The Gathering of the Vibes, Connecticut’s biggest rock festival, is 20 years old. For some, it’s a yearly pilgrimage, or maybe a spiritual retreat, offering four days of music across two stages (and a late-night stage), a variety of food, beer and merch vendors, booths to get educated about political and environmental issues (or just to get a massage or some gong therapy), campgrounds, a silent disco, family-minded activities, a Ferris Wheel, and plenty of room to stretch out and relocate your center, amid expansive water views.
You can locate most musical acts somewhere on the Grateful Dead family tree (core-four members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann are Mickey Hart usually perform somewhere, and faithful recreationists Dark Star Orchestra are always featured prominently). You’ll also find a smattering of contemporary (if well-seasoned) rockers (this year: main-stage sets by Wilco, Weezer and Ben Harper), though it’s not hard to grasp the connective musical tissue. In the age of laptops and DJs, the Vibes welcomes singer-songwriters and risk-taking instrumentalists, percussionists and horns players, national talent and local upstarts.
Wavy Gravy emcees. Hoop dancers mark their territories. Ben and Jerry’s ice cream materializes in unexpected corners. Sometimes, it rains, and that’s okay too.
Here’s the full run-down of who’ll be where, at what time.
>>Thursday Main Stage: Hayley Jane and the Primates (3 p.m.); Vibes veteran Ryan Montbleau (4 p.m.); Strange People (5:15 p.m.); CT legends Max Creek (7:05 p.m.); and Dark Star Orchestra (9 p.m.), featuring Jerry Garcia Band alum Melvin Seals.
>>Thursday Green Vibes Stage: Relative Souls (1:45 p.m.); jazz/funk/reggae hybrid Banooba (3:45 p.m.); and Fly Golden Eagle (5:45 p.m.)
>>Thursday Late-Night Stage: Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe (1:05 a.m.).
>>Friday Main Stage: Vermont-based jam-band Twiddle (11 a.m.); the Word (12:45 p.m.), a jazz-rock supergroup featuring John Medeski, Robert Randolph, Luther and Cody Dickinson and Chris Chew; Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (2:45 p.m.); the Tedeschi Trucks Band (4:45 p.m.); Gregg Allman (6:45 p.m.); and the String Cheese Incident (9 p.m.), featuring string wizards David Grisman and Peter Rowan.
>>Friday Green Vibes Stage: Nattali Rize & Notis (11 a.m.); troubadour David Gans (12:15 p.m.); Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band (1:45 p.m.), led by the Allman Brothers drummer; Doyle Bramhall II (3:30 p.m.); Tea Leaf Green (5:15 p.m.); and the School of Rock Allstars (7:15 p.m.), featuring a bunch of ridiculously talented kids.
>>Friday Late-Night Stage: Electron (1:05 a.m.); and Oktopus (3:30 a.m.), with Todd Stoops, Jason Hann and other guests.
>>Saturday Main Stage: CT jazz-rock band Kung Fu (11 a.m.); progressive Michigan string-band Greensky Bluegrass (12:30 p.m.); funk veterans Deep Banana Blackout (2 p.m); the Gaslight Anthem (3:45 p.m.); Billy and the Kids (5:30 p.m.), featuring GD drummer Bill Kreutzmann; Warren Haynes with Railroad Earth (7:30 p.m.); Wilco (9:15 p.m.), who recently released a new surprise album; and Haynes again with the Seaside All-Stars (11:45 p.m.), an ensemble that includes Meters bassist George Porter Jr., saxophonist Branford Marsalis, guitarist Jackie Greene and others.
>>Saturday Green Vibes Stage: the Primate Fiasco (11:15 a.m.); New Riders of the Purple Sage (1 p.m.); Moon Hooch (2:45 p.m.); Trevor Hall (4:30 p.m.); and Turquoise (6:15 p.m.).
>>Saturday Late-Night Stage: funk band Lettuce (1:05 a.m.); and the Nth Power (3:45 p.m.).
>>Sunday Main Stage: the annual World Peace Flag Ceremony (11:40 a.m.); the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (12 p.m.); Zappa Plays Zappa (1:45 p.m.), featuring Frank’s virtuosic son Dweezil; Weezer (3:45 p.m.); and Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals (6 p.m.).
>>Sunday Green Vibes Stage: the School of Rock Allstars (10 a.m.); Andy the Music Man (11 a.m.); Band Together CT (11:50 a.m.); Earphunk (1:15 p.m.); Cabinet (3 p.m.) and John Brown’s Body (4:45 p.m.).
