Written by Bishop832
Published on August 9, 2002

John Williams Concert
- August 3rd, 2002
Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts

The performance, which was primarily Williams music, was absolutely extraordinary. The concert opened with a brief collection of film scores (maybe about 30 seconds of each). First came "Casablanca", followed by "Citizen Kane". Then the "20th Century Fox fanfare" came in and the orchestra went right into the main theme of "Star Wars". It then transitioned to "The Sea Hawk", followed by "Spellbound" and then "Titanic". From that, it made a slightly awkward transition to the shower theme from "Psycho". After just a few seconds of that, Williams lead the orchestra in "Jaws". This got the audience cheering. He then brought in "The Pink Panther", which brought the audience to applause and laughter. The montage then took a more serious tone with "Exodus", "Out of Africa", "Dr. Zhivago", "Bridge on the River Kwai" and then "Patton". He then did a snippet from "Rocky", followed quickly by "The Magnificent Seven". "The Natural" and "Cinema Paradiso" lead into "The Godfather", "E.T." and the montage closed with "Gone with the Wind".

Next, Mr. Williams conducted "The Cowboy Overture" from his own score.

After that, he did selections from "Far and Away" and two concert pieces from "Angela's Ashes" -- featuring a heart-wrenching solo by Martha Babcock.

But before intermission, he gave us all a great treat. A screen came down from the ceiling and Williams orchestrated a 7 minute montage to his greatest works. The film opened to "Star Wars". It showed the opening with the Star Destroyer chasing down Leia's blockade runner. It then cut to Han and Luke blowing up Tie Fighters. This had the audience cheering. The film then cut to "Raiders", with Indy running away from the boulder and then catching the plane. Next came the opening of "Jaws" where the shark gets Chrissy. After that, he did the flying theme from "Superman", followed by the scene of the Elliott and his friends lifting off with E.T. The scene, in case you are wondering, was the classic version. It then ended with E.T. saying "I'll be right here..." and then leaving on his ship. This lead to Intermission.

When we returned, the show continued with "Hooray for Hollywood" and then the theme to "The Patriot" with a special guest appearance by the Fifes of the Middlesex County Volunteers. After that, Mr. Williams lead the orchestra in an extended cut of "The Imperial March", the classical suite "Princess Leia's Theme" and an extended cut of "The Throne Room and Finale".

Next, he lead soloist Tamara Smirnova in a piece from "Sabrina". Then, he invited Lara Fabian out to sing "Evergreen" (by Streisand and Williams) followed by "For Always" from "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence". Finally, he closed with a second film montage. He commented that the first one went so well, they might as well do a second. This one opened with "Jurassic Park". It showed scenes from the arrival on the Island, the appearance of the Braciasaur and the scenes from the kitchen with the raptors. Next, it cut to "Home Alone" where Kevin was beating up on the two burglars. After that, it went to "Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones". It showed some of the footage from the waterfall picnic, a little bit of the scene where Anakin and Padme were taken into the Arena and then the footage of them being Married. I don't care -- that metal hand still freaks me out a little bit. Damn, that thing is creepy. Anyway, it went on to "Hook" with Robin Williams being taken to Neverland. After that, he did a selection from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" with the ships landing. The music joined in against the answering of the ship -- perfectly timed. Finally, it concluded with "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" -- which I have yet to see. However, that got a great many cheers.

As for encores, Mr. Williams did a piece which I think was a bicentennial celebration piece, followed by the "NBC news theme". He gave a witty remark to that: "I'm sure most of you will miss the evening news, so this will have to do." He closed out with "Stars and Stripes Forever" while leading the audience in cheers and applause.

Afterward, Mr. Williams was too tired to come out and meet the fans, but for a man of 70, he gave a hell of performance, so we understood.

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