THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE - Lenox embraces James Taylor and Carole King
Jul 2, 2010
By Amanda Korman
LENOX - A glistening weekend of the Berkshire summer is days away: Three sold-out nights with James Taylor and Carole King at Tanglewood.
And Ralph Petillo is already starting to think the lawns around the Koussevitsky Shed look brighter.
The director of the Lenox Chamber of Commerce, Petillo said the area is taking extra care to kick off summer right with the Berkshires' folk music darling.
"What James Taylor does for Lenox and the Berkshires - it's like your favorite son is coming home," he said. "The impact is like a ray of sunshine and joy when he comes to Lenox, for not only business but for spirit."
Taylor, a resident of Washington, and King bring their Troubadour Reunion Tour to Tanglewood on Saturday, Sunday and Monday evenings at 7 p.m.
Gates open at 4.
All three gigs have long since sold out.
Tanglewood holds 18,000 - 5,000 in the Shed, 13,000 on the lawn.
Count on a lot of people: 54,000, give or take, flowing through the county and into greater Lenox in one weekend.
Lenox inns filled up soon after the concerts were announced - not unusual for J.T.'s annual homecoming. Concertgoers are staying in accommodations up and down the county.
One of the largest bed and breakfasts in the county, the Rookwood Inn on Old Stockbridge Road in Lenox has booked its 19 rooms for all four nights from Friday to Monday. Amy Lindner-Lesser, innkeeper and owner of the 19th-century Victorian establishment, expects guests
from all over the Northeast and as far away as Washington, D.C., Miami and Toronto.
"It's a nice way to start the summer," she said. "All you have to do is put word out that he's coming, and everybody benefits."
For Lindner-Lesser, who has been running the Rookwood Inn for the past 15 years, the James Taylor concert is one of life's staples.
"I have seen James Taylor every single year, bar none, since I was 13 - which is 40 years," she said.
"He opened for Carole King at Madison Square Garden, and that was my first real concert. I'm not a groupie, but I love him and his music."
Lindner-Lesser isn't alone in her attachment to the folk musician. She estimated that about a quarter of her guests for the weekend come to the James Taylor concert every year.
Laura Shack, chef and owner of Firefly in Lenox, adjusts for the big weekend by opening her Asian/Spanish/American fusion restaurant a halfhour earlier at 4:30 p.m. The Church Street establishment is almost fully booked with dinner reservations, but Shack also expects to get a lot of walk-ins.
LENOX - Leave home with plenty of time to spare.
That's about the best advice Tanglewood can give if you are one of the 54,000 concert-goers heading in and out of town for three sold-out performances by James Taylor and Carole King on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
The shows start at 7 p.m. and the gates open at 4. But one can arrive and park any time before 4 p.m.
Lenox Police Chief Stephen O'Brien hires nine officers every summer solely for the purpose of directing traffic at Tanglewood. The traffic detail be on the streets earlier than usual this weekend.
Is there a less-trafficked route to take to the shows? Not really.
"Walker Street and Route 183 will definitely be busy," O'Brien said.
The forecast for the weekend is looking cooperative. Clear skies and temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s during the day and upper 50s at night.
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