Arlo Guthrie & Family Brought A Message Hope to Sacramento
On Sunday April 15, the Re: Generation Tour with Arlo Guthrie, his daughter Sarah Lee and his son Abe brought a message of hope to The Crest Theater in Sacramento where they delighted the packed house with songs of freedom, protest, love and optimism.
For those who are not familiar with the Sacramento area, although the city of Sacramento could be considered progressive, inclusive and liberal, some people in the surrounding cities can be ultra conservative Trump Republican followers and they are very proud of it with their MAGA bumper stickers and paraphernalia, the “Don’t Thread On Me” Tea Party flags and even the disgusting and pathetic “Trump can grab my p*ssy” t-shirts and bumper stickers unapologetically used by some women, so having the Guthrie family come play for us, it was a great opportunity to be around like minded people who have common sense and believe that America is already great enough, not perfect, but it is big enough for everyone to be able to be free and call it “my land”.
Arlo took center stage and on his right was Sarah Lee who played guitar and took the lead on several songs and on the left was Abe, who played keyboards and sang back up vocals. Through the evening, in between songs, Arlo told stories about the songs, his father Woody and his friends and it made us all feel like we were sitting in his living room. Arlo mentioned that he had always wanted to play with his kids and they finally had the opportunity to do it on this Re: Generation tour and what a treat it has been for all those who have attended the shows on the tour because besides hearing Sarah Lee’s beautiful voice, Arlo has brought back songs he had not played in many years.
Without ever mentioning the name of the “man’”in the White House, Arlo and family spoke through their music about the insanity that has been going in the White House, as when he introduced “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” and told the story about how is father Woody was so upset that the news reports never mentioned the names of those who perished, much like the things that are going on now, or when he played "Blowing In The Wind" he mentioned that it was sad that these songs are still so relevant today.
Besides his own and his father’s music, Arlo also played songs from his friends like Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Blowing In The Wind’ and Donovan’s “Catch The Wind”.
Sarah Lee had the opportunity to feature her beautiful soulful voice on songs like “Go Waggaloo”, “When I Am Gone”, “Going Back To Harlan” and a beautiful tribute to her late mother, “Circle of Souls”, which left many with teary eyes.
Among many other songs in the 2-hour set, the set list also featured songs like the cover of Lead Belly’s “Midnight Special”, “In Times Like This”, the iconic “Alice’s Restaurant”, and closing out with “City of New Orleans” and Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.
After a short break, the Re: Generation tour will continue with the following dates:
5/3 — Reif PAC - Wilcox Theater — Grand Rapids, MI 5/4 — Historic Holmes Theatre — Detroit Lakes, MN 5/5 — O’Shaughnessy Theater — St. Paul, MN 5/9 — Levoy Theatre — Millville, NJ 5/11 -- Mayo Performing Arts Center -- Morristown, NJ 5/12 -- Patchogue Theatre -- Patchogue, NY 5/13 — Tarrytown Music Hall — Tarrytown, NY 5/16 — Lebanon Opera House - Lebanon, NH 5/18 -- The Colonia Theatre -- Keene, NH 5/19 -- McCarter Theatre -- Princeton, NJ 5/20 -- Grand Opera House -- Wilmington, DE 9/27 -- The Ark -- Ann Arbor, MI 9/28 -- The Ark -- Ann Arbor, MI 10/1 -- City Winery -- Chicago, IL 10/2 -- City Winery -- Chicago, IL 10/3 -- City Winery -- Chicago, IL 10/5 -- Shannon Hall -- Madison, WI 10/6 -- Pabst Theatre -- Milwaukee, WI 10/8 -- Door Community Auditorium -- Fish Creek, WI 10/13 -- Ecc Blizzard Theatre -- Elgin, IL 10/15 -- The Egyptian Room -- Indianapolis, IN 10/18 -- Memorial Hall -- Cincinnati, OH 10/19 -- Capitol Theatre -- Columbus, OH 10/20 -- Palace Theater -- Greensburg, PA 10/24 -- Music Box Supper Club -- Cleveland, OH 10/27 -- Kirby Center -- Wilkes-barre, PA 11/9 -- Grunin Center at Ocean County College -- Tom's River, NJ 11/11 -- Park Theatre -- Cranston, RI 11/12 -- Cary Hall -- Lexington, MA 11/16 -- The Flying Monkey -- Plymouth, NH 11/17 -- The Cabot Pac -- Beverly, MA 11/18 -- Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center -- Great Barrington, MA 11/25 -- Carnegie Hall -- New York, NY