The two-day festival is taking place in Bridgeport’s Seaside Park Sept. 24 and 25. The first day featured headliners Stevie Nicks and The Lumineers along with Father John Misty. Organizers announced on social media that they were making changes ahead of the start of the second day Sunday.
Some social media users said the festival was overcrowded and didn’t have enough vendors, while some reported waiting over an hour in line for food and drinks. Others mentioned unsanitary restroom conditions, poor Internet connection, high traffic in parking lots and being unable to hear sound from both stages.
“You should be ashamed of how your ticket holders were treated, and how grossly oversold this event was,” one Facebook user commented under one of the festival’s posts.
Country singer Zach Bryan experienced technical difficulties for the first 15 minutes of his set and walked off the stage multiple times. The singer only played 20 minutes of the 55-minute set.
In a recently deleted tweet, the singer called the first 15 minutes of the set “..the most embarrassing moments I have ever felt playing music through the entire last year of my life..” and retweeted a user’s complaint about him playing only three songs. During the ordeal, audience members showed signs of impatience and chanted “We want Zach.”
Before the band Caamp performed, promoter Jimmy Koplik told the crowd to move their lawn chairs because too many people brought them and they took up a lot of space.
Sound on Sound addressed the backlash in a statement just after midnight on Sunday:
“Our team is working overnight to expand and reconfigure the viewing area to accommodate more space for all fans, and defining walkaways across the performance field for crowd movement. We are also expanding the No Chair Zones in the viewing area and will be more actively enforcing the policy to keep the space in front of the stages open for fans to stand and enjoy the show. Please help us by respecting the No Chair Zone signs in the field tomorrow.”
Organizers added that they are adjusting the sound quality for performers and are increasing the number of vendors and staff members to address long lines.
Festival organizers also posted a weather warning Sunday morning advising that attendees dress for rainy weather and allowing the use of small umbrellas. The weather forecast for Bridgeport projects showers and thunderstorms will likely occur in the late afternoon.
Sound on Sound organizers also said in the Facebook comments that they are working with The Bridgeport Police Department to move traffic quicker in parking areas.