After two flights in three days and six hours waiting in line, I've returned from the D.C. metropolitan area and the Kris concert at the Birchmere. It's a great place to see a show and Tuesday's concert was no exception - we sat right at the front, just a few feet left of Kris. I'll list the set list below and add any notes I can remember from the concert. Any quotes, though, are from memory and approximate, as I didn't write any of them down. And, sadly, my camera was turned away at the door, so I couldn't take any photos of Kris.
Shipwrecked in the Eighties
Darby's Castle
Me and Bobby McGee
Best of All Possible Worlds (Here, Kris started into the harmonica part of the song and abruptly stopped, before announcing that he'd picked the wrong harp of the two he was switching between. At the end of the song, he lamented that he had intended to do a harmonica outro, but couldn't. "If I was Roger Miller, I'd think of some clever scat here," he said. "But I'm not, so this is it.")
In the News
Here Comes That Rainbow Again (Kris introduced this song saying he had recently been reading Johnny Cash's autobiography and learned it was his favorite song. He joked that he was glad he hadn't know because otherwise he would have "played it every time I saw him."
Johnny Lobo (Two fans raised a flag during the end of this song - I couldn't see what was on it from my seat, but Kris looked over and seemed to appreciate it.)
The Heart (Here, Kris began and got through the first line and then stopped suddenly saying 'Oh shi..'" He laughed it off and began again without error. At the end of the song, I believe near the line 'The Heart is all that matters in the end,' Kris said something along the lines of 'Isn't that right, George?' Everyone in the audience seemed to think he was making some comment about Bush, but he announced after the song that two of his army buddies were in the audience and they were both named George. He called them two of the greatest human beings on the planet, or something to that effect)
Help Me Make it Through the Night
Casey's Last Ride
Nobody Wins
The Hero
Loving Her Was Easier
Jesus Was A Capricorn (After this song, Kris explained why this song was listed as being 'owed to John Prine.' Kris said it was a line in the Prine's song 'Everybody' that goes "I bumped into the Savior / And He said pardon me / I said "Jesus you look tired" / He said "Jesus so do you" that inspired it. "Actually, I think I might have stolen it," Kris said after explaining the backstory.)
Jody and the Kid
The Pilgrim
Beat the Devil (Kris stopped just a line into this song saying 'Oh, I forgot to tell you something. I was watching the news last week and Mike Ditka said "The going up was worth the coming down."' He then played it through completely.
Chase the Feeling
The Last Thing To Go (Kris introduced this song with the exact same intro as the CD, pretty much word-for-word)
Pilgrim's Progress
This Old Road
The Final Attraction
Sunday Morning Coming Down
Silver Tongued Devil and I (Kris told the story in this song how he played it for his then-5-year old son who told him he didn't think it was a good song. When Kris asked why, his son told him he was blaming his problems on someone else. Kris said as the son has grown older, Kris convinced him the silver tongued devil and he were 'pretty tight.')
For the Good Times
Love is the Way
Encore
Thank You For A Life (Right before the encore, someone shouted out 'Hey Kris, do you remember Pat Garrett?' He looked a little confused by the question, but responded 'Oh yeah. He shot me down in cold blood')
Moment of Forever
Don't Let the Bastards (Get You Down)
Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends (Here, everyone sounded disappointed when he sang 'We may never pass this way again.' Kris responded 'But if we do, we're definitely coming back here.' That made everyone happy."
Kris shook a few hands, signed a couple autographs and then was gone. Apparently, the two Georges he spoke of joined him backstage. He left by police escort about 45 minutes after the show and didn't stop to talk to fans. All in all though, it was a great show.
