Sound on Sound Music Festival took place at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT on September 30 and October 1, 2023. After a shaky start to their debut year in 2022, many attendees had high hopes that their opinions had been heard and would lead into a better year two. While many concerns were addressed and corrected for this year, the festival unfortunately had another rocky start to the weekend.
The day before the festival, there was heavy rain all day in Connecticut, leading to wet and muddy conditions. Seaside Park is located right on Long Island Sound and with rainfall that substantial, the park had nearly turned into new marshland on the coast. Due to the conditions, Sound on Sound festival sent out information detailing a delayed start for Saturday. This delayed start meant that they unfortunately had to cut some bands from the lineup in order to not run pas These bands included: Julai and the Serotones, Kieran Rhodes, Briscoe, and Sammy Rae & The Friends. There were a few attendees that seemed upset over this change, but many of them were sympathetic and understood that the festival organizers were doing the best they could given the situation. Throughout this, the festival was very communicative and even advised attendees to wear rainboots and avoid blocked off areas in order to maintain the integrity of the park.
Once over the weather hurdle, the day was smooth sailing despite the mud. Due to the festivals theme of no overlapping sets, and downsizing to one stage this year, they opted for a rotating stage.
The first act of the day we caught was Arizona native, Joy Oladokun. Her naturally lighthearded demeanor was the perfect start to the weekend. Her vocals were soothing yet still have a powerful force behind them, it’s clear that she grew up on country and folk music. Her music encompasses many common woes, such as having to face change, or how certain experiences alter people’s perception of the world. There isn’t a better way to describe her music than how she introduced her song, “Taking Things for Granted”: “I get stoned in my attic and write about life”. She also covered “Rocketman” as well as “The Night We Met”, which was the perfect lead into Lord Huron’s set following hers.
Indie rock band, Lord Huron, played a collection of songs throughout their album, starting off with “Meet Me In The Woods”. The audience started to pick up during their performance, even people that didn’t know much of their music seemed to be swaying along and having a good time. Lead singer, Ben Schneider, put on his signature skull mask for a couple of the songs on the set, which really livened up the crowd. They closed with a crowd favorite “The Night We Met”, followed by one of their newer songs, “Not Dead Yet”. The next act up was Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. What started as a side project in 2013 led to viral music and a reignition of passion for Nathaniel. Their set featured their most popular songs like, “S.O.B.” and “A little Honey”, and ended with one of their most danceable songs “Love Don’t”. It was clear there were members in the crowd that had heard their music many times before with how they were singing along.
Closing out night one of Sound on Sound 2023 was none other than the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Many people had been camping out all day just to get a good spot for them, and they certainly put on a show. Starting the set off strong, the bassist, Flea, was the first to come out onto the stage, doing so by walking in a handstand. Flea, the drummer, Chad Smith, and the guitarist, John Frusciante then proceeded to perform their signature jam session to start off the show. They went into “Can’t Stop” immediately after, vocalist Anthony Kiedis joining them. Their set was intoxicating to anyone in the general area, even for people that stood on the cement barriers outside of the venue just to get a glimpse of the action inside. They played a series of hits, from “Dani California” to “Scar Tissue” and “Californification”. They closed out the night with an encore of “Give it Away”, ending the first day of Sound on Sound on a high note.
JOY OLADOKUN
LORD HURON
NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Photos + Review by Brittany Whitham | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!