Guthrie, Seeger thrill 5,000 in 3-hour concert

by Steve Grandin, The Saratogian

There’s something unmistakably American about a folk singer. And two of the best came to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Tuesday night in the persons of Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger. Almost 5,000 fans, from all age brackets, viewed the three-hour concert that featured a pair of men that each represent different eras in folk music.

To look at Seeger, 56, and Guthrie, 26, one would think that the two were as different as night and day. Their looks, voices, and attitudes differ greatly, but when put together, the crowd is the one who benefits. Seeger is probably the best-known folk singer around, one whose voice and guitar-playing ability seems perfect for his type of music, irreverent and quite witty during his act, as well as playing a mean piano and guitar. Guthrie is following in the footsteps of his father, the late Woody Guthrie, of “This Land Is Your Land” fame.

All proceeds from the concert went to Hudson River Sloop Restoration, Inc., a non-profit organization that works to “restore the Hudson River.” Artists such as Seeger, Guthrie and Don McLean perform on the “Clearwater”, the boat that sails up and down the river. The “Clearwater” serves mainly as an environmental watch on the many industries along the Hudson.

The pair played nearly three hours, taking only a 20-minute intermission in the middle of the evening. Throughout the performance, they played both together and separately, with Seeger often doing banjo solos, while most of Guthrie’s ballads were done on the piano. While the other one was playing, the remaining folk singer would sit right down on the SPAC stage and strum along and just look on. Although there is a large difference in their ages, it appears that Seeger and Guthrie have a great deal of respect and admiration for each other.

It seemed strange that the multi-aged audience would all enjoy the performance as they did Tuesday night. Most of the older people related to Seeger, while the younger ones took to Guthrie.

Seeger did such familiar ballads as “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine,” “The Midnight Special”, “Wimoweh,” and “Goodnight, Irene”. Guthrie explained the significance of the pickle in “I Don’t Want a Pickle (I Just Wanna Ride My Motorcycle)”, which made no sense at all, which is what Guthrie intended. Guthrie’s songs went from religious ones (“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and “Amazing Grace”) to insane ones (“Me and My Goose” and “Ruben Ranso'”) to political ones (“Victor Hada”) to his old favorites ( “The City of New Orleans”). Some of the crowd. particularly the lawn-people, were disappointed that Guthrie did not do the song that made him famous, “Alice’s Restaurant.”

Both Seeger and Guthrie tried to get the audience to sing along on many songs, and usually succeeded. Seeger’s sing-alongs were usually well-known ballads, while Guthrie’s were more along the lines of the crazy, nonsensical type.

Together Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie seem to touch all the bases of folk music. And by doing that, they please almost every possible folk music fan. Like they did at SPAC on Tuesday night.

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