Bridgeport Beat: The Vibes are now a big part of Bridgeport's legend and lore
By ROB SULLIVAN
In another friendly nod to the Park City, the Gathering of the Vibes has offered discounted $75 tickets to Bridgeport residents, but also extended its offer to city of Bridgeport employees and University of Bridgeport employees.
That’s a great deal for the people of Bridgeport, the city that this now 20-year old festival calls its home.
What was once a distant dream for Terrapin Productions head and Vibes honcho Ken Hays is not only now a reality but also part of Bridgeport’s very essence. It is a significant part of the Park City’s fiber.
Let’s face it: every city in the world has its own uniqueness, but it is that distinctiveness that drives all of our urban population. And as Bridgeporters know all too well, this place has a distinctiveness that goes far beyond being Connecticut’s largest city. Just look at its politicians. But that’s a story for another day.
The list is seemingly endless for this place and astonishing to outsiders. We have P.T. Barnum and his legacies the Barnum Museum and the Barnum Festival, but that is only the short list of what the great circus impresario did for Bridgeport.
No there is no comparing the establishment of Bridgeport Hospital with Buddy Guy playing at Seaside Park but there is no denying the Gathering of the Vibes has become synonymous with Bridgeport. Like the Barnum Festival, the Vibes has become a year round experience. If one hears the name the “Gathering of the Vibes” their next thought is almost assuredly of Bridgeport. That’s just the way it is.
To be sure, there has been plenty of opposition to the Gathering of the Vibes throughout the years, but most of that has been irrational. There are loud mouth and so-called community activists out there who have vented, “Hey, if anyone ever wanted to put a rap festival at Seaside Park there’s no way Bridgeport would ever let it happen.”
Well the sad news for these big mouths is no one has ever tried to stage a rap festival here so you can’t compare apples and oranges.
However, despite such nonsense as outlined above there have been legitimate concerns expressed by Park City residents. Noise and arrests have been issues but Hays and Terrapin Productions seem to have responded with gusto.
Security is not a problem at the Vibes. In fact security is overbearing at the annual Seaside Park event. I have seen them in action and you essentially have to produce your first born to get into a restricted area. Those guys spring into action like the dudes from NCIS, sans Gibbs.
But this little column isn’t about security: it’s about recognizing what the Gathering of the Vibes and the city of Bridgeport mean to each other. You cannot simply think of one without the other.
Some of the most intriguing stories about this event have little to do with the power packed lineup of musical groups who have graced the stage at Seaside Park. But those are stories in themselves with likes of Buddy Guy, Los Lobos, Elvis Costello, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Wynton Marsalis as well as nearly all of the members of the Grateful Dead having performed at P.T. Barnum’s park on Long Island Sound. Heck, this list is an injustice, so many greats have played there.
And of course Bridgeport’s own Jen Durkin and Deep Banana Blackout rule the roost.
No the most fun stories are from people like my mailman Jack Lyons who is a doo-wop guy and would be far happier musically if Johnny Maestro came back to life and led the Brooklyn Bridge in concert here. Yet he goes every year to the Vibes with his granddaughter and they have a great time.
And there’s my Bridgeport Sound Tigers buddy Walt McEvoy who goes every year for the spectacle. We once watched Elvis Costello headline the Vibes and while I am Elvis fan from 20 years ago Walter didn’t know one song. He still can’t recognize “Pump It Up” when they play it at a hockey game but he loves the Gathering of the Vibes.
In the end it is all about fun. And so is Bridgeport. For the most part, maybe excluding its political history.
