Sound on Sound headliners announced
Bridgeport fest to feature Mayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers
High-end musical festival Sound on Sound is returning to Bridgeport’s Seaside Park on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 with a lineup as impressive as the inaugural event last year.
The Saturday schedule features Red Hot Chili Peppers, Trey Anastasio Band, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Lord Huron, Steel Pulse, Joy Oladokun, Sammy Rae & the Friends, Gin Blossoms, Briscoe, Kiera Rhodes and Julai & the Serotones.
Sunday brings John Mayer, Alanis Morissette, Hozier, Dispatch, Mt. Joy, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Margo Price, Cautious Clay, Deep Banana Blackout, Calder Allen and the Philadelphia-based brass band Snacktime.
Other acts will be announced at a later date.
Tickets go on sale Thursday at noon. There is a presale opportunity for Citi Card members that runs Tuesday through Thursday at 11:59 p.m. Tickets range from the general admission on the lawn ($189 Saturday, $179 Sunday, $279 both days) to the “premier” seated section ($419 Saturday, $399 Sunday, $649 both days), to a VIP section ($749, $429 for the weekend, Saturday, $399 Sunday) a sky deck ($1,599, $859 each day) and a “Super VIP” two-day package for $7,499.
Festival organizers say the second annual Sound on Sound will have a different stage configuration than last year’s sold-out event, with twice as much space overall as well as “upgraded mobile network coverage,” three times as many vendors, clearly defined walkways through the grounds, better restroom facilities and improved lighting and signage. There’s a Wine Grove, a Craft Beer & Sports Hall and a Super VIP lounge.
Instead of last year’s two-stage set-up, this year’s Sound on Sound festival will have one large turntable stage with no long set-up times in between bands and no overlapping sets.
“The experience will be bigger and better this year from the acts, to the site, to the food and beverage offerings,” Sound on Sound partner Howard Saffran said in a statement. “We have turned the traditional festival upside down and created something really special for Connecticut.”
Some local pride is injected into the festival. Mayer was born in Bridgeport and grew up in Fairfield, Deep Banana Blackout has been a Connecticut partyband institution since the mid-’90s and the food and beverage vendors will be well-known local companies.
Many of the acts in the festival have visited Connecticut in the past — both Price (as part of the Farm Aid concert) and Morissette have played Hartford’s Xfinity Theater in recent years — but Red Hot Chili Peppers has not played in the state for over 20 years.
The Sound on Sound music festival made a big splash last year, with headliners Stevie Nicks, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, The Lumineers, Brandi Carlile and the National, plus nearly 20 other acts.