Wisecracking hippie full of folksy charm
Arlo Guthrie
Whelan's, Dublin
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Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie is often compared unkindly to Bob Dylan, not least by himself. "Writing a song is like catching a fish,'' chuckles the 67-year-old protest folkie. "But why did Bob have to land all the good ones? Couldn't he have thrown a few of the small ones back in?''
It may sound condescending to describe Guthrie as a font of twinkly, folksy charm. Yet these are exactly the qualities for which the veteran troubadour appears to strive.
He's a jokey raconteur, leavening his wise-cracking with enough earnestness to lead you to suspect he takes his music far more seriously than he's letting on. Guthrie, it hardly needs pointing out, is the son of Depression balladeer Woody, whose gritty, conversational style is credited with laying the seeds that blossomed into the 60s folk scene.
Arlo himself isn't above occasional bout of sloganeering: 'In Times Like These' excoriates the authorities' response to Hurricane Katrina; 'Green Green Rocky Road' is a homespun Valentine to blue collar America that is heartfelt.
In a career that has spanned Woodstock, Vietnam and the devastation of New Orleans, Guthrie has notched up a handsome grab-bag of hits. Like all proper hippies, however, he gives the impression of being deeply ambivalent about his commercial success. Omitted from the set tonight is his best known tune, 'Alice's Restaurant'. He finishes with a moving cover of a recently reworked ballad by his father. The song, which Woody never got around to recording, is a straightforward plea for peace and understanding. Encouraged by Guthrie, the audience joins in on the chorus. Even the cynics in the room surely feel a tingle.
- Ed Power
