Sunday night I made my way to Marlborough, MA to see Arlo and company. I've also seen it spelled Marlboro, so I was hoping the directions I printed off from the web were sending me to the right place. They did. I was driving there alone, with no one to read the directions to me, and it was the first time in my life that I thought that maybe bifocals would be a good idea. I just wear glasses for close up stuff, and didn't think to bring them with me, so it was a real challenge when I got to the point where I needed to read the directions to actually be able to read them without causing an accident while I squinted away. I can fully relate to Arlo's middle-aged shortened arms now, and in future when I have to drive somewhere alone, I plan to write the directions in big block letters with a black sharpie. Anyway, I managed to get there, and was really surprised when I realized that for the first time in years, I was at a show where the only other people I knew there were the performers! I just figured that someone else I knew would be there. Oh, well. There was an opening act--a guy named Don White, who was very funny and took over half an hour to do 4 songs, so he was a pretty appropriate opening act for Arlo. After a break, Arlo and company came out and did one long set. He just had Abe and Gordon with him--all dressed in black. I missed Gordon's usual red shirt. It was nice to hear him sing harmony with Abe, though. The show was great, as usual--no big surprises, but the audience was really into it and everyone was having a good time. I scribbled down a set list, and if anybody really wants to know what songs were performed, I will try to read it, but you've got to remember I was writing in the dark, without my glasses. Arlo sat at a table and signed autographs afterwards, and there were LOTS of people who all wanted to meet him. I finally made my way to the front of the line and got to say hi and have him sign a tshirt--one of the new ones that they used one of my photos on, which I now just might have to get framed. It was a wonderful night, all in all, and I found my way home without problem, because I didn't have to read the directions--I just had to replay them in reverse in my mind.

I've been living here in Marlboro for about 6 years now, and it doesn't seem like an Arlo-kinda-town so I was really blown away when I saw a flyer in the supermarket saying he would be playing just a few blocks from my home! The set and the topics on his mind, as well as the audience response, were all pretty similar to the show in Newburyport the night before, so I'm not going to try to re-invent the wheel when PlatoEuclid did such a great job describing that one.

Don White was indeed a great choice for an opening act - I'm familiar with him as a local performer, and when I saw the ad for the concert I felt it was a really inspired pairing! I recommend his "Two Vagabonds in Disguise" cd, featuring "The Shameful Ballad of Lijah the Precocious Orchard Queen" (a very funny piece about his dog) as well as one of the tunes he did on Sunday, "I Know What Love Is".

Anyway since I had this impression of Marlboro as not-so-much-an-Arlo-kinda-town, I was really curious to see how much of the audience would be hardcore Arlo fans and how many had come mostly to support the benefit for the local service agency. I can only say that anyone who didn't love Arlo when they got there loved him before they left.

Although I've been coming to hear Arlo since I was 13 (that's 35 years - you can do the math!), this was the first time I actually spoke with him and got his autograph (great t-shirts, Judy!) I also found out about this cool website, and after reading it for a day or two I feel at home already even though this is my first post.

Thanks, all, for being there.

Thanks, Morwynna! And welcome to these boards!

Judy Post the setlist. We're used to reading between the lines. Is he still doing songs off Son of the Wind???? It's been almost a yr now since I've been to a gig, but love the ol Cowboy Ballads....I just wish he'd to the Woody's Rag...The one about 'Hard Work'....

Yeah, RB, he sang Dead Or Alive, and talked about how cowboy songs originally didn't have words, just yodelly sounds, 'cos, after all, they were mostly sung to cows. I don't have time to post the set right now, but I promise I will later!

Hi rbrown-
I haven't seen Arlo since October,but one of the funniest stories he told at the time was about an old guy in Jackson Hole, Wyoming "not even there-near there..." Arlo told how the ol' cowboy thanked him for putting out a record of ol' cowboy songs.Arlo invited him to his show,but the ol' duffer said "I don't go to shows".Arlo then played "Riding Down the Canyon".
I'm not exactly an old duffer (though my kids might argue with that at times),but I,too, appreciate the old cowboy songs.It's one of the few things my dad and I have in common.(I gave him a copy of "Son of the Wind" years ago).When I was a kid in the '60's my dad used to dig out the huge old projector in our basement every now and then and play 16mm movies of Roy Rogers,Gene Autry,etc. for relatives and friends.I ended up marrying a women who has ridden ponies since she was a child.It's been awhile since we've been able to afford the upkeep of horses,but we've owned a few.It's a passion my wife has in her blood.They say that you're a real cowboy(cowgirl) if you enjoy the smell of horse manure first thing in the morning.We own a homemade soap business with 40+ scent choices,but I swear she would rather take in the musky aroma of a horse stall than any of the expensive essential oils we use in the soaps.
(For potential soap customers: she hasn't cleaned a stall in a few years...)
There is something about fresh hay,old leather and equine manure that almost makes me wish I had been born a century earlier.The old cowboy ballads touch a passion deep inside that I think reminds us of a simpler time,before things got so damn complicated.There have been a lot of positive changes in our society,especially in the past century,but there are times when I wish life hadn't strayed so far from our earthy nature.
"Son of the Wind" brings back some positive memories for me.
It's also a reminder that Arlo is one of those few,rare talents still around who hasn't sold out to Madison Avenue.He plays and records from the heart and spirit, not from the wallet.That's one of the things that make him so unique,and a reason we're all here.
Hoping all is well in Blunderville for all you Blunderheads.
Peace
Gary (the dreamer)

Dear Dreamer: Anyone that quotes Thoreau, is okay by me. I also am with you on the born a few yrs. too late idea. One can only speculate as to how free this courtry used to be. Before honking cars, bustling city streets, and even yes the internet. (don't those pop ups kill)???

My Dad had horses when I was a kid. If I think (meditate) long enough, the taste & the smells come back to me. Nothing like the smell of fresh country air. ntm: certain plants trive pretty good with horse-shit. I miss my days as a youth, even then dreaming of a simpler time....

*"I drink my coffe from a can"

Oh yes, I worked on a dairy farm when I was younger (oh so much younger) and it's sometimes hard to explain to some folk why manure is just the right smell at the right time. I haven't looked for any manure-scented soaps but I do check out a lot of things that claim to smell like hay, alfalfa, newmown grass, etc. Sometimes one will give me a good flashback.

Thanks for the welcome, Judy, hope to "see" you more soon.

I wanted desparately to be a cowgirl when I was little! Actually, I wanted to be Annie Oakley, and ride a horse standing up on its back. I was all ready for my horseback riding career. I had my red and black cowgirl outfit, complete with fringe, I had my cowgirl hat, I had my cap gun, I even had cowgirl boots, hand-me-downs from Emily MacGregor next door. One other thing Emily had was one of those rocking horses, you know, the kind on springs in a frame. One day I decided to give the Annie Oakley thing a try, and climbed aboard and stood up on the thing. It looked so easy when Annie did it on a real horse, but I soon found out it was hard....the linoleum floor that is, 'cos that is where I soon found myself after being almost instantaneously airborne. That was pretty much the end of my horseback riding career. These days I just satisfy myself with the occasional yodel.

Over the year's we've gone to concert's and just thrilled to see Arlo come to Marlboro! Excellent show! Loved all his song's, woody's and Cisco Houston's! First time we've heard Arlo sing Cisco's song's and it blew us away! People in the audience went wild too! We even spotted our Mayor in attendance! We got to say "Hi" to Arlo...just amazed to see him in the lobby walking amoung us! Hope to see you again soon Arlo!

Richard and Sandy

i always loved horses when i was little too, they were magnificent...but i can't remember wanting to be a cowboy...i wanted to be an indian!
i was five when i had my first horsie ride. i couldn't believe how high in the air it put me. the girl who let me ride her horse was forever in my opinion, a paragon of goodness...i can't remember ever saying much to her, but i was all smiles every time i saw her (she was a big girl, probably sixteen ...in my opinion, she was a saint.

OK, here is the setlist, as promised, and I didn't even need my glasses to read it:

Chilling of the Evening
My Front Pages
Won't Be Long
Dead Or Alive
Gypsy Davy
St. James Infirmary
Darkest Hour
Mooses Come Walking
Portland Town
When A Soldier Makes It Home
When The Ship Comes In
Patriot's Dream
City Of New Orleans

Encore: This Land Is Your Land

Of course, there were lots of stories in between, but someone said you could read between the lines......

Tx Judy for the setlist! The storys are a given. Maybe that's one thing AG has helped us all in? Reading between the lines! It's like another Folky says. "You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows"

* Especially when it comes to horse manue. All this talk of country, makes me wish I were back there. But that's an impossible dream. I guess that's why *Slowboat* is one of my favorite Arlo writings. I love that line "IF I could go back home, to the place I was raised". That song really tears me up. Quite possibly one of his best works. I mean besides "Days are Short"

rb