Hello, This is my first time on arlonet and I am very impressed with the site. I was no less impressed with Arlo last night. I was fortunate to be down the front and was quite moved to be in the presence of one of my all time greatest musical heroes. He was in excellent voice and the between (and during) the songs repartee had me in fits. (of laughter)
Arlo is the sweetest, most intellegent and compassionate of people. He has a big heart and he radiates love and a genuine desire to share of himself. I enjoyed the concert thoroughly. The only bad part about it was that at this venue (a services club) you could buy alcohol. Some of the audience members overindulged and there was the 'one in every crowd' loudmouth up the back who yelled out frequently. After Arlo said something about how compassion and human kindness wasn't just a '60s thing, the 'ugly Australian' up the back called out 'no, mate, it's an Australian thing'. Yeah, right. Try convincing the refugees in detention centres of that. Also him and some others called out references about Woody Guthrie: how he is a legend etc... This is true of course, but a totally inapproptiate thing to be saying. Arlo, is not just the son of Woody, but a legend himself. I hope that Arlo was not too put off or offended by this rudeness.
Thank you Arlo for coming to Brisbane. Blessings and Love to you and yours, Jahara

Hello and welcome, jahara. Thanks for the first review of Arlo in Australia. Come often and visit.

Hi everyone, I was there for Arlo's performance last night in Brisbane, and it was great. I don't know how the local RSL club came to be one out of only 5 Australian venues for Arlo, but Jen and I are so glad that it was.
Gordon and Abe shone with their understated musical mastery, and looked genuinely happy to be there. Arlo is one of the few who can touch people's hearts with more than his music, and certainly brought a tear or two to my old glass eye. Yes, unfortunately Mr Pinhead (and friends) did turn up and attempt to contribute their thoughts and feelings to Arlo's performance, but if any of the many Arlo-fan-death-stares worked then they probably never made it out alive. The music is for everyone though, and at least the loud mouths were good natured. I enjoyed a couple of drinks throughout the performance, many of the 500+ people in attendance did, and although it certainly is not necessary, it does complement the experience.
I have very fond old memories of sitting with good friends enjoying each others company, having a couple of beers and trying to memorise Arlo's lyrics. Maybe the beer was for them. Peace to you all, and always look up.

Hi all, I was also very privileged to have been at the Brissy concert last night. The music was superb and the man himself has a beautiful presence, on stage and off. I was fortunate to speak with him after the show and found Alro to be a lovely gentle soul. How very fortunate we are to live close enough to Brisbane to be a part of this special evening. Abe and Gordon are equally as impressive as musicians and their wonderful personalties were apparent through the gorgeous smiles that showed how much they really enjoyed playing with Arlo and pleasing the audience. Hats off to anyone who can jump off an international flight and give so much of themselves to strangers time and time again. We really appreciated the performance!

I arrived with strong anticipation to see this legend of folk music, and so intimately associated with many greats, including PP&M & The Weavers, and of course his dad, Woody.

The show started with an unknown Aussie folkie, who talked more than she sang. The hecklers started early. When she announced that the next song would be her last, she got the biggest applause of her set. You’d figure that with Arlo’s extensive repertoire he didn’t need a time-filler to start the show.

Arlo’s voice has become like the scratchy recordings of his dad, Woody. I don’t think he’s spent much time with a voice coach. Most of his songs started with a long rambling reminisce about the first time he heard it, were more spoken with an accompaniment than sung.

At about 10:15pm many in the audience called out for him to sing 'Alice', so he sang the chorus, then while strumming the tune spent 10 minutes telling us why he doesn’t sing 'Alices Restaurant' anymore. Something about taking too much drugs in the 60’s and needing a teleprompter. He explained how his daughter & son both know it, but his son Abe never moved from the artificial keyboards to give us what we’d paid to see. On this flat note he ended the show to lukewarm applause, but came back for an encore. He sang part of 'This Land is Your Land', then abruptly stopped midway and rambled on about his lack of interest in politics, and sang the last 2 verses. He told us about buying the church in Housatonic, MA that Alice was set in, but still didn’t honour us by singing it.

He returned for an un-requested encore, 'Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out', a song about a one-hit-wonder who refuses to sing his one hit, and can’t make a living singing his other unknown compositions. I understand the showbiz concept of leave ‘em wanting more, but he didn’t deliver enough to overcome the group disappointment of not singing Alices Restaurant.

I'm one of the fortunate ones whose heard ALICES a few times or more. He doesn't do it in shows anymore since it's so long. Hope folks don't get too disapointed that he doesn't do it any more as he does do plenty of other neat stuff in his shows & that more than makes up for it. Sounds like some great shows up in Oz. Wish I was there!

Hi, Dave, and welcome to ArloNet. I can certainly understand why you're disappointed that he didn't do Alice. It's not as if he gets to Australia all that often that if he doesn't do it this time, there's always next time (next year).

Alice began as an 18 minute "song" and has evolved over the years to somewhere around 25 minutes. You can hear the "new" version by getting his Alice's Restaurant Revisted CD released somewhere around 1995. The length of the song is why he doesn't do it on stage anymore, it simply takes up WAY too much time. At least you did get to hear the chorus, which is more than we get to hear.

As for beginning almost every song with a monologue about either how he first learned it, or about something related somehow to the song, this is his trademark, what we all listen for, to hear his stories. Those of us who are on the east coast of the US (and some from even farther) get to hear him/see him many times during the year. And yet these same stories keep his shows "together."

I always (almost, anyway) know what song he's about to sing by what he's talking about before the show. My 20 year old thought, "that's sick that you know in advance what he's going to sing." But even he got into the whole idea of "knowing" before it happened. And he'd be grinning from ear-to-ear, even tho he just heard the same story the night before!

A professor down in Charlotte, NC said to me at a show last year, Arlo's 3/4 storyteller/comedian and 1/2 singer. And even tho he realized the numbers didn't add up, he laughed and said.... but it's Arlo so it works!

I used to come out of a show feeling like, "sh** he didn't do this, he didn't do that." Not anymore. Now I'm grateful for what he did do... and what he talked about. It's the persona, not which songs he sang.

Dave, thanks for writing. Good to hear your point of view. Sorry you were disappointed. But I respectfully disagree with your presumptions. While it is thrilling to have ANYONE meet our expectations, I view it as a bonus to who they are and what they give in the first place. Obviously there are several perspectives here, from those who found the performance either great or not-so-great. Was it either? Who knows? Not me. Each is entitled to their point of view. We foist many presumptions on our cultural heros sometimes without regard to who they are as real people. Must Arlo -or anyone- "honor us" according to our expectations? Do they really "owe" us anything? Did Arlo have a contractual obligation to play what he's best known for and was it so stated when money was exchanged for a ticket? Did his audience meet his expectations? Were they well-behaved? Did he work around that with grace?

With Arlo and others in the same genre, I prefer to look at every show as an opportunity to just soak up the feelings of warmth and family that I have known for so long. It's also an opportunity to feel my own gratitude and for it to to reach him. Yes, honor HIM. I would encourage those who are looking to see the same face they saw in the Woodstock movie, the same voice they heard on Alice's, to not get hung up on expectations, and just enjoy the live show for what it is. I've heard Alice's many times in concert. Yes it's fun, but I don't go to every show hoping he'll do it (In fact for a time I'd go to shows hoping he WOULDN'T do it so I could hear other stuff for 18 + minutes!). But it's not the only song that makes Arlo who he is. Did you hear his newer songs? Did you catch the nuances of a story? Did you notice Abe and Gordon's musicality? Did you sense their genuine presence and love? And yes, that guy can ramble. I recall that Arlo got his start as "unknown "Yank" folkie, who talked more than [he] sang." So did Woody.

I'd say: Don't get caught in a time warp, and come along for the ride. Don't look for the breadth (he did/didn't do a favorite song or story); look for the depth. If you are just present to the evening you'll get an immense amount out of it. Otherwise you missed it because your were looking somewhere else.

Mio, so extremely well said! My feelings exactly. That "feeling" is why we go see him, not for which song he did or didn't do.

Don't despair. I'm sure Abe might be able to refund your ticket cost with artificial money.

Well, this will be my first time seeing Arlo and I can't wait until Thursday to hear him in Melbourne.

Being a long time Dylan fan, I'm used to going to shows were you are treated with the songs that are presented, irrespective of whether ones I may want to hear appear or not. And without exception, every show is a treat because of what the artist wants to share. I'm expecting that with Arlo.

Arlo - sing what you want in Melbourne - it'll be great!

Dear Brisbane Dave,
Would you be happier if Arlo flew halfway around the world, took the stage and sang Alice's Restaurant, then said "goodnight folks", and that's the show? I think not.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
P.S.
email me if you would like a copy of my most recent recording of a show with Alice's, June 16, 2001. That's the best we can do for now.

Reminds me of a not-so-recent show I saw featuring Billy Joel, who told of a crowd that kept hammering him for Piano Man, which he doesn't like at all. He finally offered a deal: I'll sing PM and then leave, or I'll do my entire show plus an extra few songs. The majority only wanted PM!

Now I can be pretty narrow-minded when it comes to certain (ok, a lot of) things, but c'mon.... Aren't 15 plus songs better than just hearing Alice? It also reminds me of Ricky Nelson's Garden Party.

Went to the Brisbane show and came home smiling, thanks in part to the music, the man and the talk. Can't forget Abe's smile - beautiful. All three were special with their music and their patience, tolerance and easygoing manner after the show. Can't fault the show or the men. Get well Arlo. Can't wait until you come back. I'll be bringing a lot more friends and family members with me. Shame about the few loud mouths but that happens everywhere. It was wonderful that you came back and did the picking considering the circumstances. I truly fell in lust and love!

....welll it's just very cool having all of you Aussies around here.....hope you'll make a habit of it.....and hang around or come by and visit even after the concert glow passes....you might even decide to trek on over by land and visit the Guthrie Center...and who knows where that could lead....
everybody here has a story or two...

...anyway, the folkslinger seems to want some support on the Alice's Restaurant withdrawal thing......he pretty much sings what he wants and that's usually for the best......and truthfully alot of us who get to see him alot more often got a tad tired of the ol' song....heard rumors there were standup and go-to-potty demonstrations and such, but can't say it's really true....

...if you're really missin the song.....look at your watch, time 25 minutes, and you'll know how many songs you would have missed had he actually taken all that time for just one very, very long.... well, you know....

....and then buy the CD....