MUSIC REVIEW: Arlo Guthrie with the Burns Sisters at the Colonial Theatre

 

 

Arlo Guthrie with the Burns Sisters

Colonial Theater

November 20, 2010

 

You can get anything you want...except Alice’s Restaurant.

 

Review by Abby Wood

 

(PITTSFIELD, Mass., November 20, 2010) - Saturday night was a momentous one for the Colonial Theatre: not only was a folk legend and Berkshire star gracing its stage once again, but it also marked the first time that Kate Maguire, recently announced as Artistic Director/CEO of the Colonial and Berkshire Theater Festival, walked out onto the stage to introduce a performance after Friday’s announcement of the new partnership. And besides the lack of one highly anticipated song, the performer lived up to the significance of the evening.

 

Arlo Guthrie took the stage with a band of six–including his son Abe on the keyboard, local musician Bobby Sweet on the guitar and fiddle, and folk group the Burns Sisters on backup vocals–and immediately jumped into a slow blues number that showcased his gracefully matured voice.

 

The Burns Sisters, apart from their eerily static stage presence, added a female delicateness to many of the folk tunes. Songs like Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),” Arlo’s “Under Cover of Night,” “In My Darkest Hour,” and “Wake Up Dead” were brought to an almost ethereal level with Annie, Marie, and Jeannie’s effortless harmonies. What was lacking was at least one number in which the trio could really shine apart from Arlo. Although they are on the tour to serve as backup, hearing only echoed lyrics and the occasional “oooh’s” and “ahhh’s” from the sisters seemed like a waste of exceptional talent.

As great an addition as the Burns Sisters were (and the band, as well), Arlo could have done the show all on his own and still have kept the audience just as captivated, for the real emphasis of the evening was not on the music itself but the stories behind them.

 

Arlo Guthrie, like his father, is a storyteller at heart. He had something entertaining to say for each tune, sometimes stopping in the middle of a song to say it, whether it was related to the lyrics or not. One highlight was an anecdote about Arlo’s wife, Jackie, and her recent run-in with the law. Having used one of Arlo’s suitcases for a trip, she was stopped at the airport when a security officer saw the folksinger’s name on the luggage. When the suitcase was checked, a small tin with the picture of a certain green plant on the cover was found, which also happened to be filled with said green plant. Apparently the tin was a gift from a fan of Arlo’s which he had thrown in the suitcase and forgotten about. Jackie was taken into custody at the airport and later bailed out by Arlo, who then had to take photos with several of the arresting officers. He then dedicated “Coming Into Los Angeles” to his wife, capping off the hilarious story with the chorus:

 

Coming into Los Angeles
Bringing in a couple of keys
Don't touch my bags if you please
Mister Customs Man

 

There were more sentimental stories, as well. Covers weren’t mere covers, but windows into Arlo’s musical upbringing and fantastic career. A gritty blues number by Huddie Ledbetter (better known as Leadbelly) was introduced with memories of standing next to the folk-blues icon as a small child, coming up only to his knee. Arlo told the story of Leadbelly’s time in prison, with a few interjections such as: “They gave him a full pardon because he wrote great songs, what a freakin’ concept! Imagine all the great songs locked up in the world right now...” Later in life, Arlo would go on a “mission from God” in New Orleans to find Leadbelly’s grave, break in, and play some songs “like I was sitting in his lap once more.”

 

Arlo’s most touching stories were the ones about his father. He shared memories of watching Woody’s songwriting process as a boy: “He would cut out newspaper articles and hang them on the wall…until we had wallpaper.” Later on, “Highway in the Wind,” a song off of Arlo’s first album which he wrote at 18 years old, seemed to prove that, even at such a young age, he had truly inherited his father’s poetry.

 

Arlo ended his second set with a cheerful rendition of his father’s famed “This Land Is Your Land,” interrupted partway through by his own vernacular version of the story of Joseph and his colorful coat that served as a comedic cap to the night, if not for anything else.

 

The combination of storytelling and intimate space also served as a hotbed of audience interaction. Audience members felt free to yell things out to the performer, who would always respond. There was even a point in the show when, during an awkward pause in which Arlo had to fix his harmonica to its holder with duct tape, several fans poked fun at the singer The easy, relaxed banter between performer and audience made one think, “This is what the Colonial is all about.”

 

Guthrie offered a grab-bag collection of songs from his large arsenal, from talking blues, to protest songs, to a soulful hymn, and even shared a creepy children’s poem he had written called “Nuisance Mooses.” What he did not offer, unfortunately, was “Alice’s Restaurant.”   

 

This is less of a complaint than a real disappointment. Of course fans know that a musician cannot play his most famous hit song at every single performance, especially one that happens to be over eighteen minutes long—that would drive anyone insane. But expectations were particularly high because: A.) It is Thanksgiving time, and the song has become a staple for the holiday, and B.) We were sitting in a venue just down the road from the place in which the infamous Anti-Massacree Movement began!

 

Arlo even acknowledged his Berkshire roots, saying, “This is a hometown gig for us, and it’s great to be here…I’m so glad that they restored this old place.” We’re glad too Arlo, and it’s great to have you here—Now can you please play what we came to hear? We’ll even be glad to hear just the chorus.

 

The night did end on an upbeat, sing-along note nonetheless. The encore consisted of what Arlo called “a little peace song” with only two verses, written decades ago by Woody and later put to music by Arlo. The audience sang along to the simple chorus of “My peace, my peace, is all I ever had to give to you.” The lyrics sung in unison gave off a vibe of holiday cheer and brotherhood that resonated throughout the theater and into the streets. There was another commonality amongst the crowd that poured out into downtown Pittsfield: hunger—a kind of hunger that only a certain restaurant could fulfill. 

 

Berkshire Living editorial assistant Abby Wood reviews music for www.berkshireliving.com.