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.

Could You Be Three Little Birds

The turnout was unimpressive, the weather was fair but the music was a jam-soaked island spectacular.

So went the scene this weekend at Woodbury Ski Area’s 41^st Annual Reggae Fest.  On a hazy Saturday afternoon approximately 100 fans of that Jamaican Jerk-flavored style lounged the green ski slopes for a show that featured five different Reggae acts.

They were as different, anyway, as five different Reggae acts can be. But no problem, the island music brings a real sea air quality to the middle of the Litchfield County woods, and made for a fine time in the fine summertime.

The last two acts – respectively Inner Roots and Richard Emanuel “Marley” Brown – brought that bouncy beach ball beat that seemingly mimicked each other. Some originals with songs by Reggae icon Bob Marley spliced in, but it sounded so good the people were cool to chill on the hill or, in a few cases, dance a spell in front of the low wooden stage.

Yes Inner Roots did a heartfelt version of call to peace “Redemption Song,” and Brown had a quality cover of “Red, Red Wine.” But Reggae music isn’t just about singing along to songs you know, it’s about clearing the sorry clouds from the mind and feeling the breeze.

 Like the crowd vendors were sparse and at least one – a modeling agency - really didn’t fit. The others blended into the mix, but there were not enough people to keep any but the food stand steady with business.

There were no portable toilets, people had to go inside the lodge and use bathrooms inside what looked like some person’s living quarters. It was a little unsettling, actually, and gave the impression organizers didn’t expect there to be many people.

And there weren’t. It was funny to see performers perform to a mostly empty amphitheater. But it’s been going on for 41 years, so something is right. Big ups to Jah.

My Oscar Round-Up 2013

AMOUR: French for love, as Stevie Wonder once taught us. Arguably the first movie ever to take place in Paris but hasn't one shot of the Eiffel Tower. It could've been anywhere, amour knows no geography or age. Low budget high acting. Romantic and tragic. Heartwarming and heartbreaking. Old lady nudity. 

ARGO: Don't be a hater, Ben Affleck is good and somehow did a movie not as a reinvented Boston street tough. The tone is basically perfect. Alan Arkin and John Goodman are funny. Subject to criticism because the film's not quite historically accurate, or so read an article in No Shitmagazine.  

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD: Where the Beasts of the Southern Wild Things Are. Imagine if  Spike Lee and the late Maurice Sendak were to write a movie together...Ta-Dah.  

DJANGO UNCHAINED: Like "Inglorious Basterds" did the WWII genre, the American Western gets the Quentin Tarantino treatment. Like "Inglorious Basterds" Christoph Waltz is awesome. Characteristically exaggerated but to a fault, so ought to be seen as the year's second best slavery film. The incessant use of racial epithets has garnered much attention, but that's part of Tarantino's morbid fascination with the you-know-what word. More off-putting is Sam Jackson's inability to drop "motherfucker" from his vocabulary, perhaps the most glaring of all 2012's historical inaccuracies.  

LES MISERABLES: Only one I missed, but I saw the play when I was 11 or 12. Probably doesn't count. 

LIFE OF PI: "The book was better," says any pompous ass. I read the book, one wasn't superior to the other. Even in two dimensions was visually stunning. A captivating story of survival with special effects that are nuanced and believable. Michael Bay pay attention, Ang Lee has something to show you.  

LINCOLN: Our 16th and maybe best President was a total hayseed, by Daniel Day-Lewis's portrayal. More soft-spoken than stoic, not the Lincoln you imagine. Probably a reflection of Day-Lewis himself, or so I got after a Q&A with the method actor. Sorry, had to throw that in. Anyway, all bitter white guys hellbent on secession see this movie. 

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK: Nominated in all six major categories and with good reason. Nothing intimidates Jennifer Lawrence, not even a face off with Robert DeNiro. Since Sandy Hook put mental health treatment in the national conversation, this movie is the most poignant. Excellent blend of humor and agony, pro football and modern dance. My favorite not of the year but of the nominees.

ZERO DARK THIRTY: Torture works, kind of sort of. Controversial practices were granted too much press. Torture, or "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques," may work sometimes but will come at a high price always. Unfortunately overlooked was the humanity of never-referred-to-by-name Navy SEAL Team Six. They're the ones you want on your dodgeball team. Subject to criticism because the film's not quite methodologically accurate, or so read an article in No Shit magazine.   

Want Some Milkshake

Daniel Day-Lewis is famous for his dedication to a character.

The elusive Englishman’s method of acting, method acting, embeds him so deeply in the role he doesn’t turn it off when the cameras do. Shortly before shooting period piece “Gangs of New York,” onscreen nemesis Liam Neeson recalled him hitting the modern gym but as rugged 19^th-century street commander Bill “the Butcher” Cutting.

At the Bantam Cinema Saturday, as the two-time Oscar winner fielded questions from a rapt theater audience subsequent a showing of “Lincoln,” I was struck by how attainable and life-sized Mr. Day-Lewis was, and how much it resembled his spin on our 16^th president.

This is a man who intimidates with his command of the screen, even if as crippled cerebral palsy patient/poet Christy Brown, the “My Left Foot” role for which he won his first Academy Award. Meanwhile Lincoln is a sacrosanct figure in American history, a man we’ve come to believe was some kind of flesh-and-blood monument with a baritone voice that carried across both theaters of the States of America.

Both Mr. Day-Lewis and the Lincoln he portrayed betrayed those images. As a person more mellow than gregarious, he was sort of an everyman type uncomfortable being the professor.

“Just yell them out,” he said, seemingly overwhelmed by a crowd of raised hands.

As Lincoln, he wasn’t a looming and stoic figurehead but a good country boy with twang in his pipes and never far from his log cabin roots.

“Lucky for me there’s no recordings of him,” said Mr. Day-Lewis, who turned down the role when Steven Spielberg approached him about it eight years ago, believing that if his interpretation fell flat with American audiences he might be forced to leave the country.

No worries, “Lincoln” and Mr. Day-Lewis are already Oscar contenders, and deservingly so in this basically bloodless war movie not about the horrors of war but the decency of humanity.

However, I was disappointed by the great actor’s diplomacy when I asked him to compare Mr. Spielberg to the other great directors with whom he’s worked, such as Martin Scorsese (Gangs of New York) or PT Anderson (There Will Be Blood”) or Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot). He couldn’t muster a comparison as they were all so brilliant in their own way. But he was impressed by Mr. Spielberg’s childlike whimsy, and the fact that “he has the right approach to actors.”

Essentially, the director let Mr. Day-Lewis be Lincoln as he saw Lincoln. But in the village of Bantam Saturday, was he still doing that? Had he yet fully divorced himself from the character?

Probably not, he just saw a chance to finally play a role that better resembled himself.  Mr. Day-Lewis is clearly not the type to bludgeon somebody to death with a bowling pin after explaining the concept of drinking a milkshake from a distance with a really, really long straw. 

Two Extra This Year

Despite appearances, there is nothing mixed about the message. A competitive eating contest may not represent the picture of health-conscious habits, so using one to raise money for an athletic event may seem mismatched. But on a sunny Sunday afternoon, with scores of people cheering on nearly a dozen competitors willing to put their gastric stability on the line for the Special Olympics Connecticut, it seems to be as worthwhile a fund-raiser as any road race or walkathon.

By that measure, last weekend’s fourth annual Leo’s Restaurant Hot Dog Eating Contest in Southbury was a success. According to Sharon Pelkey, the director of development for Special Olympics Connecticut, the event that saw 11 people collectively consume more than 70 franks in seven minutes raised about $2,200. The money will be used for training and athletic meets in the state’s Northwest Corner.

I joined the participants as “Jack Sprat” Coraggio, the intrepid gonzo journalist willing to push past the increasingly overwhelming taste of it all to force down a respectable eight dogs, buns and all. Jack “Big Red” Moreno, who last year was disqualified after a reversal of fortune relieved his stomach of its contents, redeemed himself with a 10-dog second place finish. The victor was Chris “I Hate Hot Dogs” Grillo, who walked away with a mustard-colored trophy and a 13-dog meal.

“No, I really don’t like hot dogs,” said Mr. Grillo, who could have fooled anyone. “I generally eat well.”

His training regimen consisted of several gallons of water over several preceding days. Though I took note of this last year, and this year weathered three grueling days of watermelon and raw cabbage (fibrous foods expand), I still couldn’t even achieve first runner-up status.

But in an event with good intentions, one that saw numerous members of the Pomperaug High School football team participate, everyone was a moral winner.

“It was our largest turnout with 11 contestants and five dogs,” said Ms. Pelkey. “The event was a huge success and a fun one for the community. It was well attended. It is our hopes to increase the event in size each year.”

The dogs she referred to were not the Boar’s Head variety; prior to the main event five canines had their own contest. It wasn’t much of a contest though. A bull mastiff seemingly larger than any human participant, a gentle giant named Big Mac, was the winner by sight. Without effort, and despite the appearance of a recycling machine nonchalantly being fed aluminum cans, he ate a stream of 50 hot dogs in three minutes.

Bob Moniz, the owner of Leo’s, said he started the contest because he wanted to spearhead a good cause, not just donate to one. He thinks he found a good match.

“For an event that takes an hour to put on, soup to nuts, I think it is a success,” said Mr. Moniz.

He fully intends to bring it back next year. For those wanting to compete, I offer this survivor’s advice: Separate the franks from the buns, dip the bread in water to compress it and always avoid condiments.

And antacids, bring antacids for afterward.