The second night of any two-show run carries its own particular energy. The first night belongs to anticipation — the moment of confirmation that yes, this is actually happening, yes, the songs sound like this, yes, it was worth coming. The second night belongs to something quieter and more focused. The audience has a night behind them. The artist has found the room. What happens at Tanglewood on June 28 will be its own thing, distinct from what came before it.
Paul Simon’s return to the stage — after a 2019 retirement announcement that most accepted as final — has already been the subject of considerable attention. But the conversations around why he’s back matter less, in the end, than what happens when he picks up a guitar and plays. Few songwriters have built a body of work as consistently inventive as his. Fewer still have managed to make that work feel personal to so many different people across so many different decades.
The Berkshires at 6:00 PM
The earlier showtime — 6:00 PM for Night 2, compared to 7:30 PM the previous evening — changes the character of the experience in the best way. At Tanglewood in late June, 6:00 PM means long daylight, the gradual shift from afternoon warmth into evening, the kind of natural transition that outdoor music was made for. The lawn crowd will have time to settle. The shed will feel unhurried. There is something to be said for a concert that begins in full light and ends under the stars.
Simon’s catalog rewards both kinds of listening: the songs that ask for silence and full attention, and the ones that make a summer crowd move. Whatever the sequence of the night, the Tanglewood setting will honor both.
If you attended Night 1 and are on the fence about Night 2, get off the fence. If you are coming for the first time on the 28th, arrive early and let the Berkshires do their part. Showtime is 6:00 PM.