At some point, people tripping at a music festival is a common occurrence. However, at the inaugural Sound on Sound Festival this weekend in Bridgeport, Connecticut, fans weren’t tripping from mind altering substances, they were tripping on unaccompanied chairs and blankets sprinkled across the Seaside Park field. The festival had an absolutely stacked lineup headlined by The Lumineers and Stevie Nicks. Prior to Stevie Nicks the festival had impressive artists all day long with Trampled by Turtles, The Revivalists, Caamp, and Father John Misty. Despite having a lineup with names unlike most first year festivals, it had all of the jitters of a first year festival.
The venue of the festival was the beautiful Seaside Park which was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park. But the way the festival was set up didn’t lend to the beauty of the park. The festival yielded two stages side by side, which had an advantage of not missing any shows in transit, but also created a traffic nightmare. The main Seaside Stage had what felt like a half acre of barricaded VIP space and caused a rather messy situation for the general admission festival goers. If you wanted to see a set on the Seaside stage you could count on scrambling over lawn chairs and blankets blocking any walking path and with no caution to the “no chair zone.” There weren’t any procedures in place for staff to enforce the “no chair” viewing areas and it changed the day and experience of festival goers.
Fans had traveled across miles and states to be there to see Stevie Nicks or The Lumineers and many had there views obstructed due to a lack of organization from the festival. The organizers took to Twitter in the early hours of Sunday morning to ensure they listened to concerns and there would be changes for Day two.
But before we leave for day two this afternoon, we will review some our favorite moments from Day 1.
Day One Highlights
After battling a blown tire on a cheap rental car in the morning, we pulled up late the first full set that we made it for was for The Revivalists.
The Revivalists
The Revivalists are a band I have been wanting to see since I saw their lead singer, David Shaw perform solo at a Home for the Holidays show in New Orleans. Saturday at Seaside Park the day finally came and the band didn’t disappoint. They have been one of the best live acts for years now and Shaw proved why, owning the Sunset stage. Shaw made the festival field feel oddly intimate with the way he played off of the crowd and acknowledged so many during his live performance from all angle of the stage. The band, despite having sound issues brought an incredible sound between the saxophone, keys, drums, and guitars. As a unit they create powerhouse noise that blend with Shaw’s impressive vocals. Highlights of the event were a nearly ten minute rendition of their hit song ‘Soulfight,’ a favorite song of mine and the song that introduced me to the band with Shaw’s solo set in New Orleans. They followed that up with ‘Wish I Knew You,’ which brought an electric energy over the Sunset stage crowd.
Caamp
Caamp is always an incredible live show. The four piece band is coming off of the release of their impressive third studio album ‘Lavender Days.’ Their music sounds perfect underneath the festival sun. I love how collabortive this band is with the switch of instruments, singers, and even lead singer Taylor Meier took over on drums for a few songs of the sets. Caamp has truly mastered their fresh folk sound and Meier’s smoky vocals pair extremely well with the exquisite sounds created on banjo, guitar, or even standing bass appearances. They expertly move from up-tempo to more chill songs and have a balance in their entire catalogue and as a live act there set is one of the strongest every time we see it.
The Lumineers
I knew that The Lumineers had hits, but I forgot how many until they played their co-headline set and had so many in their time slot. The band had a surprisingly refreshing stage presence with a cat walk stretching into the crowd. Jeremiah Fraites emerged from the cat walk seated with his kit already drumming the beginning notes of the set as the sun was setting on Seaside Park where his band mates followed. Wesley Shultz of course brought an incredible performance vocally and even storytelling. Telling the inspiring story behind the writing of ‘WHERE WE ARE’ from the bands newest album ‘BRIGHTSIDE’ where he told of a road trip he and his wife were making through the Arizona mountains that resulted in getting stuck in a storm and his car crashing and rolling multiple times and the thoughts after inspiring the song. It was a truly beautiful set sonically but visually as well. The stage set up and the lights and the video board backing them helped tell a story and create scenes beyond just the always stellar songwriting from The Lumineers. It was a set that no one wanted to end, despite Stevie Nicks being ready to play next.
Stevie Nicks
The moment fans came miles to see came and the 74-year-old was worth the wait. I was amazed by the voice and stage presence the legend still commands. Nicks’ felt more like an incantation than a concert because it truly was magic. Hearing Nicks perform ‘Dreams,’ ‘Landslide,’ and ‘The Edge of Seventeen,’ were bucket list items and ones that didn’t seem too late. I’ve seen older artists live before and left feeling sad with it not being the same, but that’s not the case with Nicks. She was still dynamic although she did feel reservation in stepping onto the cat walk and apologized to fans for that saying, “three years ago, I would have strut down that thing.” Nicks played a beautiful set and gave beautiful tributes to Tom Petty, Prince, and more. It was a really special experience and the perfect way too end a great first day at Sound on Sound before again tripping over chairs and blankets on the way out to the parking lot.
