Gathering of the Vibes is an annual four-day music, camping and arts festival that celebrates the Grateful Dead & showcases a very diverse variety of music. Over the course of the event, styles often include; Funk, Bluegrass, Rock, Jam Band, Jazz, Reggae, R&B & Folk music. Since 1996, the Vibes has brought many bands to the New England area during the summer season. There are two main stages that alternate bands so that festival goers experience music all day and into the night. A short stroll down the beach is the "Green Vibes Stage" which showcases some of the Northeast's finest talent.
There was a last minute snafu with the photographer that usually covers this event for the newspapers I work for. I am not a fan of festivals and I was very trepidatious in signing up for it. I did not like the photo release, which stated that I had to give over copies of everything I shot to the festival for their personal/promotional use. In the end, I decided to cover Saturday and Sunday. I've never shot a concert in the day time, so I figured it would be a good learning experience.
The biggest change for me was the sheer amount of photographers/people in the pit. VIP ticket holders are also allowed into the photo pit, so you're trying to work around them and the 30 or so photographers. For the bigger acts, you pretty much found a spot and stuck to it. In most cases, I was able to crop out the lenses that were in my shots. In the day time, I stuck to my 35-350mm lens, which is a great in the day time. It struggles a bit when attempting to focus in low light and it does weigh a lot, so it's not ideal for all day shooting. Then again, only having to carry around one lens is pretty sweet.
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Phil Lesh and Friends
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