This reminds me of a John Prine show I attended maybe 18 months ago. I'm a longtime fan, used to see him and Steve Goodman at Summerfest in Milwaukee for the price of gate admission in the 1970s. Both of them were wonderful musicians and songwriters.
So a friend said he wanted to see John on a recent tour, and DW and I agreed to join him. Balcony tickets obtained, and we learned they were $80 a pop (the cheap seats). John, sad to say, looked like h3ll. He had had throat cancer, so his voice is a croak. BTW, the place was sold out.
After the show, we concluded that at least we were funding his retirement accounts, and we'd probably never have a chance to see him again. Well, he made another stop in the area maybe nine months ago, and he just performed again in Madison last month.
I kind of regret seeing John in his diminished state. I'd much rather have retained the image of a long-haired guy with a soul patch singing about his grandpa the carpenter and the illegal smile.