Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Sound on Sound returns for a second year, on the weekend of September 30th-October 1st:
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30th
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Red Hot Chili Peppers, 9:45 PM How can you be into music and not know the Red Hot Chili Peppers (QRO photos at a ’22 festival)? RHCP (QRO photos) emerged from the same sweaty Los Angeles eighties music scene that gave birth to Jane’s Addiction & more, and the Peppers (QRO photos) mix alt-rock with the funkified bass of the one-and-only Flea plus the sexy energy of singular frontman Anthony Kiedis. Along with drummer/Will Ferrell-look-alike Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante, the band racked up awards and record sales with such classics as Mother’s Milk, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, “Higher Ground”, “Under the Bridge”, and much more. Frusciante left in 1992 to be replaced by Jane’s Addiction’s own Dave Navarro, before Frusciante returned in 1999 for the band’s biggest selling record ever, Californication. More recently, Frusciante has left again, to focus on his solo work (QRO review), replaced by upgraded touring guitarist Josh Klinghoffer for 2011’s I’m In You (QRO review) and 2017’s year’s strong The Getaway (QRO review). But of course, Frusciante came back, ‘cause ain’t nothin’ stoppin’ the Red Hot Chili Peppers (QRO photos), who come to Sound on Sound (QRO photos at a festival) to headline (QRO photos headlining a ’23 festival), touring (QRO ’22 live review) behind this year’s Ultimate Love and Return of the Dream Canteen. |
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Trey Anastasio Band, 8:00 PM – 9:15 PM If Phish (QRO photos at a festival) has made themselves into the next generation Grateful Dead, then frontman Trey Anastasio (QRO ’22 solo photos) is the next generation Jerry Garcia. He’s done everything from play above the marquee at the Ed Sullivan Theater to get a Tony nomination for his orchestration of Broadway musical Hands on a Hardbody, and now Anastasio (QRO photos at a festival) comes to Sound on Sound (QRO photos at a festival). |
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Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, 6:50 PM – 7:50 PM Denver’s Nathaniel Rateliff (QRO photos) brings sad indie-folks sounds with his band, The Night Sweats (QRO photos at a festival), as he has successfully climbed the festival ladder (QRO photos headlining a festival) behind 2020’s And It’s Still Alright (QRO review). The road warrior (QRO ’22 photos) comes to Sound on Sound (QRO photos at a ’22 festival). |
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Lord Huron, 5:40 PM – 6:40 PM The lonesome, lakeside dreams of Lord Huron (QRO photos) is also a festival regular (QRO photos at a festival), coming to Sound on Sound (QRO photos at a ’21 festival) behind 2021’s Long Lost. |
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Steel Pulse, 4:45 PM – 5:30 PM Bringing the reggae to Sound on Sound is Steel Pulse (QRO photos at a festival). The Birmingham, U.K. act was the first non-Jamaican group to ever win ‘Best Reggae Album’ Grammy. |
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Joy Oladokun, 3:50 PM – 4:35 PM Mixing everything from folk to R&B is Joy Oladokun (QRO photos at a ’22 festival), who comes to Sound on Sound (QRO photos at a festival) behind this year’s Proof of Life. |
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Sammy Rae & The Friends, 2:55 PM – 3:40 PM Samantha Bowers, a.k.a. Sammy Rae, brings her friends & good times to Sound on Sound behind such recent EPs as The Good Life and Let’s Throw a Party. |
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Also: Deep Banana Blackout, 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM Briscoe, 1:20 PM – 1:50 PM Kieran Rhodes, 12:40 PM – 1:10 PM Julai & The Serotones, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM |
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1st
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John Mayer, 9:30 PM Do you really need to be told who John Mayer (QRO live review) is? He became one of the top pop vocalists at the start of this century/millennium with such songs as “Your Body Is a Wonderland”, before shifting to a more blues-inspired sound. He (QRO photos) had some issues with the media and his superstar status before 2012’s Born and Raised (QRO review), but after recovering from vocal cord granuloma, he shifted to more country on 2013’s Paradise Valley (QRO review). He (QRO photos) also teamed up with former Grateful Dead musicians to make Dead and Company (QRO ’22 live review), and has even done comedy (like guest judging an episode of Roast Battle). Mayer comes to Sound on Sound (QRO ’23 photos) behind 2021’s Sob Rock. |
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Alanis Morissette, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM “Isn’t it ironic?” With that line and 1995’s Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette became the musician that “You Oughta Know”, practically the poster girl for the wave of nineties indie-rock songstresses. No, nothing’s matched that since, but she’s kept busy in music & more, including appearing as God in Kevin Smith’s Dogma, starring in the Philip K. Dick adaptation Radio Free Albemuth, and voicing an imaginary version of herself on The Great North. She comes to Sound on Sound after not only celebrating the (delayed) 25th anniversary of Pill on tour, but also turning it into a Tony-nominated musical. |
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Hozier, 6:50 PM – 7:50 PM Ireland’s Andrew Hozier-Byrne (QRO live review in England) comes to Sound on Sound (QRO photos at a festival) off of Wasteland, Baby!, 2019’s follow-up to 2014’s massive breakthrough single “Take Me To the Church” – which had seen him being impersonated by Kate McKinnon on Saturday Night Live! |
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Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, 5:55 PM – 6:40 PM It was a bit of a slow burn for Ben Harper (QRO photos at a festival), whose mixture of skilled guitar, vocals, and activism first hit it big in Europe (QRO photos in Europe) and especially Australia, before he really boomed in his native States (QRO photos in America). But boom he did, hitting the Billboard Top Ten with his band Relentless7 – not to mention appearing with Will Ferrell, ZZ Top, and Conan O’Brien on his last Tonight Show. He’s done other great team-ups, like with Joseph Arthur & Dhani Harrison as Fistful of Mercy (QRO photos), or legendary bluesman Charlie Musselwhite on this 2013’s Get Up! and on tour (QRO photos together at a festival), but comes to Sound on Sound with his Innocent Criminals (QRO photos at a festival). |
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Dispatch, 5:00 PM – 5:45 PM Embrace the indie-roots of Dispatch (QRO photos), who originated in the nineties, but have undergone a series of reunions (QRO ’22 photos). |
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Mt. Joy, 4:05 PM – 4:50 PM Enjoy the indie-rock of Mt. Joy (QRO photos), who have emerged from the troubles of the COVID pandemic with 2020’s sophomore studio album, Rearrange Us, and now comes to Sound on Sound (QRO ’23 photos). |
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Margo Price, 3:10 PM – 3:55 PM The Fader once called Margo Price (QRO photos a festival) “country’s next star,” and she’s become it, winning the Grammy for ‘Best New Artist’ in 2019. There’s not a better place to find that out than at Sound on Sound (QRO photos at a festival), which she comes to (QRO photos at a ’21 festival) after this year’s Strays (QRO review). |
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Cautious Clay, 2:15 PM – 3:00 PM The breakout hip-hop/R&B star – with the greatest name since Nipsey Hussle – is Cautious Clay (QRO photos at a festival), who comes to Sound on Sound (QRO photos at a ’23 festival) behind 2019’s Table of Context. |
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Gin Blossoms, 1:20 PM – 2:05 PM “Hey Jealousy” – with that killer single, Gin Blossoms and their New Miserable Experience (QRO live review) boomed on the alt-rock scene in 1992. Yes, it’s not the nineties anymore, but they’re still on that long road (QRO photos at a festival). |
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Also: Calder Allen, 12:40 PM – 1:10 PM Snacktime, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM |
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