In The Name Of The Father
Progeny of Woody, Arlo Guthrie is currently travelling the lonesome highways and byways of Ireland...
The Hot Press Newsdesk, 10 Sep 2012
Any terrace chants of ‘One Arlo Guthrie, there’s only one Arlo Guthrie’ need to be tempered by the fact that there are, in fact, two. One of them, granted, is an impostor who has been offering to do gigs in the North Western states of the USA. Which is why you might be surprised to read Arlo is playing a show in, say, North Carolina one night and another all the way over in Seattle the next. The fact is, the guy at Seattle isn’t THE Arlo Guthrie.
It’s difficult to comprehend what Fake Arlo is trying to achieve. The real Guthrie is popular but hardly X-Factor material. Plus, Arlo is pretty easy to recognize. The minute this ersatz Guthrie steps on stage – assuming he even makes it that far – he’s going to be rumbled. Still, none of this is making it easier for the real Arlo to sell tickets in the North Western US.
Fortunately, it’s real Arlo Guthrie that Old Flattop are bringing to Ireland on the first leg of his Here Comes The Kid tour. This is as big a year for the Guthrie family as it’s going to get. They have been marking Woody Guthrie’s centenary in a way that Woody himself would very likely have wholeheartedly approved of, by gigging around the US through the summer before decamping to Europe for the autumn.
One of Guthrie’s aspirations for his sprawling family was that they might travel around playing together and although there have been a couple of Guthrie Family tours before, this time, with everyone involved a little older, it seems it has been working and sounding sweeter.
After Tonder Folk Festival ‘the kid’ splits off from the rest of the posse and heads for Ireland where he plays what has to be his most extensive set of dates so far. He’s at the Pavilion, Cork (September 6), Dolan’s, Limerick (7), St. James’ Church, Dingle (8), the Market House Theatre in Miltown Malbay (10), Murph’s Bar, Tramore (11), the Black Box, Belfast (13), the Venue Theatre, Ratoath (14), McGrory’s in Culdaff (15), the Hawks Well Theatre in Sligo (16). The final date is Dublin’s Button Factory (19). Some nights have already sold out. So snap up those tickets.
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