Our beautiful, friendly neighbors introduced themselves before we even parked our car.
"I’m the Fairy Godmother of the East
and this is Kanga the Perfect Princess."

When the Vibes starts like this, you know your in for a treat! We quickly set up our campsite and tested out the brand new camping grill with some burgers and dogs. Soon thereafter, our intreprid Vibe Tribe was greeted by psychedelic nomads selling hand crafted glass, jewelry, and other fashionable accessories. The cool breeze of the Long Island Sound pressed lightly against our faces. The water was less than a hundred paces from our campsite, our new weekend home. The music was soon upon us, so we relaxed and gathered our strength for the marathon of soundscapes still ahead.

The scene was set in a triumphiant return to the coastline of Bridgeport, Conneticut on the sprawling grounds of Seaside Park. It has been seven years since the Vibes has layed claim to this beachfront retreat, as renovations to the park had temporally moved the festival to both Red Hook, New York's Greig Farm and Mariaville, NY's Indian Lookout Country Club.

This was my third year attending the Vibes, and Seaside was by far the best setting for the event. This year, the campgrounds and stages were spread along the coastline of Bridgeport, creating a temporary ocean-view community. Two feature stages were set side by side in the center of the park. The festival also showcased a beach stage located a short way down the coast, as well as a small tented stage in the back of the main concert field. With about 15,000 hippie-hearted concert-goers sprawled over baseball diamonds, beaches, boardwalk, and tree lined fields, this festival lived up to its namesake more so than ever before.

The Gathering of the Vibes was born out of a love for Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead. In 1996, following Garcia's passing, Deadhead Heaven: A Gathering of The Tribe was staged at SUNY Purchase. This precurosor to the current Vibes set the stage for what has become the Northeast's preeminent festival promotion for Jam, Jazz, Folk, Progressive and Experemental music. This year, both guitarist Bob Weir and percussionist Mickey Hart performed memorable sets with their bands. Bob Weir and Ratdog always feel like an incarnation of the original Grateful Dead. Weir’s voice really brings a special feeling of nostalgia to the whole performance. The Mickey Hart Band was more of a departure from the original Dead; a super-group jam with Jen Durkin (Deep Banana Blackout / The Bomb Squad), Steve Kimock (Zero), and others. Both groups appealed to different tastes in the same crowd and reinforced the connection to the original Gathering.

The band covered the Beatles’ “Within You Without You.” Les Claypool introduced him as “Mr. Edward Van Halen,” a sarcastic remark considering Bob Weir plays rhythm guitar and never really takes a solo. There were plenty of guitar solos to go around (the Legendary Buddy Guy, Josh Clark of Tea Leaf Green, and my favorite, Tim Palmieri of the Breakfast). This festival is more about the folksy, collaborative vibe of the Grateful Dead, and not a million ripping guitar solos. Les and friends filled a huge niche at this year’s festival by crossing genres in an edgy and eclectic way.

AOD’s Reid Genauer is always pouring his soul into each note he sings. Dickey Betts played his classic, “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” a song that never gets old. The sousaphone of the Dirty Dozen is amusing in any situation. Keller Williams and Buddy Guy are both legends in my opinion; guitar heroes that we are all lucky to have in our lives. The organizers of the festival went the extra mile in adding themed artwork to the stages, concert field, and surrounding areas. In the daytime, colorful artwork would catch my eye in every corner, and when twilight began to set, the very same installations would splatter vibrant psychedelic hues on my pupils. The stages were adorned with original paintings, and dangling UFOs that would sway with the sea breeze as the musicians poured their hearts into the extraterestrial music.