Plenty of them feature offshoots of the Dead. “There used to be relatively few, now there are multiple festivals every single weekend in the northeast. “Without question, there are more festivals now than 20 years ago,” said Ken Hays, who founded the Vibes in 1996. But the appeal of festivals on a more manageable scale than juggernauts like Coachella and Bonnaroo goes beyond those devoted to the Dead’s legacy. The Dead famously spawned a thriving culture of devotees that regards the Vibes as something of a revival meeting - chaired this time by bassist Phil Lesh, whose band headlined Friday and Saturday nights. The Vibes, which provides Bridgeport with a bit of a boost at a time when jobs are scarce, is one of dozens of flourishing but not gigantic festivals that celebrate the wide scope of American musical traditions, be it the folksy psychedelia of the Dead, traditional country blues or blaring hard rock. It’s held at Seaside Park, a beautiful 370-acre site, part of which was donated to the city by circus promoter P.T. The festival, which concluded Sunday, draws roughly 20,000 exuberant celebrants to this faded industrial city on the Long Island Sound. The Gathering of the Vibes festival raises some challenging aesthetic questions: Among them, is it possible for a 1960s veteran with a long ponytail to wear tie-dyed shirt, shorts and socks without looking slightly silly, particularly if suffering from varicose veins?Īnd where else but a summer festival devoted in part to the legacy of the Grateful Dead would the practice of dancing in a bikini top and a long flowing skirt while keeping a hula hoop rotating on your hips catch on?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |