By Rachel Bui
The night before the Sound on Sound festival, torrential rain poured flooded parts of the tri-state area, leading the organizers to delay the start of the festival the next day and cutting 4 acts from the lineup last minute. Hours leading up to gates opening, I entered festival grounds to witness staff worked diligently to make conditions bearable. This included adding gravel and plastic walkways to mitigate the mud and water from the storm. The efforts, though not perfect, did help. Other logistics included improved sound (an aspect that was heavily criticized by festival goers last year), though the use of subwoofers was at times excessive.
Standout performances (besides the headliners) were Lord Huron and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats on Day 1, and Snacktime and Hozier for Day 2. Both Lord Huron and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats were energetic performers that were enjoyable to listen to live, Snacktime couldn’t help but make me dance with their funky jazz set, and Hozier created an almost spiritual experience that was a treat to witness.
Day 1 headliner Red Hot Chili Peppers had an explosive entrance to their stage, opening with “Can’t Stop” (and they never did, with their liveliness). From there, they kept their energy high, and the chemistry on stage between members was incredible. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were quite a few people’s main reason for attending the festival, and they did not disappoint.
Day 2 headliner John Mayer in contrast had a more mellow set, playing solo on his acoustic guitar the whole time. The decision to have a stripped down setup made sense, when you consider that this festival was a sort of homecoming for him, as he grew up in the area where the festival took place. Sprinkling in some antidotes of his time growing up in Connecticut between sets, his return to the state of Connecticut charmed both fans and those unfamiliar with his music. It was a touching end to the weekend-long festival.
With Sound on Sound starting to top the learning curve, I believe this will be a fun Northeast festival to make time for.
