A Look Back: June 28
By Mike Stampalia on June 28, 2025
(Image: 1975 ad for Tanglewood Popular Artist Series)
By Mike Stampalia.
50 years ago: Stephen Stills / Tom Waits @ Tanglewood
The opening act of the evening was singer Tom Waits. Waits looks and sounds like a Bowery wino who’s coming off a long binge. In a hoarse, guttural voice, he sang and growled his “inebriational travelogues,” alternately playing guitar and piano, or just snapping his fingers.
– Jay McInerney for the Berkshire Eagle
50 years ago: Olivia Newton-John / Jerry Reed @ Saratoga County Fair
The petite, willowy blonde was popular with the crowd, which showed its appreciation by showering her with stuffed animals which she cradled affectionately as she made her exit.
– Irv Dean for the Saratogian
30 years ago: Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson / Michael Jerling @ The Egg
“Ghosts In The Wind” fell at the other pole of the set, and drew the same cheers as when Albany first heard it. It’s an old Thompson chestnut now, but one that RT rarely offers solo. With DT on the shimmering, spooky bowed bass, “Ghosts” became not only an even more haunting ride, but a tour de force in tone and emotion. Wednesday the pair wracked all the darkness they could out of the tune before letting it fall away in its own echoes.
– Michael Eck for the Times Union
Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters put some serious blues on the main stage as Earl was invited back to the fest for the second consecutive year after a sterling instrumental performance in 2014. And he didn’t disappoint, leading his organ trio bolstered by a female vocalist on a couple of numbers, including a strong take on “I’d Rather Go Blind.” Earl is a master on the guitar, and I came close to crying… but with a smile.
– Steve Nover for Nippertown
10 years ago: Huey Lewis and the News @ Tanglewood
“This is our first time ever at Tanglewood,” said Lewis. “This place is older than I am. It is older than rock and roll.”
– Donnie Moorehouse for the Republican
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