Not sure how I feel about Elvis Costello, or Jane’s Addiction, for that matter, being part of the Furthur Festival in Bridgeport this year. The literate, culty guys are always dwarfed at these big festivals, and

I know it’s been over 30 years since the whole ’77 thing. Elvis has conquered umpteen worlds into which few could have predicted he’d even ever want to set foot. And Furthur, I further realize, has diversified beyond its original smiley-bear/tattoed skeleton audience. The wide array of reggae and funk acts it attracts are a great frosting for its jammy middle. But however far from Shakedown Street the programming strays, hasn’t it still been mainly about guitars and seldom about words?

The first batch of confirmed Furthur bands (quirkily alphabetized by me):
Big Gigantic
Dark Star Orchestra
David Gans
Deep Banana Blackout
Dr. John and the Lower 911
Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk
King for a Day
Phil Lesh and Bob Weir
Jane’s Addiction
John Butler Trio
The Levon Helm Band
Steve Kimock and Reed Mathis
The McLovins
moe.
The New Mastersounds
The Rhythm Devils with Keller Williams
Ryan Montbleau Band
Taj Mahal Trio
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Toots & The Maytals

Details at www.gatheringofthevibes.com