It was a surprisingly crisp summer night. The air around seemed as if it was stolen from one of the fall months; perhaps from September or October. Either way, it felt refreshing and welcome on such a night in August. I was sitting comfortably on our blanket out on the lawn looking out at a sea of people. We were all so tightly packed in together that by the end of the night we knew each other so well. It was as if we were sardines packed into a small tin with the rest of our ill begotten school. All of these crazy folks were not huddled together for any particular reason, though. Every single last person was ready to enjoy a night of music under the stars in the Berkshires. Someone other than James Taylor was coming to Tanglewood...

It was to be a night of John Williams under the stars.

My friends, who thankfully hold jobs much cooler than my own, at Tanglewood, were able to get me in for absolutely no charge. Neither did I have to wait in any of the serpentine like lines packed with people clutching their sun chair, blankets, and coolers. Nope, my friends knew that I had to be at this show tonight. When my friend picked me up earlier in the afternoon he was going on about how I was going to go absolutely nuts at the show that night. He had already seen it and, "Joel," he said, "John Williams was right there, no more than twenty feet in front of me. It's great! The show has this neat video presentation and then..." he paused. "...James Earl Jones will be there to narrate the Star Wars story as John Williams plays!" Hearing this I did nearly go nuts. And, the show was more than five hours away.

But, to shed a little light on what the heck Tanglewood is, a small town kid shall explain. Since...well forever, I don't know, it's been a while, there has been this place called Tanglewood in the Berkshires, specifically Lenox. It is this really artsy sort of place where, every summer, orchestras show up and play for people who sit either in the shed (a sort of theater) or on the lawn, giving audiences the awesome opportunity to take in some cultured music. They call it Tanglewood because the trees around there are all really gnarled and...tangled; hence the name. It really is an awesome place to go down on a summer night with some buds, eat food, sit on a blanket and gaze at the stars as music fills the air.

Now, every year, John Williams shows up and does a fantastic show with the Boston Pops. Usually he showcases his newest works, and does a nice little movie montage. But, this year not only was he doing a Star Wars suite (sweet!), but the voice of evil himself would be there to narrate! I was pumped. But, before the Star Wars goodness could begin, John Williams warmed us up with his usual magical maestro-ness.

He began with a small suite from War of the Worlds, which segued into a small Close Encounters of the Third Kind diddy and then he threw up his arms for Memoirs of a Geisha. The Geisha suite was particularly awesome. I cant' believe that the score for Brokeback Mountain won an Academy Award over Geisha...but, oh well. If you haven't picked up the soundtrack or even seen this movie yet, go do it now! You can come back to reading this, that's more important. Geisha was a really outstanding film and with Johnny's score featuring Yo Yo Ma, and Itzhak Perlman...it's out of this world. Go...go see it now!

For those of you who have seen Geisha, I'll continue. So, Johnny takes a nice little break and then BA BOOM. He shows up to perform the highlight of the night, the Star Wars suite! It was basically the same outline and script of the DVD extra that came with the Sith soundtrack: Star Wars a Musical Journey. It was a bit condensed and he didn't play anything from Sith, but it was out of this galaxy hearing the live music, Jones' booming bass of a voice, and seeing John up there looking cool in his all white suit. I really felt invigorated and excited for Star Wars. More than I had been at Comic Con earlier this summer. It was Star Wars...right at its core!

Now, I brought my Vanity Fair. You know, the issue that came out last year with the huge gatefold of the Star Wars cast. And, so far I've managed to meet and get it signed by Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, David Prowse, Billy D., Matt Wood (he even wrote Jedi Scum on it), and Carrie Fisher, who I just met at this year's past Comic Con (perhaps another blog). So, I'm determined to get Jones' autograph and John's to...I had this nice photo of him to sign. My friend knew just where to go and after the show and we waited patiently; we were third in line! But, one by one, we found out that they weren't going to be signing this evening. And, you know what? I don't blame them. They just put on this crazy awesome show and they had to have felt like poodoo.

We start to walk back, it's late and about time I got home. And, then my friend says, just wait here a minute by the loading dock...maybe they'll come out. And, sure enough, they did. First James strode out with all of the gusto of a Verizon Vader, surrounded by his security. He hopped into his Dodge Charger and drove off. Wow, I was just about ten feet from the Sith lord himself. Then, to top my night off, John comes out! He walks up to his chauffeured car and I say to him, "Hello John!" with a wave. Suddenly the small group around us does the same, he waves and looks up at us with that soft, calm look of his and says hello, continuing to wave to us even through the tinted windows of his car. There's something about his voice and manner that just really strikes me as calm and brings a smile to my face. Here... Now doesn't that bring warm feelings to your heart?

That completely made my night...I went beaming all the way home.

So...if you're ever vacationing in the Berkshires, late in the summer, be sure to check out when John Williams is playing. It's a magical experience that every Star Wars fan should be able to enjoy!

That night, music not only floated across the air, but across the stars...

~QGJ