I’d never been to Tanglewood, the music venue in Lenox, Mass — way out there in Edith Wharton-Herman Melville territory off of Exit 2 on the Mass Pike near the New York border — but got my first chance Saturday night with my good college buddy T____ who invited me to join him for the Boston Pops’ Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration with Warren Haynes.
Gorgeous countryside, amazing music under the full moon, and me and a gazillion other paunchy Dead Heads arriving in German sedans unsure of whether to wear tie-dye or summer dresses.
Keith Lockhart, the post-John Williams/post-Arthur Fiedler heir to the conductor’s baton of the Pops, conducted the two-hour concert in tie-dye. The orchestra was in their traditional formal evening wear.
The arrangements were amazing, especially on Terrapin Station which was originally recorded with a symphony orchestra and thus fit the venue perfectly. As a tribute to Jerry it was very well done, had a very eclectic set list ranging from big classics such as Morning Dew, to more obscure stuff such a West LA Fadeaway and Russian Lullaby. Terrapin was amazing:
The song begins around 2:15 in the clip below:
I was about ten rows back from whomever captured the clip. Haynes is repeating the event throughout the summer in Philly, San Francisco, LA and elsewhere.
It’s rare, but I always loved the studio version of Terrapin for the symphonic element…it was so dramatic and energizing.
Sounds like a great night…wish I could have seen it!