June 22, 2013 performance; by Dave Read.

A Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration with Warren Haynes and the Boston Pops, Keith Lockhart conducting attracted a large audience to Tanglewood on June 22. Scheduled between concerts by Melissa Etheridge and Joan Baez with Indigo Girls, the tribute to the Gratfeful Dead founder and cultural icon was ample reason for a broad swath of baby boomers to spend the whole weekend in the Berkshires. It was an opportunity for the BSO to claim some measure of Haight-Ashbury street cred, with Maestro Lockhart sporting the boldest, brightest, and brand-newest tiedye and there was a groovy light show projected on the Shed facade, which got one-upped by the way more psychedelic burnt orange Strawberry “super moon” rising late in the first set. You can view and listen to plenty of clips from this show on Youtube, where we grabbed a screenshot from one video, here: http://youtu.be/VuaDyBMqo9o.

Photos from Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration at Tanglewood

Tanglewood goes mainstream?

Fans who lament the absence of James Taylor from Tanglewood’s 2013 summer schedule may be placated by the BSO’s wading deeper into the mainstream of popular music by booking several acts that are on the summer circuit. Even with the eleven “popular artist” shows booked so far this summer (one for Labor Day weekend TBA), Tanglewood is bound to remain sui generis among music venues, especially since the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra occupy all but a few slots on the summer calendar. However, at least for this opening weekend, MASS MoCA was the more relevant musical venue in the Berkshires because of the wildly successful Solid Sound Festival hosted there by preeminent rockers (and Tanglewood veterans) Wilco. With the demise two years ago of the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, which had been held for about ten years on Labor Day weekend, the far end of the summer calendar presents an opportunity for clever programming by the BSO, maybe something sui generis.