I just received my schedule for the Philly F.F. and I was thrilled to see Arlo will be performing Alice's Restaurant. I saw him once back in the 70's at a place called The Mainline in Philly.I loved his interactions with the crowd,and I can't wait to hear his opinions about the horrible situation our nation is involved in with this Iraqi war.
I'd love to hear him sing Reubin Clamzo,but anything by Arlo is great with me.

The Old Club was called the Main Point and it was a very intimate Club with modest seating, and the banana nut bread and herbal tea was a treat - I saw Doc Watson perform there, and it was biblical. It could not have sat two hundred and fifty people if that, and it was right next to a baker. Now you can imagine that baker wasn't happy he had to get up very early in the morning - and well he did his best to shut the club down - I know the Outlaws played there (Southern Rock) - the old baker must have loved that. In addition a great local band at the time "Johnny's Dance Band" used to be so much fun - of course Bruce Springsteen played there (way early in his career) as well as a whole host including Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, and Commander Cody - fun place and a legend in Philadelphia. In fact a new venue sporting the name "The Point" has opened up nearby and is continuing on with the tradition of great national and local artists performing in an intimate setting - go see Lauren Hart with her acoustic when you are in town - you'll be happy you did!

Your description of the Main Point,(thanks for clearing up the name for me),was perfect,I could almost taste the tea and muffins.
Will you be attending the Philly Folk Festival?

Keep in mind that at Philly, they're going to sweep everyone out the doors about 4:30pm, (they sure as hell don't tell you about it in advance!!) and then let you pay to get back in at 6:00. I was told by one of the volunteers that this was to give 'em a chance to pick up the garbage (they can't do that all day long whenever the cans fill????) and let their 2,500 volunteers (who all seem to be hanging around backstage so they can rub elbows with the performers) eat their dinner in peace. I guess they never thought about feeding people in shifts. They also said they were afraid people would park their blankets in the same place all day, and sweeping people out kept people from laying stake to the same real estate all day long. (Huh??? it's a folk festival!!!)
I know it's an old festival with a long history and a lot of great music (that's certainly not the issue!!) but I've sure been to a lot of much better run festivals...like Clearwater. As an attendee, Philly feels like it's being run by paramilitary people. Step over one of their little white chalk lines sometime, and see what happens! I remember walking through, and seeing Christine Lavin being marched through the grounds with four big guys...in front, behind, and both sides....like they assumed folkies were gonna hurt her, or something. And at Clearwater, you see Pete Seeger and all the other performers walking the grounds totally unmolested by anyone, smiles on people's faces, and good vibes all around.
I went to Philly....once.
There's a much nicer location for a show the next day in Ocean City, NJ..

I too gave up on the Philly Folk Festival many years ago. It's no longer being run by the guys who created it all those decades ago. Gene Shay now hosts (as far as I know it's still going on) a smaller festival in May at a campground near me.

The last time I went to the PFF was around 8 years ago when Arlo was a last-minute addition. He played for around 1/2 hour (long enough to hear Alice). Abe was with him.

I, too, have my tix for OC and won't go to the PFF. Maybe if enough people read Sue's post, and pass on the information, word may filter back to the folks running things that they shouldn't have tried to "fix" something that wasn't broken in the first place.

FYI the Point is closing or it has already closed. It was a cool place to see live music. They moved 2 doors down from the old MainPoint. I've seen a ton of shows at both places. Seems like they tried to get a booz license and couldn't. They could only seat around 80 or so, so the top acts couldn't afford to play there and the less big acts couldn't draw. Coffee was good.

Damn, I can't believe they closed "The Point"! I wanted to go there ... sigh.
Anyways, I too have tickets for the Ocean City show, it will be my first Arlo show. I read on a forum that the venue is quite chilly because of the A.C. Is that true ? Also I'd love to hear from somebody who has been there before, whats it like, does he say "Hi" afterwards ? etc etc
Thanks
Beth

Beth, for me, it's freezing. Maybe others don't feel as affected by the a/c as I do. It's a flat floor venue so if you're short like me, well, I usually try to swap with someone who has an aisle seat so I can see.

I'm taking my kids to OC on Thursday. The beach is nice, the boardwalk's kinda ok (compared to AC and Wildwood) and the OC Music Pier has a large outside (covered) area over the beach where Arlo usually hangs out afterward.