about an hour from my home . . . I decided to get some friends together and make the trip . . .
At the time I owned a two-unit house and rented the second apartment to a family that included a 15-year-old kid . . . he'd often stop over and want to browse my rather extensive record collection, and I'd occasionally loan him an album or two to take home and listen to . . . one of his favorites was "Alice's Restaurant," which he played often enough to pretty much learn the whole song . . . when he heard that we were going to see Arlo in concert, he begged to be included . . . so I ordered an extra ticket and we took him along . . .
about 20 minutes into the trip, the kid asked "Do you think Arlo will sing 'Alice's Restaurant tonight?" . . . I'd recently heard an interview in which Arlo explained why he almost never did that song in concert anymore . . . I didn't want the kid to be disappointed at the show, so I told him that the chances of hearing "Alice's" that night were, unfortunately, not good . . .
about 10 minutes later, the kid announces that Arlo will indeed perform his signature song that evening! . . . and he repeated the prediction about every ten minutes until we arrived at the venue . . . I kept trying to dissuade him, but he kept insisting, so I finally just shrugged, told him not to be too disappointed, and let it go . . .
we had great aisle seats a few rows from the stage, and Pete and Arlo did their usual great job up until intermission . . . as they returned for the second half, my young friend was still sure that he was going to hear his favorite Arlo Guthrie number . . . me, not so much . . .
so the guys come back on stage, Pete sits down on the floor behind Arlo, who sits on a chair stage center and starts strumming the guitar part to "Alice's Restaurant" . . . says "I don't do this in concert very often anymore, but I kinda feel like it tonight" . . . I turned around to see the kid, who was in the row behind me, flashing me the biggest "I told you so!" shit-eatin' grin I've ever seen . . . needless to say, I felt like a dummy -- but a happy dummy seeing this kid's dream come true that night . . . and he never let me forget it . . . 
God Bless, Arlo . . . thanks for all the great music through the years, and especially for giving a young fan a thrill he always remember as "the night Arlo played 'Alice's Restaurant' FOR ME!" . . .
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