Great Show tonight in Keene. We always leave your shows with a smile. Two issues though. How can you not play Alices Restaurant a week before Thanksgiving? It wasn't nice to not take a moment to sign an autograph.

...imagine how many times Arlo's played that sound though?!

If it actually took a moment, I wouldn't hesitate to sign autographs. Unfortunately it usually takes more than an hour, and much of it ends up on eBay. It takes more energy and is more stressful on our voices than doing the gig itself, putting the tour in jeopardy. We didn't come to sign autographs like a book signing. So it just isn't possible.

I haven't done Alice's Restaurant onstage for years. Most of our regulars know what and what not to expect regardless of the time of year. Repeating songs over the course of your life is easier when the songs only take a few minutes. It's a sacrifice you make as there's only so much time. Some people go away disappointed because I choose to move on and do material that is closer to the person I am today rather than repeat myself endlessly over a career closing in on 50 years - some come to share the new stuff. Some come back, some don't. Sometimes the seeds of destruction are in the fruit of success.

adg

From all of your shows (so many I've lost count) that I've been to over the past 30+ years, I've got signed stuff like shirts, ticket stubs, LP's, CD's, DVD's, pictures, books, even a guitar......and I swear NONE of it has ended up on e-bay!!! My kids fight over who's gonna inherit the stuff Perhaps the most unique item is the one you DIDN'T sign....it came from last year's gig near St. Augustine with the whole family. I bought a white "event" T-shirt, and throughout the afternoon got everyone in your family, except a couple of the youngest grandkids, to sign it. Even got Stetson Kennedy and Ramblin' Jack to sign it. I knew better than to ask you. But when I yelled "Hello!" at you backstage, you took a moment to come shake my hand and that was OK by me BTW, just how much is your John Hancock going for these days???

None of my stuff of yours will ever go on Ebay. I treasure it all...

Obviously I wasn't thinking about YOU GUYS!!!!

Hehehe...I mainly have ticket stubs, but I still possess all of them...

Edited to say: The new stuff is great...Don't we need a new album? (CD whatever)? I mean come on...Popular Demand, My Old Friend, My Peace...I could go on...but you know better than I what would work...I think it's there...just my 32 cents...

I think that I speak for a lot of people when I say that memories and experiences are far more treasured than autographs and things like that.

Yes, I would love an autograph, but I value the memory of an Arlo-gig-experience far far more. Or am I just being naive??

Oh, and I 2nd the idea of a new album (a recording of My Peace in particular) now that WOULD be flippin' fantastic...

Same here I treasure it too Arlo!!! Especially seeing you for five years I know better than that

Does this mean we can't say hello to you anymore after the shows?...When I was at Infinity Hall I wanted to say hello to you but the backstage entrance was blocked off and after the show I missed you by this much....Next time I will break any backstage gates or chain and tell security or whoever that I am from Cosmopolitan Magazine doing a cover story on you Arlo, sound peachy?

Same here...I have lots of stuff (and several different musical instruments) graciously signed by Arlo, but none of it will ever end up on eBay.

I'm betting not exposing one's self to a hundred or so people a night wanting signatures/photos is healthier, too...'cuz some of those folks will show up with bad colds.

Arlo is right about the eBay stuff...there's this bald dude I've seen several times at the Birchmere, (for many different musicians) a show in Delaware, a few shows in Jersey...pretty much up and down the East coast...who comes in when the concert is letting out. He doesn't buy any tickets to the shows, and he ALWAYS has a shopping bag full of stuff he wants signed, claiming that it is all for his "personal collection." He's got drum heads,album covers (dozens!), guitar pick guards, photos, posters, etc. He works for autograph companies...he makes a living preying on the good nature of performers, and sells all the signed stuff to autograph companies. He's also careful to ALWAYS take a photo of the artist signing stuff as proof of signature. Sometimes he has a buddy with him, who also has a shopping bag of stuff. These guys DON'T support the artists, they never buy tickets, and the only aim is to get as much stuff signed as possible. A couple of years ago at the Keswick, security must have recognized him, because they threw him out. (I was smiling!) Every bit of his stuff gets sold, whether it's at some shopping mall or eBay. And he's just one guy...there's a LOT of people just like him out there. The artists don't get any benefit from these guys.

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I have seen this as well. The guys that amaze me are the ones that always seem to show up with the LP's wanting the covers signed. If there were one I would say OK he's just sentimental and as a fan would like it signed. But when they come with an arm full of old LP's you know the guy is just out to make a buck on the artist name. Me, I just cherish the memories from the show. I have one autograph from Arlo which I have framed and put on my wall. But it is the memories that mean more to me than everything.
-Eric

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I want an autographed balloon float