warm day, breezes off the bay,
great herds of Beemers & ( ba boom) Camrys

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band finished up so we moved to the "Aging Hippie section" on grass up front of stage
A big Chataqua- style tent, after 10 minutes, out popped Arlo setting up so i waited patiently at foot of stage & said " Hi Arlo, I'm semi-official Blunderchat reporter today" he smiled & said " Didja lose a bet?" I said " Naw, it's fun, but I have to make a detailed report on your socks, inch by inch, sock by sock" he smiled & hiked up his pantleg & said, " Nothin special today" (solid burgundy red semi-thick) you owe me one, Cheryl!
After Arlo & Abe sound-check noodled, the Guthrie family took the stage, Arlo in black short sleeve shirt, wheat Jeans, Abe light short sleavee shirt, dark pants & OH my an angel appeared!!!
Sarah in tailored white shirt, dark velour pants & boots.
We were 2 rows back on the grass & spotlight kinda backlit Abe but I had line of sight to Arlo & Sarah, just 15 yards in front up on stage, (I plead guilty to being mesmorized by Sarah)


SETLIST, slightly annotated, with musings, If this breaks with traditional Blunderite reporting mode, hey... now there's another mode!
6 PM show:
*CITY OF NEW ORLEANS - bouncy fast rendition wow the kids harmony with Arlo , superb! Sarah has a glow as she sings!
Arlo tells postage stamp story, & talks about Woody as lead-in to
* RUBEN JAMES- lots of us singing along
Arlo talks about Pete, Carnegie hall & Hudson
* NEVER ALONE_ Sarah- that's It! I'm toast! I'm in love!, (Platonic, admirational, easy Starchild, it's cool)
*ST JAMES INFIRMARY- Is "Arlo growling" an oxymoron? heehehe
As they re-tuned crowd shouted requests, Arlo looked up & said " As soon as I need a suggestion, I'll let ya know, I do, but,,, I wanna play......"
* FRIEGHT TRAIN- is it Beeker or Bleeker St? hmmm!
Arlo tells Woodstock story, I love the way Sarah looks at him while he's talking, love & respect & "Aw Dad" all at same time!
* COMIN INTO LOS ANGELEEEES-
Arlo talks about his Guru (sp?) & AIDS tour, Jack Daniels, moves to piano
* WAKE UP DEAD- moving, deep lyrics, cant wait to read em & really absorb context
ahh! at 1st few notes of Arlo's great blues riff, I bounce & giggle, a fav of mine! I heard him do it with Pete at Wolf Trap in '88! (shamelessly displaying my Blunderite vet stripes here)
* KEYS TO THE HIGHWAY- ",,, cause walkin's just too slow...." thats me!!
Arlo talks about Hoyt Axton, another folk guru to me! I didnt know they were distant cousins!
* YOUNG GIRLS MIND-Sarah, all who havent heard Sarah sing are in for a real treat, I'll sleep in a hollow log to get Sarah's 1st solo CD! heehehe( please Sarah, you promised me you'd "keep it rollin"), more on that in a min!
Arlo moves back to guitar, ( or was he there for Sarahs solo?) guess who I was watchin!! hehee
* PICKLE SONG- after a few bars, Arlo stops & talkes about Mooses in Mass, does Moose poem, then moves back to piano, a woman yells in loud clear voice, "please Arlo, I waited 26 years to hear Pickle Song, dont do this to me" Arlo stands up, & says "26 years? that's sick!!!"
Arlo moves back to guitar & picks up PICKLE SONG again,
Arlo says goodbye & invites all to stay for 8 pm show, he says he'll do Alices Restaurant

We stand up to stretch, negotiate with the nice people behind us to "save our squat" & head out side of tent to pond, and Who is dead in front of me outside tent but SARAH! oh my gosh! I shift into "Dave on a mission" mode, & wait for her conversation to finish with a Marin-type lady then I Said " Hi Sarah your voice is angelic" she giggled & said "Thank you" with a smile they could see to San Quentin!
I rapidly told her I was "reporting" ( can you tell Ive read Hunter Thompson?) for Blunderchat & she said "Oh good" My friend Nancy whipped out her camera I I said to Sarah "Do you Mind?" Sarah said "Not at all" & PUT HER ARM AROUND ME! heehe ( back Nathen, back i say!) immediatly energized I blurted out " Thank you for doing the Hoyt song , I heard him 35 years ago in LA & love the connection of you doing his song now, 35 years from now, you'll be leading a folkfest," Sarah looked in my eyes & said "OH my! well, maybe!" i melted & said " Please keep it rolling, we all need you" she smiled again & said " ok, i will"
I walked away, into a tent pole I think!
8 PM SHOW
Even more packed! the crowd is a little older, you could hear cartilage creaking as we get up & down from the grass floor! I look around for Jeff, but it's a lot tighter pack now, dont see a likely suspect! A woman asks why I'm taking notes, & I attempt to explain Blunder chat, she says "I dont have a computer or I'd be there " My silly brain spins off re-writing lyrics to "Stairs" sparing her all that, I suggest she try logging on thru her toaster oven, she smiled politely
* ALICE'S RESTAURANT- after a few bars Arlo gets everyone singing chorus louder. then tells Alice -related story, (I love the 18 min gap" connection! I'll bet Nixon & Halderman & Ehrlichmann played it backwards looking for "hidden meanings" cause they couldn't handle the "frontwards" one!)
In the Middle of Alice story, Arlo flubs some lines, leaves out a part, looks at Abe & says " Hey, that's not the way it goes" Abe smiles at Arlo & shrugged, as if to say " I didnt do it, you did!"
Arlo tells of Philly & "2nd Fret" leading into
* RING AROUND THE ROSEY RAG- 2, 8 yr old boys just in front of me are totally engrosssed in their Sega thingys, lost in tech-pacifiers, sad to see! There is a cultural legend & bright Spirit right in front of em & they will barley remember being there
Arlo talks about songwriting being like cattching fish & not being dowstream from Bob Dylan! It occurred to me what a greater personal impact Dylan woud have if he "lightened up" Course then, he wouldnt be Dylan!
Arlo talks about making friends he didnt expect to & the signifigance of the 4th of July as intro to intro to
* SOLDIER- This song touches me deeply, I was in Army at Viet Nam peak, in Germany & several friends who went there were loaded in at Midnight. Also, to me, it speaks to all the "Soldiers" in Education & Human Services who chose those fields out of altruism & became cogs in the bureaucratic machinery!
Sarah talks!!!!-- " I didnt want to be a folk singer" yea right, & I never liked gravity! heeheehe
* ORPHAN-Sarah- Id love to hear her do something a capella!, hell, I'd love to hear her read the phonebook!
Arlo moves back to piano to do
HEAVEN'S DOORS- powerful thoughts, we even scapegoat our way out of our universal purpose! symbiosis should be mandatory like seatbelts!!!!
Arlo tells about Woody teaching him new "This Land " verses
* THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND- Abes keyboard & vocal harmony is great!
The Guthries leave stage & are encored back for
GOODNIGHT IRENE-

What a joyful experience, Arlo inspires with humor, political clarity & spiritual white light!
Like taking a pychic hot tub dip!
& with Abe & Sarah, the beat will roll on, Thanks for all Blunderites being such good folks as well,
See ya in Blunderchat!



<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by Bumper on Jul 08, 2000 ---</FONT></center>

Incredible, Bumper!

watch it bumper!! it sounds like you're becoming sarah's CHERYL HARRELL!!!!!

nice report.... i even went to the bathroom at the right spot!

great reporting, bumper!! with your musings, i feel as if i was there..thanks for the blunderhigh..i'll be smiling for hours.

Wow, thanks for the nice show report! Red socks, that means it was Arlo! If he'd had on white socks then it woulda been an Arlo clone. Hope you got to meet Arlo & Abe too! The whole family are really nice! & Arlo is sooo sweet!

Excellent reporting, and welcome to the Arlo Who Club, aka, We Love You, Sarah...

Geat reporting bumper, you're hired! Now you only need get some reporting tips from Cheryl Harrell and Irv!

Thanks Larry! Id appreciiate tips reporting suggestions too! heehehe ! Arlo & Abe didnt come out between shows, just Sarah,
I had fun taking notes & writing it. I doubt if Arlo will be on west cost soon again but I may see them in Chcago in Jan with starchild!

You should've tried to find him after his last show. I sure he came out & said HI to folks after his last show of the day. (he was probably busy between gigs.) Sorry you missed him. I'll be sure to give a full report on Hampton, VA! YEEHAW I'm gonna go see the man this month!

cheryl, i talked Arlo before the 1st show as he was setting up. he said he wouldnt be out afterwards since they were off to denver immed! i promise, if he'd been accessable, i'da found him! looking forward to your report!, tell me bout sarah's sox, ok? heeheehee!


looney:




;

Hey Bumper: I just stumbled on to your post. That was indeed good reporting. (and yeah Cheryl does owe ya one-about the socks) People do ask the strangest things, so it's easy to blend in................ The setlist sounded great, and I imagine the story's were (as usual) spontaneous and interesting. (I feel that family vibe contribute's allot)! Not to mention, that Sara is not hard to look at.

It's been since 98. Hope things work out in the Autumn...Be nice to see the Guthrie clan on stage again!

GREAT JOB OF REPORTING BUMPER. I CAN NOW THROW MY NOTES AWAY AND NOT HAVE TO TYPE THE SET LIST IN. I WOULD NOT HAVE DONE AS GOOD A JOB OF REPORTING AS YOU DID. AFTER THE LAST SHOW WE WAITED AROUND THE STAGE AND WHEN IT APPEARED ARLO WAS NOT COMING OUT ME AND MY WIFE HOT FOOTED TO HIS BUS. GOT TO TALK TO ARLO AND HAD OUR PICTURE TAKEN WITH HIM. HE WAS IN A HURRY TO GET ON THE ROAD TO BEAT THE CROWD FROM THE FIREWORKS SHOW BOTH IN MARIN AND SAN FRANCISCO. HE WAS ON THIS WAY TO DENVER.
WE GOT THERE EARLY AND SAT THROUGH 2 PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND SHOWS SO WE COULD GET SEATING IN THE FRONT ROW. WE ARE TO OLD TO BE SWATTING ON THE GRASS. I THINK THAT WAS OUR CARTLIGE YOU HEARD CREEKING.
I ALSO GOT TO TALK TO HIM AT BREAKFAST AS HE WAS STAYING AT THE SAME HOTEL.
I HAVE ALL HIS CD'S BUT NEVER HAVE SEEN HIM IN PERSON BEFORE.
GREAT SHOW!!!!

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by MIKE on Jul 08, 2000 ---</FONT></center>

Nice reports from Mike & Bumper! Sounds like they had a nice time. Mike & arlo should invted us to stay with them at their hotel. July 22 I get to have fun with Uncle Arlo in Hampton, VA! YIPPEE! Ya'll enjoy the gigs & thanks for the fine reporting!

A page with pictures from the Marin County
Fair Show... Arlo at the Marin County Fair