Let's meet at the Au Bon Pain in Davis Square at 5:00pm and take the subway into the hatch shell.
Bring blankets or chairs to sit on. People often bring picnics and sit on the lawn for hours. I am thinking people aren't going to want to sit around too long, but we also want to be able to find a place to sit, so I am planning for us to get there around 5:45pm. I have found out that 7:00 as was originally planned will be too late.
Schedule:
4:00pm Oval opens
8:30pm Concert begins
10:00pm Concert ends
FYI, I went on the 3rd last year (dress rehearsal for Neil Diamond and the Pops), I believe around 7-ish. There were A LOT of people there! There was no chance of getting seating on the oval by that time, so no view of the concert unless you found a place to stand somewhere around the edge to get an obstructed view through other people. I don't think there was even any space to sit between there and the lagoon, only way back, behing the vendors, etc.