Interview: Gathering Vibes w/ Ken Hays

HT: Am I correct in that this will be the first Gathering of the Vibes to feature all four of the surviving members of the Grateful Dead?

KH: You are correct, and Donna Jean, too. All of the members of the Dead have been with us at Gathering of the Vibes over the years, at one time or another, with their own bands. But this is big. Fifteen years is something we’re very proud of, and to have all of the surviving members join us is something not only that we wanted but something that all of the people who come wanted. It’s a testament, too, to how much the members of the Grateful Dead care about keeping their community happy. Granted, they’re on different days with the scheduling we have, but we have them.

HT: I imagine you have more than you can count, but can you share a favorite Gathering of the Vibes memory with us?

KH: I think one of my biggest Kodak moments would have been at Seaside Park in 2000. Bob Weir was there with RatDog, and he was the first member of the band to join us at Gathering of the Vibes. I was sitting on stage left during their set with [author, publicist and Dead historian] Dennis McNally and my radio called and I had to go deal with something, I don’t remember what it was. I told Dennis, ‘I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,’ and he looked at me, and he said, ‘Make it quick!’

I thought that was a little odd, but I was like, ok, alright, sure. Three or four minutes later I come back from whatever the hell it was, and I’m just about to sit back down on the road case with Dennis, and I hear the opening licks to Terrapin Station. The crowd erupted, just erupted. Dennis said he had talked to Bobby prior when he was putting together the setlist, and he smiled. Now, Terrapin Presents is the name of the company as you know, and back in 1991 I had started Terrapin Tapes, and it was just…perfect. I think we had close to 15,000 people out there: incredibly loyal, kind, beautiful Deadheads. They all knew the importance of the moment, and all the stars aligned on a beautiful evening for us. I’ll never forget that.

HT: I hear you on that. I was in the crowd that night and I remember it fondly, 10 years later.

KH: Ah, great, and yeah, Bobby nailed the song Terrapin Station. His vocals were right on point, and his guitar work was well in the mix. It just worked.

HT: The vibe of a festival certainly bears on its personality and that’s a true Gathering of the Vibes moment you’ve described – it would happen there because the ingredients were right and the audience was right. So let me ask you this, is it the vibe of the festival that ultimately carries the day? I mean, we’ve had this explosion of festivals in the past decade, and some of them – real good ones, too – aren’t making it…

KH: Right, right, I mean All Points West was an amazing festival. 10,000 Lakes was an amazing festival. There are so many, though, and it’s a really, really difficult business. Everyone seems to think that we’re making millions of dollars on this, but they don’t see all of the personnel that have to be paid, and all the police and fire and ambulances we need, and the 1.75 miles of eight-foot chain link fencing, and the 250 port-o-potties, and…well, if you go line item by line item, especially in an urban area like Seaside Park, and then factor in the 1,300 people we have – half of whom are volunteers – it’s an immensely challenging thing.

Seaside Park is the most challenging of venues I’ve ever experienced, but when the stars are shining and its 80 degrees and people are dancing in the water to great tunes and there are smiling faces all around, it reminds me why we’re doing what we’re doing. It brings joy. It gives our community a chance to step out of their coats and ties, put on their old tie-dye and bring the kids.

HT: Mmm hmm, so It’s community.

KH: If we lose that, that community, it’s gone forever, and that’s something that I just couldn’t bear to deal with. It’s a lot of weight on my own shoulders and it has been for years, with financing it myself. I don’t own a house or a new car, you know? The expenses at Seaside Park, as well, are extraordinary compared to doing an event in the great north woods of Vermont, or in New Hampshire, or in Maine, or even in upstate New York. Everything is more expensive. Man, light towers down here are one eighty five each versus eighty five in upstate New York. Seriously.

[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]

HT: But there’s something about Seaside Park that must make it all worth it. Seaside Park is the home of Gathering of the Vibes.

KH: Yeah, I mean, you look back in 1875 when P.T. Barnum was the mayor of Bridgeport. He gave the 370 acres to the city of Bridgeport to use for open space and for entertainment events. He used to drive his horse-drawn carriage across the concert field. They had elephants. That’s pretty magical stuff. There’s an energy and a magic to this park. Plus, it’s worth noting that Bridgeport, as the largest city in the state, continues to have economic problems. Hopefully the Vibes lifts the spirit of Bridgeport. A lot of local residents come to the Vibes every year – we had 1,200 last year, and that was double a year earlier – and Bridgeport residents get a discounted price. There are a lot of good things about this. Everyone, from the locals to us to the officers on patrol, wants the Gathering of the Vibes to succeed.

HT: Now that we’re in the home stretch before the fest begins, what takes up most of your time?

KH: Email, email email! It just sucks the life out of me. I hate email, I do. I love email that I can just forward to people. It’s just a constant barrage and bombardment. I was up til about 2:30 last night and I came pretty close to clearing my inbox. But we’re almost there. All of our teams are out there, the fencing is going in and the electronic panels are up and the generators and light towers are going up. An enormous amount of infrastructure is loaded in in a very short period of time. Because Bridgeport residents, the park is theirs, and we have to keep it open for them until the very last moment, so we work around them.

HT: What’s left to do with the talent this late in the game?

KH: Talent’s all in advance: the production is done, the hospitality is all done and all of our volunteers are lined up, and all of our compliance and insurance and it just goes on and on. Granted, all of this reasonable stuff: none of it is all too surprising. Right now it’s loose ends and last minute marketing and trying to get people who either might be on the fence about attending or might not have heard about it.

HT: I know you probably can’t share financials, but how have the advance numbers been this year?

KH: They’ve been OK. The trend so far this summer with festivals, and we’re pretty well into it by now, is a lot of last minute walk-ups. People want to see what the weather’s like and what their situation is going to be. That was true of Mountain Jam and it’s been true for the last few weeks: lots of walk-up traffic. I’m optimistic. People will go to weather.com and see four days of gorgeous sunshine in store.

HT: From your lips to God’s ears, as they say.

KH: Thanks. I hope so.

HT: What types of tickets are being sold, may I ask? Does a lot of your business come in walk-ups versus, say, the full weekend packages?

KH
: For weekend campers, 15 to 20 percent of people will come to the gate and purchase tickets when they get there. But a big chunk of folks do order their tickets in advance. You could have ordered early tickets for $135 each, and now they’d be $217. But obviously times are difficult. We try to keep our ticket prices reasonable.

HT: Do a lot of folks take advantage of the day passes? I mean, looking at Friday’s lineup, that run of artists (The Radiators > Jackie Greene > Steve Kimock Crazy Engine > Sharon Jones > Robert Randolph > two sets of Furthur) would, to many people, be alone worth the $135.

KH: Friday is a pretty extraordinary day. I’m a huge fan of Friday. I’m a huge fan of Saturday, too. And Sunday as well! You get what I’m saying.

HT: Sure thing. How soon after a Vibes ends do you start work on the next year’s lineup?

KH: Each [Vibes] takes about a month to close out, and there’s definitely some post-traumatic stress [laughs]. It happens to all of us: 11 and a half months into building, and then suddenly it’s upon us and then it’s over. Then you gotta pick yourself up and dust yourself off and try to understand what the hell just happened. With age and 15 years of doing this, I’ve gotten a little better at bouncing back quicker, and I also have a lot of charity stuff I work on, which is something I’m really passionate about. But it’ll be some time and then we start planning.

[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]

HT: The Vibes has always been good about giving space to up-and-coming acts on the side stage and making sure they’re not buried. Who should we be watching for this year?

KH
: Well, there are a lot, but a couple who jump out right away. One is this kid Quinn Sullivan. I think he’s 11 or 12 years old and he played with Buddy Guy – Buddy took him under his wing – at last year’s Vibes. Incredible guitar work and the vocals are so strong for someone that age. And the McLovins! They’ve obviously exploded into the scene at the ripe old ages of 16, 17 and 18 and they’re already selling out 300 to 400 person venues. They’re amazingly talented and already writing their own songs with wisdom and creativity.

HT: Given that you’re the boss and have to put out fires as they happen, how much music do you actually get to see during the festival?

KH: Ha, well, I’m optimistic that I’ll see more music this year than I will have ever seen in the past. I’ve got a great team, and they know they can get in touch with me over radio. It’s also the second year in a row that I’ll have an assistant on site, which will take some of the load off me. The way I look at it, it’s a space shuttle. It takes like 3 months to roll the space shuttle out from the dock to the launching pad. Then, once you’ve hit that ignite switch and the shuttle leaves the docking area, you can always hit some thrusters to the left and thrusters to the right to keep it on course as needed. And god forbid there’s a catastrophic disaster. Everyone wants this to succeed. It’s important for Bridgeport, and it’s important for all parties, and I look forward to steering it down the Golden Road.

HT: Shifting gears once more, Ken, Gathering of the Vibes, like any festival of its kind these days, has the specter of nitrous hanging over it. Nitrous use at festivals and concerts has obviously been around for a long time, but now that there’s an organized crime element to it, it’s gained greater attention among fans, promoters and the media. What steps are you taking to safeguard Gathering of the Vibes this year?

KH: The steps are in place. The first step was making possession of nitrous oxide in a city park illegal, and that took the city council and the board of parks commissioners to unanimously approve the banning of nitrous oxide in all city parks. That happened — it happened a month ago. So now, the city police are armed with criminal charges and the ability to prosecute these nitrous dealers to the fullest extent allowable by law. It’s going to go very far.

The laws governing nitrous vary state to state, and in some states, it’s listed as a controlled substance and in others, listed as a restricted substance. That’s not even throwing in some forms of it, including some automotive breeds. The law is fairly ambiguous in the state of Connecticut. So the city council did what they had to do to make sure these drug dealers stay out of their city.

HT: And just to be clear, that’s the city council in Bridgeport?

KH: Correct.

HT: This will make it easier to combat their presence at the Vibes.

KH: Absolutely. And additionally, with all the heat on these guys with a cover story in the Village Voice and everything, it’s gotten to a point where a lot of these guys — a lot of these organized nitrous dealers — are laying low. Instead of going to multiple-day camping festivals, they’re going out on tours and having to go night to night, so there’s jumping around. They’re still peddling their wares, yes, but they’re not doing it in any significant numbers at camping sites, which is a big change.

HT: Do you think that’s helped with progress against these guys?

KH: Without question. Our security, with the Bridgeport Police Department, is ready. We feel very certain that we’re going to be able to nip this in the bud.

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