from high school chemistry class that C2H5OH is C2H5OH whether it is beer, wine, or hard liquor but the wine industry has positioned their product quite well. Incredible how much money is made by the alcohol cartel.
We had purchased our concert tickets from a link on Prine’s Facebook page just minutes after it was posted. This required going to “Will Call” to pick them up. Wow: row A and seats 44 and 45; front and center! With the tickets safely stored in one of my 20 zippered vest pockets, we walked down to Court Ave in search of food. More of the “where do you…” exchanges led us to Legends. This was the restaurant that “dissed” the teachers last year and scrambled to make amends. We waited to be seated as instructed by a sign but there was nobody to seat us or even acknowledge our presence. Debbie was getting ready to leave but I was wary of triggering the “Where do you…” loops again. We were rescued by momentary eye contact by an employee and seated a few minutes later.
There were distinct seating areas. A bar up front full of loud YPs reeking of insecurity, to the right a room full of families with children, the outside seating (82 degrees and humid) with people sneaking cigarettes and a small section near the kitchen and restrooms full of older people. We were seated with the old folks and quite happy to be placed there. The food was okay but we are not “live to eat” people so the cost of eating out never seems worth it to us.
As mentioned already the concert was great. It was a little different from the regular Civic Center crowd and the rules were different. People were allowed to come and go during the concert and there were a few people that thought they were in a honky-tonk. One lady was apparently unaware that she only purchased one seat as she gyrated in a much large space.
We planned to go out to dinner before the concert but did not preset the location so it turned into “Where do you want to go eat ?” followed by the required rejoinder “I don’t care, where do you want to go eat?” We exchanged this several times, trading roles each time but getting no closer to a final answer. Finally, we talked ourselves into Jethro’s BBQ by Drake University on the theory that school is out so it would not be too crowded. Epic fail! As we pulled into the parking lot there were aging frat boys spilling out into the parking lot, beers in hand. (btw, just when did a punk with a beer get labeled a “Young Professional” or “YP”? )
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| Iris Dement and John Prine 2011 - photo by Bob Conroy |
As we approached Nollen Plaza we noticed a lot of those YPs with glasses of wine. Yes, it was Winefest. The YPs were dressed up, i.e., most of the women wore dresses with the appropriate bling while their escorts had their shirt tails tucked in for a change. I know from high school chemistry class that C2H5OH is C2H5OH whether it is beer, wine, or hard liquor but the wine industry has positioned their product quite well. Incredible how much money is made by the alcohol cartel.
We had purchased our concert tickets from a link on Prine’s Facebook page just minutes after it was posted. This required going to “Will Call” to pick them up. Wow: row A and seats 44 and 45; front and center! With the tickets safely stored in one of my 20 zippered vest pockets, we walked down to Court Ave in search of food. More of the “where do you…” exchanges led us to Legends. This was the restaurant that “dissed” the teachers last year and scrambled to make amends. We waited to be seated as instructed by a sign but there was nobody to seat us or even acknowledge our presence. Debbie was getting ready to leave but I was wary of triggering the “Where do you…” loops again. We were rescued by momentary eye contact by an employee and seated a few minutes later.
There were distinct seating areas. A bar up front full of loud YPs reeking of insecurity, to the right a room full of families with children, the outside seating (82 degrees and humid) with people sneaking cigarettes and a small section near the kitchen and restrooms full of older people. We were seated with the old folks and quite happy to be placed there. The food was okay but we are not “live to eat” people so the cost of eating out never seems worth it to us.
As mentioned already the concert was great. It was a little different from the regular Civic Center crowd and the rules were different. People were allowed to come and go during the concert and there were a few people that thought they were in a honky-tonk. One lady was apparently unaware that she only purchased one seat as she gyrated in a much large space.
At the end of each song she warbled an Indian war cry that sounded like Neytiri of the planet Pandora. I am sure she is nursing a terrible hangover today and would not want to hear her own war cry. We are an interesting species, n’est pas!
John Prine is in a Bob Dylan mode of constant touring but that cannot go on forever. Catch him if you can!
John Prine is in a Bob Dylan mode of constant touring but that cannot go on forever. Catch him if you can!