The Outdoor Concert

I had to search way back in my memory banks for the last time I was there. It was the summer of 1968. I was a camper at a sleep away camp in the Berkshire Mountains. I remember how I used to love to go to camp. The bus trip up the New York State Thruway and how quickly the concrete and metal buildings turned into beautiful green mountains and a serenity not always felt in the hustle and bustle of the city. Besides the days filled with playing sports and the nights filled with planning raids to the girls side, the camp would once a week take us on a field trip. On this particular night, I was going to see my very first rock concert at a place called Tanglewood. It is hard to say how into music I was back then. The Beatles were still huge and I remember being a big fan of WABC-AM which back then played Top 40 tunes like the Beach Boys, Supremes and Stones. It was the station that gave us Cousin Brucie, Dan Ingram and Ron Lundy. We all boarded the bus for the 30 minute drive into Lenox Massachusetts. Of the little things I do remember from the night, was how loud the music was and how great the light show was. I later learned that it was the Joshua Light Show,made famous at the Fillmore East and Fillmore West, one of the very first rock concert clubs in New York and San Francisco. The first performer was Richie Havens, followed by the Guess Who, Arlo Guthrie, BB King, and Jefferson Airplane.

The memory of that pre-Woodstock rock fest was fresh on my mind as I re-entered the grounds of Tanglewood this past July 4th to hear James Taylor and Carole King. I say hear, because I knew we would be sitting out on the lawn. I had seen the show a few weeks earlier at Mohegan Sun so I knew this experience would be a different one. We were there with a group of college friends, a Big Chill weekend with people we have known for more than 30 years. There were 8 divorces between the group and coincidentally each person only had one kid. My wife and I are the lynch-pins of this group since ours is the only marriage to last.

There must be a member of my wife's family I never met who was a chef in the military, because my wife always cooks enough for a small army. There were only eight of us, but as we unloaded our coolers filled with food the look on our friends faces turned from amazement to amusement. Four appetizers made their way to our blanket not including the cheese and crackers provided by someone else. Five bottles of wine, which wasn't enough, met up with a bottle of Patron and we proceeded to re-enact a scene out of the movie "Tom Jones". The main courses were equally extravagant as seared tuna, skirt steak and sliced turkey made the rounds from person to person. Finally, as if a boxing match was about to break out, bells filled the lawn signaling 15 minutes until the concert would begin.

Sure enough, 15 minutes later, the sounds of "Home to Carolina" could be heard followed by "So Far Away". Since you could not see the stage or the TV screens from where we were sitting, it was fun to just people watch and have conversation. The cute 6 year-old in the white dress sitting with her family singing and dancing to every song was a hit. But, to me, it was the reflections back to another time and the memories jarred from another song. "It's Too Late" reminded me of a summer job I had in 1970 as a counselor at a day camp in Queens. "Shower the People" jogged a memory of a personal training called "Lifespring" I did with many of the people I was at the concert with. And of course, "You've Got A Friend", hearing the entire crowd singing every word and individuals swaying together as one.

It was such a wonderful experience that the 15 mile return trip that turned into a 25 mile one hour journey thanks to local cops closing off roads and making two way streets one way, couldn't slow down the festivities. It was a night to remember and think about the memories shared with good friends.