Legendary folk music icon Arlo Guthrie brought his Back By Popular Demand Tour to the Paramount Hudson Valley Theater in Peekskill, NY. The tour coincides with the 50th Anniversary of the feature film Alice’s Restaurant, originally released in 1969, starring Arlo as himself.
Guthrie performed solo and with a full band featuring daughter Sarah Lee Guthrie (guitar, keyboards, vocals) and son Abe Guthrie (keyboards, vocals) bringing “Alice’s Restaurant” and other Guthrie classics to life. You can catch Arlo Guthrie’s annual Thanksgiving celebration at Carnegie Hall on November 24th.
Jefferson Starship returned to the tri-state area with a performance at Paramount Hudson Valley on Sept. 14. It was one of the band’s first shows back in the area following the 2016 loss of Paul Kantner, the driving force behind the Airplane, Starship, and Jefferson collaborations.
Under the lead of singer/guitarist Cathy Richardson with long-time singer David Frieberg by her side, the band did a remarkable job of carrying on the spirit of the music to fill the void on stage. Frieberg, who just recently celebrated his 80th birthday, displayed a strong performance lending beautiful harmonies on a duet with Richardson on “Tomorrow.” Richardson, who joined the band in the mid-2000s, has been a consistent anchor to Grace Slick’s vocal performance since first hitting the road with the band and on the 2007 album Jefferson’s Tree of Liberty.
The show weighed heavily on Jefferson Airplane’s catalog, with a little bit of Quicksilver Messenger Service and 80s-era Starship mixed in. With a sizeable discography to choose from and the time constraints of a concert, some songs were left out that some folks would have liked to hear, however, the staples of the catalog were covered within a mix of the band’s lesser common songs.
Later in the show, Richardson took a few moments to talk about Kantner and his legacy of using music to promote social justice and announced that they are heading to the studio to record a new album to honor that legacy. From that, we heard the debut of a brand new song “What Are We Waiting For.” (As of now, there is no further information on a release date)
Setlist: Sunrise, Ride The Tiger, Find Your Way Back, Count On Me, Today, Fresh Air, What Are We Waiting For, Winds of Change, Medley, Miracles, Embryonic Journey, White Rabbit, We Built This City, Jane, Somebody To Love
One of rock and roll’s steadiest drummers from Springsteen’s E Street Band and former Late Night and Tonight Show bandleader brought a unique show to the Paramount in Peekskill on June 8, with the tour being billed as Max Weinberg’s Jukebox. No quarters or record-flipping were required for this all-request live show.
With Bruce Springsteen currently active on Broadway with his residency at the Walter Kerr Theatre through December 2018, Max Weinberg made well with the down-time from the E Street Band’s touring schedule to put on a tour where the audience picks the setlist each night from a roster of 200+ songs from rock and roll history.
Given that, it might appear to be just another mediocre cover band show but after just a couple of songs that illusion was broken. The familiarity of the tunes in the setlist was a quick grab for the crowd while Weinberg’s character and reputation as an excellent drummer (and the talent of the rest of his band) brought the audience in close to the music. For those familiar with Weinberg’s time as Conan O’Brien’s late night TV musical sidekick, plenty of his on-camera humor had shown through during some dialogue between songs while being quite down to earth.
The live-request show format was definitely unique for a concert, especially for someone who’s been a major name in the business during a lengthy career. The Beatles and Bruce Springsteen seemed to be favorites of the crowd that night with a few songs from each making their way on stage from requests. In proper fashion, Weinberg closed the show with two Springsteen tunes, “Promised Land” and “Glory Days,” inviting anyone from the audience on stage for the final song to sing along.
Setlist: She Loves You, Fortunate Son, American Girl, I Wanna Be Sedated, The Weight, Honky Tonk Nights, (And Your Bird Can Sing, White Room, Friday On My Mind, Pink Cadillac, I’m A Believer, Highway To Hell, All Right Now, Rebel Rebel, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Little Elvis, I Walk The Line, I Can See For Miles, Wipeout, A Summer Song, Pretty Woman
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the movie “Alice’s Restaurant,” based on the song by Arlo Guthrie and to commemorate the occasion, Guthrie is arranging an extensive tour which will stretch from the fall of 2018 through 2020. The majority of shows just announced for this fall will take place in New York and surrounding states. They include a hometown show in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on Nov, 17 and a return to Carnegie Hall on Nov. 24. See the full list of dates below.
Guthrie wrote a folk song about a series of incredulous events that began on Thanksgiving in 1965. “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” struck a chord with the anti-war counterculture. By 1967 Guthrie had gone from playing small clubs to playing festivals and stadiums.
“Arthur Penn (who had just finished filming Bonnie & Clyde) heard the record when it came out in 1967,” recalled Guthrie in an interview with NYS Music. “He also happened to live in Stockbridge, where the events took place. He thought it would be a great idea to make it into a movie. And he did.”
For this tour, Guthrie will be joined on stage by longtime collaborators Terry “A La Berry” Hall (drums), Steve Ide (guitar, vocals), and Carol Ide (vocals, percussion). His daughter, singer/songwriter Sarah Lee Guthrie, will be opening each performance.
“I didn’t think I was gonna live long enough to have to learn ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ again,” Arlo Guthrie says with a smile. “It was a quirky kinda thing to begin with. Nobody writes an 18-minute monologue expecting fame and fortune. The initial success of the song really took me by surprise more than anyone else… I’m surely looking forward to it again being a centerpiece of my live repertoire.”
Arlo Guthrie Presents The Alice’s Restaurant – Back By Popular Demand Tour
Oct. 4 – Count Basie Theatre – Red Bank, NJ
Oct. 6 – Gordon Center for the Performing Arts – Owings Mills, MD
Oct. 7 – Keswick Theatre – Glenside, PA
Oct. 10 – Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center – Stowe, VT
Oct. 12 – Palace Theatre – Manchester, NH
Oct. 13 – Durgin Hall – Lowell, MA
Oct. 14 – Memorial Hall – Plymouth, MA Oct. 19 – NYCB Theatre – Westbury, NY
Oct. 20 – College Street Music Hall – New Haven, CT Oct. 21 – Paramount Center – Peekskill, NY
Oct. 24 – The Greenwich Odeum – East Greenwich, RI Oct. 26 – The EGG – Albany, NY Oct. 27 – State Theatre – Ithaca, NY
Nov. 1 – EJ Thomas Hall – Akron, OH
Nov. 2 – State Theatre – Kalamazoo, MI
Nov. 7 – Ron Robinson Theater – Little Rock, AR
Nov. 9 – Wildey Theatre – Edwardsville, IL
Nov. 10 – Wildey Theatre – Edwardsville, IL
Nov. 11 – Buskirk-Chumley Theater – Bloomington, IN
Nov. 16 – Infinity Hall – Hartford, CT
Nov. 17 – Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center – Gt. Barrington, MA Nov. 24 – Carnegie Hall – New York, NY
More dates will be announced. Stay up to date on ArloGuthrie.com.
Guthrie wrote a folk song about a series of incredulous events that began on Thanksgiving in 1965. “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” struck a chord with the anti-war counterculture. By 1967 Guthrie had gone from playing small clubs to playing festivals and stadiums.