My husband and I just got home to our sleeping children. I drove the babysitter home, and I'm still basking in the glow of a wonderful evening.

Arlo Guthrie, his son Abe Guthrie, and Gordon Titcomb gave a funny, moving, amazing concert to a packed, sold-out crowd at the Alex Goolden Hall (a former church) in Victoria BC Canada.

It's the first time he's performed here, but I hope not his last.

He got away without really singing Alice's Restaurant... by telling us why not in a humorous enough way to satisfy an eager, but friendly audience. We could not really complain, because the rest of the concert was so uniformly entertaining, and certainly "well worth the price of admission" as they say!!

Arlo, you promised you'd sing it for us next time... so PLEASE come back soon!

I am 38 years old and my father introduced me to Arlo's and Woody Guthrie's and Pete Seeger's songs when I was quite young, and I still remember dancing to "Where have all the flower's gone?" in Kindergarten. My father was a poet and a very eclectic music-lover with a huge record collection. He loved music, but sadly "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket". My mother, however loved to sing, and was in the Victoria Choral Society choir for over 25 years.

Around the house, we kids heard everything from Spike Jones and His City Slickers, to Gracie Fields, to Eartha Kitt, to Dolly Parton, to The Beatles, to Jefferson Airplane and back again. Especially popular with me was anything that made us laugh! As the youngest, I may not have always understood the underlying politics in some of the songs of Tom Lehrer and Alan Sherman, but we all laughed! So that was the "in". That was the "hook" that drew us into listening to new kinds of music... the humour in the songs.

Humour is a wonderful thing... a powerful teaching tool, and a wonderful and painless way to get a point across. Arlo obviously knows that!

Tonight he got huge laughs with a story about Joseph and his many-coloured coat. We laughed, but we got the point too. Thank you, Arlo. One person can make a difference, like you say.

Arlo, you and your band made a difference in my life tonight. I learned something, and saw things in a new way. (Plus, I had a really good, toe-tapping time!!)

And it didn't even require 8 x 10 glossy pictures with circles and arrows, and a paragraph on the back of each one.

Best wishes.

I was there too and I agree 100%. I grew up in L.A. and spent a lot of time at the Ashgrove when I was in high school and college. Never saw Arlo, but I did see many of the people he talks about - Ramblin' Jack, Brownie and Sonny, etc.

Seeing Arlo for the first time was a revelation. I never realized how talented a guitarist and piano player he is, in addition to his well-known story telling skills. The entire evening was riveting from start to finish, and what really made it great was the fact that the venue was small and intimate. I don't go to big concerts anymore, and I really appreciate the fact that Arlo plays the kinds of houses he does.

At the intermission, Arlo walked by me and I was tempted to stop him and tell him how much I was enjoying the show, but I decided to control this urge and let him be. Now, of course, I wish I had said something, so Arlo, if you're reading this, THANKS! The energy, enthusiasm, humor, and music you bring with you on the stage is very much appreciated. Your concert was the best thing I've been to in decades. I hope I get another chance to see you sometime and have a little chat.

Cheers

Well welcome to the site and gidday eh from a fellow canuck,sounds like you had a great time.I wish I could have made it to the west coast to see the shows he is doing there,but hey,I got spoiled 2 years in a row here in the east . Does anyone have a setlist?? and adg does cruise through and post here periodically.

I too was hoping to have a chance to meet and speak to Arlo in person. Now I'm wondering if he re-appeared after we left, to sign any autographs for those that stayed behind. I gather now, from reading other posts here, that he sometimes (often?) will come out and greet those who haven't left right away, and who might be hoping for an autograph.

I even came to the concert armed with my dad's old lp (just the cover) of Alice's Restaurant, hoping to get it signed by Arlo and the band. When the show was over, I didn't know what the etiquette would/should be.

I was wondering "Should I chase him backstage? Haunt the exit (but which one?) What do I do to make contact without bothering the poor guy? After all he'd just worked a very long evening."

So, we just filed out with the crowd. I came home, found this website, and posted my little message.

I wanted to tell him how much I enjoyed the concert. I really did laugh, and cry. His performance of City of New Orleans that night was extremely beautiful and very moving, and IMHO actually much better than the rendition I have on a CD of his.

I also particularly wanted to let him know how much my little 3 year old enjoys listening to "Daddy-O-Daddy" a cd of Woody Guthrie's children's songs, performed by many different performers. It's an excellent listen, even for those of us who haven't been three years old for a very long time! My little guy was dancing up a storm this morning to "New Baby Train" (as performed by Kim Wilson) in a spontaneous and exuberant expression of enjoyment. (I danced too, BTW!)

I've never posted before but I wanted to tell Tarodin that indeed both Arlo and Abe were backstage in the concession area doing autographs after the show! I stumbled upon this amazing situation trying to find the bathroom afterwards and I was able to get both Abe and Arlo to sign a picture of my son (whose name is arlo) and daughter.

What a wonderful venue it was - the sound was excellent and it was such a rarity to have the privilege of seeing Arlo here on the island!

I ended up having to bring my 14 month old daughter to the show and she behaved like a true lady the whole time - she even wore her big brother's Alice's Restaurant t-shirt while she danced in the aisle.

Did anyone get a setlist for this show?

ok the setlist for 4/17/05 Victoria B.C. was : 1) chilling of the evening
,2) oklahoma hills ,3) (portland town ? by cisco houston??) , 4)gypsy davy
, 5) the motorcycle song , 6) coming into los angeles, 7)city of new orleans
, (soldiers song?) , 9)me and bobby mcgee, 10)this land is you land**
encore : 1)alice 2)highway in the wind
Thats all i can recall , probably missed one or two.
**Canadian lyrics for this land...." from bonavista to vancouver island,
from the arctic circle to the great lake waters.."

Alice? The "real" Alice? Or the one where he talks about how he couldn't remember how it goes and the kids were no help?

Yes it was indeed the version where he can't remember the lyrics and the kids were no help....! It was the first time I had heard that version. When we saw Arlo at Richards on Richards in Vancouver BC in 97 or 98?? he actually performed the entire song!

Ack! Now I'm kicking myself for not sticking around after the concert. I'll know better next time!!

Ah well, Arlo promised to come back to Victoria. Let's hope it's soon!

Nice to see Arlo getting such a nice reception in Canada.