Where can you bring a cooler stocked full with your favorite brews, some munchies, a blanket, and enjoy amazing music for $25? Tanglewood, that’s where. Nestled snugly in the Berkshire Mountains of western MA, Tanglewood might just be my favorite musical venue anywhere. Unfortunately, the venue is home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra every summer, leaving little room for anything else.  Every once in a Blue Moon however, some agent somewhere convinces Tanglewood to put on a different kind of show.  38 years ago, it was The Who; last night, it was Wilco. I can’t decide exactly what that says about Wilco, but I think you get the idea.

The show started at 6:30 with Andrew Bird, the violin looping virtuoso whistler from Chicago, who always puts on a show. At 7:30, Wilco took the stage dressed to the occasion, adorned in vintage suits and fedoras. “Do you like our suits?” asked Tweedy? “I think we look pretty classy. Tanglewood may be a classy place, but we did find one piece of graffiti in the bathroom. ‘Music iz Gay’ it read, so we thought we’d play this song for you, because it’s really gay.”  Ensue What Light.

I spent the concert bouncing back and forth between my blanket on the lawn, where the sound couldn’t be beat, and my killer seat 15 rows back center stage- where the view couldn’t be beat. The concert turned out to be equally fantastic from each seat; a testament to both the venue and the band.

Four hours, two encores, five beers, and every song I wanted to hear later, the show came to an end. As I left the grass parking lot, wheels spinning and being pushed uphill by a wonderfully drunk group of fans, all I could hope was that it doesn’t take another 38 years for a show like this at Tanglewood.