If only the residents of Bridgeport had seen the traffic of the night before: cars full of vegans, dread-heads, music elitists and burn-outs backed all the way up from Seaside Park to I-95.
The cars, RVs, trucks and even buses rolled in throughout the night filling the air with the music of U Melt, John Brown’s Body and a tribute to Jerry Garcia, in honor of his would-be birthday, from Dark Star Orchestra. But for a little more than three days, the south coast of neighboring Bridgeport was home to the Twelfth Annual Gathering of the Vibes, one of the longest running jam-band festivals in the country.
Covered by a sea of tents, thousands of bodies, young and old, men on stilts, art vendors, and four stages emitting non-stop grooves, Seaside Park barely resembled anything most of us would associate with Bridgeport.
As Friday began, ushering in the first full day of the festival, so did the rain. By mid-afternoon, it was raining cats and clowns.
The rain and the mud was no deterrent for the many seasoned festival-goers on hand nor was it for the dozens of vendors and hundreds of staffers.
As friends from across the East Coast found each other around their camp sites, Dickey Betts ‘ Great Southern did their best to drive away the clouds. The rain wouldn’t stop though, not for the southern sunshine of Dickey’s harmonious guitars or for his fans. The showers were gradually quieted though by the thunderous rhythms of Mickey Hart, one half of the legendary Grateful Dead percussion section. His band, which that night included celebrated guitarist Steve Kimock, pounded through an hour and a half set that drove away the clouds just in time for the one and only George Clinton to take the stage with P-Funk.
Not only did Bridgeport’s residents, police and green space help to support the festival but the city’s own mayor, John Fabrizi, went above and beyond his obligatory duties of sanctioning the concert by introducing several bands throughout the weekend beginning with the funk-master of the universe, George Clinton.
With a set of greatest hits, funky-ass grooves and even teases of Lil’ Jon’s “Aww Skeet Skeet,” Clinton ‘ P-Funk would have torn the roof off the sucka if only they had been inside.
Campers were awakened Saturday morning by the bright rays of the East Coast rising sun. Dickey Betts had preached for Blue Sky on Friday and on Saturday his prayers were answered. Seaside Bridgeport was a paradise of sunshine, music and good vibes as more than a dozen bands took three stages from 11 a.m. until 1 a.m. Tents, clothing and footwear were spread out everywhere to dry in the hot August sun as Assembly of Dust kicked out a solid set on the Bandshell Stage, only to be followed by the enormously popular Keller Williams. As evening fell, the highly eccentric Les Claypool, sporting a half pig mask, took the stage with his hybrid bass-banjo. Saturday night ended with a stellar set from the second Grateful Dead alumnus of the weekend, Bob Weir and his band Ratdog. A solid mixture of solo work and songs from his days in the Dead, Weir served as a perfect close to an amazing day twos, particularly with the requisite closer, “One More Saturday Night.”
Sunday started with an apt jazz set from Kevin Hays that marked the wind down of the festival as weary campers began to pack and prepare for the eventual drive home. But to call Sunday a wind down doesn’t say a thing about the music of that particular Sabbath.
As the sun shone brightly in the mid-afternoon sky, there was no better compliment than the roots reggae of The Wailers. Although Bob Marley has long passed, his band has carried on his legacy, now led by Junior Marvin. It was a sea of skanking bodies spread across the shore and by the end of the nearly two-hour set, souls couldn’t have been brighter nor smiles wider.
Gathering of the Vibes XII stood up to and surpassed all expectations. To think that one day of rain would prevent the weekend from being amazing was foolish.
Not only were the bands impressive, but maybe even more so was the amazing job done by the City of Bridgeport to provide thousands of free-spirits with a safe, welcoming and beautiful space. While Bridgeport remains a depressed city, it is slowly showing signs of rejuvenation. Many of the concert’s organizers, staff and performers live in Bridgeport and most, if not all, of the local bands that took the side stages throughout the weekend can be seen regularly at Acoustic Café in the blossoming Black Rock section of town.
With a city government that encourages major events like the Vibes to be brought there and with continued local support of everything from music festivals, to Bluefish games, and even Stags basketball, things in Bridgeport are looking up.
Leave a Reply