The famous and beguiling legend, Judy Collins’ farewell tour is going gangbusters.
On Sunday, at the famed Tanglewood Music Festival in the Berkshires, Collins sold out 18,000 seats for for fans to hear favorite songs like “Both Sides Now,” “Send in the Clowns” and “Amazing Grace.”
At 87, her voice has the same timbre it did decades ago, which always makes jaws drop.
For this landmark show, Judy invited Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rosanne Cash, Madeline Peyroux and Amanda Shires to perform with her. All those beautiful voices in the mountains — it was like folk nirvana. The voices are clearer and crisper than the lakes all over the Berkshires.
How long was the show in total, I asked Judy when she was back at the famed Red Lion Hotel.
“Four hours!” she cried with delight. The fans loved her off the cuff stories, reminiscences, and deceptively funny jokes, too.
Someone told me the Berkshires have lately become the Hamptons without attitude. They’re all eating at the Red Lion, and at Dr. Sax House’s Dulu Cafe. Tanglewood — once the home of Seiji Ozawa and Arthur Fiedler — remains the center of incredibly diverse cultural center. I saw Judy Collins there in the summer of 1977 (I was six) and she hasn’t changed!
Here’s a bit of what the rabid fans got to see:
