Got some Sunday vibes

It’s Sunday.

The final day of the four-day music festival in Bridgeport’s Seaside Park came with anticipation for closing act The Black Crowes. It also came with anticipation of one pretty rainy day.

Those who are on their fourth day might welcome the overcast skies. It’s been sunny and hot weather sandwiched between cold and damp days, so when looking around the crowd at the 2013 Gathering of the Vibes it’s not much to determine who has been outside since Thursday and who has been in air conditioning since Thursday.    

Blues Traveler, one of a few groups with Connecticut connections since singer and harmonica player (not at once) John Popper is from Stamford, rolled out just as the rain started. Then it stopped, the clouds remained and the jam-like band broke into early hit “But Anyway” while coming off an extended jam instrumental.

Popper spoke after the set about the homecoming he described as “surreal and fun” because “you can’t not love your hometown.”



Puffing Popper



He’s taller and thinner than imagined, plus he smokes without apology. He was very complimentary of the Vibes atmosphere and setting as it is nestled in a Long Island Sound park in Connecticut’s biggest city, as opposed to festivals like Tennessee’s mega Bonaroo or other woodsy shows that are “in the middle of nowhere” and have like “two bathrooms for 12,000 people.”

The point was taken. This festival has spent more than half its 18 years in the Park City and has each day put about 20,000 people from points elsewhere in a reputedly depressed municipality that has hotels and restaurants and shops that could use the boost of dollars. Plus there are places in the city people can use the bathroom without manifest dysentery coming for you.

The group also did a cover of Charlie Daniels Band “Devil Went Down to Georgia,” not knowing that a fiddle made of solid gold would weigh hundreds of pounds and would sound terrible. However Popper played Charlie Daniel’s fiddle lines with his mouth harp, so that was cool.

The John Butler Trio was next and the Black Crowes finished off the festivities. In between old New Wave group Fishbone put on a spectacular over by the secondary Green Vibes stage. Believe it or not Fishbone is still active. I know, right.

Ultimately the rain stayed away, and weather vibes were good. Anyway it’s curious why Phil Lesh & Friends headlined Friday and Saturday night when The Black Crowes are enough a draw to make a desirable penultimate evening. Two nights of Phil, maybe, was overkill.

But ypu can't argue against the living Dead at jam hippy extravaganza Gathering of the Vibes.

May you gather in state at least four more years, the term of the lease contract.

Got Vibes on Saturday

Late in the afternoon the Roots completed a 90-minute set that grooved with such tremendous force it swept away any afterthoughts of bands that played earlier. Following that act was an unenviable task, and each band coming later had some work to do.

Gathering of the Vibes has become more musically eclectic since its inception 18 years ago, as evident by the alternative hip-hop of The Roots. So there was little fear the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon house band’s style would not work well in the wham jam festival.

The crowd reception was warm and reminiscent of a notion shared by Rick Reyes, leader of Bridgeport group Cosmic Jibaros that earlier played the secondary Green Vibes stage, when he said he had no fear his Latin Rock group would not fit in.

Upon prodding the reason was evident - good music is universal.

Anyway, after The Roots it was Grace Potter and the Nocturnals followed by Gov’t Mule. It’s worth noting that a Led Zeppelin thread weaved through the acts and kept them connected despite their artistic dissimilarities. The Roots touched on the momentous “Immigrant Song,” while Potter and her rock group did a rendition of “Your Time is Gonna Come,” and Southern rock jam boys Gov’t Mule did a copy of “Since I’ve Been Loving You.”

Gov’t Mule features legendary front man Warren Haynes of Allman Brothers Band fame and always puts on a show generous on the cover songs but with a trademark elongated spin.

For the second night in a row Phil Lesh & Friends put on a four-hour set. It didn’t appear anybody was dismayed by the encore performance.

Last year every living member of the Grateful Dead performed, but in their respective acts. This year it’s only Phil Lesh with his friends, but for the first time in its 18 years his group did two consecutive nights.

This incarnation is a unique lineup of friends, made of three Johns and a Joe. Respectively they go Scofield, Medeski, Kadlecik and Russo.  Last night the collection of musical greats brought a wonderful session, complete with “Scarlet Begonias.”

More on the Saturday set later.

This morning area residents awoke to learn that yesterday a young man died of an overdose in the campground. It’s very unfortunate that reckless drug use is part of this or any music festival.

Then again it’s an undeniable part of anything anywhere.

GOTVibes on Friday

Here it is finally.

For one very long weekend each year Seaside Park on the Long Island Sound in Bridgeport becomes the most unlikely congregation of peanut-butter-and-jam-loving psychedelic enthusiasts and their contemporaries.

Finally it is here.

Friday is technically the second day of the Gathering of the Vibes. No matter, Thursday was kind of the warm-up, headlined by the world’s most capable and pleasantly plum purple Grateful Dead tribute band Dark Star Orchestra.

Day two it gets real. The show clearly hit its stride, even as the Tedeschi Trucks Band blasted the audience with a blues heavy rock show the anticipation for Grateful Dead spinoff Phil Lesh & Friends was heavy in the pleasant summer air.

That’s basically the point of the Vibes, as the festival is endearingly called. Sure it’s a place for lesser-known acts to get some playing time, and sure it’s a place for artisan vendors to make some money. But there’s little argument the concert is set up to spin around the band that brought the jam genre to the forefront, so whatever incarnation of the Grateful Dead that shows up is so very welcome.

Last year every living member of the Grateful Dead performed, but in their respective acts. This year it’s only Phil Lesh with his friends, but for the first time in its 18 years his group will do two consecutive nights – Friday and Saturday.

This incarnation is a unique lineup of friends, made of three Johns and a Joe. Respectively they go Scofield, Medeski, Kadlecik and Russo.  Craaazy.

Anyway not all bands are so jammy, the Revivalists garnered great buzz with their afternoon performance on the secondary Green Vibes Stage. It’s worth noting that when they entered the media tent photographers and writers swarmed them, and upon questioning one member paraphrased Jason Lee’s character from Almost Famous - “Finding that one guy in the crowd makes it all worth it.”

Lee’s fictional rock singer in the made-for-movies act Stillwater said actually something like “I find that one guy who’s not getting off and I make him get off.” It was close.

The Roots, the hip-hop ensemble now known as the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon band, are among the groups to perform tomorrow. It’s Saturday, they got nothing else going on, so hopefully Fallon comes up from Rockefeller Plaza and introduces them with his often humorous brand of funny talk.

We’ll see. Tickets are still available at the gate, people can go to www.govibes.com to learn more.