We just got back from seeing Arlo play at the Common Grounds music festival in Westminster, Maryland. While we certainly enjoyed all of the other artists who performed there today that we were able to hear, it was very special at the end of the day for the two of us to be sitting together on that bench in the shade of the trees, listening to Arlo sing "City of New Orleans". I think that moment alone was probably worth the whole price of the admission ticket.

Songs played (to the best of my recollection, titles may be wrong and may not be in the right order):

Down by Baltimore (Who Y'all Love)
Coming Into Los Angeles
Oklahoma Hills
Haleukai(?) Blues
Song about Al the Goose
Patriot's Dream
City of New Orleans
Me and Bobbie McGee
This Land is Your Land
Old Friend(? New Song)

Hi, Zandra and welcome to ArloNet... our home on the web. I'm glad you liked the show and hope you'll join all of us at more shows in the future.

Lance, Michael and I had a great (hot, humid) day at Common Ground on the Hill in Westminster, MD. The "main stage" was in the park's pavillion with bring-your-own seating. We laid out a blanket and 3 chairs, a cooler. Then walked away to set up seating at the Family stage where SarahLee and Johnny would be performing.

At some point after we got settled into our spot at the main stage, I saw Arlo's bus out on the main road. I was heading to check out some of the vendors' booths, but as the bus parked, I was right in that area, so I waited for Arlo to come out. He walked right over to me and gave me a hug, then Gordon came out and kissed me hello. The I saw Abe and I told him about the gifts and brownies for after the show.

We then walked down to where SarahLee and Johnny were going to be playing and I saw the cutest thing. SarahLee was getting ready for the set and Johnny was with Olivia at one of the animal areas where there was a goat. Olivia (she's SO adorable) walked over to the goat and said in her tiny voice, "meow." Now, how cute is that? Later, she decided she wanted a microphone so it was handed to her. She knew exactly what to do with it and when she was done, said to her mommy, "put it back," as she was reaching up trying to put it back herself. And she's not even 2 yet!

After their set we walked back to the main stage area where who should I see sitting right in front of my own blanket? Sue and her hubby. So we left our blanket for others to use and we moved our chairs to sit with Sue. Of all the places she could have set up her chairs, she chose the exact same spot I'd chosen! How strange is that? She said that being long-time Blunderites, it stands to reason that we'd both pick the same spot to be.

Ramblin' Jack came out to do his set. His voice was shot from having a cold. He had some coughing fits, seemed a little off tonight. I'm hoping by tomorrow's show he'll be feeling a whole lot better (maybe my brownies will have helped him somewhat). He sometimes talked directly to Arlo who was sitting just offstage to Jack's left. He opened with San Francisco Bay Blues, so I knew then Arlo wouldn't be doing that one. He also talked about having had a dog and seemed to be about to sing Old Shep, but never got around to it (sound a bit familiar?).

After Jack, Arlo's entourage, including SarahLee and Johnny, took the stage. Arlo said he was so happy to be here in MD in the shade and only around 85 degree weather as tomorrow morning they are heading out to Okemah where it's 120 and there are no trees.


Arlo's setlist
Green, Green, Rocky Road
Oklahoma Hills
St. James Infirmary
Haleiwa Blues
Portlandtown
Coming Into Los Angeles
Slow Boat
Old Shep (Ramblin' Jack talked about it, forgot to sing it!)
Me and My Goose
Patriot's Dream
CONO (Arlo said, "thank you, Steve Goodman" as he finished)
Back by Popular Demand
Me and Bobby McGee
My Old Friend

***Encore***
This Land

I will have SarahLee and Johnny's setlist as soon as I get some help from Bob, who knows the correct names for ALL their songs.

As Arlo left the stage, the organizers called him back to the stage. They had a birthday cake and had US sing to Serena (age 7) and HIM! Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Arlo and Serena, Happy birthday to you! That was fun, singing to Arlo!

This was the LARGEST crowd I've seen in a very long time. Many I spoke with have only seen him once or twice before. None had been to The Church and I was glad to extole its virtues as well as give out this website's address.

After the show, the line for autographs and greetings was extremely long. Arlo and the kids seemed to like the brownies and gifts. Lance and I had the chance to talk to Jack and you should have seen Olivia with chocolate brownie all over her cute little face. If George approves it, I'll be bringing brownies to The Church in October for sale.

Photos of Olivia, SarahLee, Johnny, Jack, Abe, Gordon and Arlo can be seen at http://community.webshots.com/user/w3webdesign in the Common Ground on the Hill album.

Terrie - WOW!! You have some great pictures! Looks like a good time was had by all who attended. Little Olivia is SO cute!!!!! Thanks for sharing. I don't blame you for canceling the trip to OK -- TOO HOT for me, anyway. I took a look at some of your other pictures and enjoyed all of them.

My husband is originally from Oley so next time we're down to see his folks, we should give you a call, just to chat -- blunderite to blunderite!!

Thanks for the exellent report Terrie. The pictures are great. Thanks for sharing. We'll be sweatin' it out in Okemah, hopefully we can come up with some useable photos from there to share.

Thanks for the report! Sounds like a great time. If he hadn't came to Hampton we'd have probably gone to this one. Planned on going until Hampton came up & then it'd been too hard to go here after Hampton so we chose the closer gig. Great pics! I noticed in the show he was wearing what he wore for his shows in Hampton. That was sweet of ya to give him brownies. I wanted to bake him a cake but didn't get to cuz I forgot to get the applesauce at the store. So much going on lately...

Did anybody keep a set list for Jack? I'd be interested coz I'm gonna see him here Tues. night, if our 10year-old baseball tournament schedule allows.

Joe, I meant to but I totally forgot. Sue and I were busy talking LOL. When Arlo came out, he was halfway through his first song when I finally remembered to find a sheet of paper!

Here's Sarah Lee and Johnny's setlist, with a LOT of help from Bob:

In Lieu of Flowers
Mixed Blessings
49&49
DC Niner
Big Square Walkin'
Kindness
River
30 Inch Coal
Take it from Dr. King (Pete's song)

There were 4 stages with perfomers doing 45 minute sets at each all day from 10 AM until Arlo closed Saturday with a regular-length set.

All the credit goes to Lance who just got a new camera, an Olympus C750. He's always been great with a camera but this one is more powerful than the Fuji 4800 that we both have. Mine is better for moving shots (from a car going 75 on I-40) but his is much better for shots like these.

Thanks Terrie and Lance! Great pictures!
Ain't technology great! You can take pictures, then I can see them a few days later all the way down here on the udder side of the world!

Louise.

No problem. Jack's set list from one night rarely has anything to do with the next night, anyways, cept that he always opens with "SF Bay Blues."

Hi, Terrie and all, thanks for the welcome and for the correct song titles. I don't remember either people's names or song titles too well (or lyrics, for that matter, but this is not due to age or a history of drug abuse, I have always been like this). We did have a fine experience at the festival, although we don't get out to a lot of concerts. While we are both definitely fans of Arlo's, we are not what you might call Arlo Fans. We enjoyed the opportunity to remember where we had been thirty years ago, how far we have come since then, and to say to each other, "Hey,look, we are still here and kicking."

I have a question for the rest of you, though. My daughter's friend and her father also attended the festival, although not all day as we did, but just for Arlo's set. Her dad is several years younger than we are (my husband is Arlo's age, I am 3 years younger, and this guy is 4 years younger than I) and she reported that he was disappointed and surprised that there was such a small crowd present, and also that Arlo had no great words of wisdom to deliver (presumably, at his level of advanced age and higher consciousness). He left the concert disappointed. Of course, this had not occured to us--we were happy with the size of the crowd, the nature of it (a higher than usual proportion of Democrats and Unitarians for Carroll County) and with the Farm Museum venue. I would have been pretty surprised if Arlo had decided to pontificate--he's always been political and philosophical, but it's all there in the stories, introductions and the lyrics. I think it was too bad this guy missed the earlier performers, because he might have been happier if he had heard some of them speak as well.

Anyhow, my question: were you surprised and disappointed at the size or enthusiasm level of the audience?

Fantastic photos Terrie!

Re: Ramblin' Jack
I saw his show on Sunday. He was still having some coughing problems but kept the audience hanging on his every word and sang some great songs including a really really really really really good "Riding Down the Canyon." Also did "Don't Think Twice" either as his encore or somewhere near the end of his set. It was mentioned after his set that he would be back next year and may teach a sailing course.

Here's a local article from the Carroll County Times about Ramblin' Jack's participation in the festival and a Boston Herald article about his show at the Passim shortly before his arrival in Westminster:

"Jack Elliott shares tales of folk music"
http://www.carrollcounty.com/articles/2 ... /news1.txt

"Jack's still Ramblin' - in more ways than one"
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musicNe ... leid=35041

Joe, if you're interested I can post the complete Ramblin' Jack set list for the Club Passim show in Cambridge, MA. How was Jack's Pittsburgh show at the Club Cafe...? Details! I wanted to be there but the weeknight six-hour drive was too daunting!

Hey, Hank, I would like to see Jack's set list from MD if you'd be kind enough to do that. Thank you!

I've just posted last night's set list to "Legends of Folk" & will add my own amateurish, detailed review as soon as I can.

Hank, are you going to Arlo's show at Deer Path Park on Aug 19th?