Music Review

Fillmore Fills Tanglewood

By Pat Francis

LONG-HAIR MUSIC just doesn't mean the same thing any more. Ask the kids who were at Tanglewood last night.

About 22,000 (a record for a single performance) grooved as Fillmore (of New York and San Francisco) owner Bill Graham packed up his operation and brought it to Lenox for the last of this year's Contemporary Trends concerts. With him Graham brought B. B. King, the Who and the Jefferson Airplane as well as his own Joshua Light Show, which provided visual accompaniment for the music.

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B. B. KING is a blues guitarist — with soul. His repertoire ran the gamut from blues to rock. His blues were blue and his rock had them calling for more.

The Who turned out to be a disappointment for some of the audience who were more familiar with the group's earlier music. Last night's songs were harder rock than they've been doing. However, "Pinball Wizard" was well-received.

For the Jefferson Airplane, there was no such problem. The Airplane, with Grace Slick, started with "White Rabbit" and ended with "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil." They never lost their audience for a minute. There were still cries for more after they played an encore.

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INTERMISSIONS aren't usually noteworthy but last night the Joshua Light Show ad-libbed faces and phrases and showed excerpts from old movies, including "King Kong," while the group were setting up their equipment. It was definitely the best intermission I've ever attended.

As for the concert, ask the 22,000 long hairs.