B.O.M.B. goes off in Hartford

HARTFORD — Connecticut’s summer music season started this year with a bang. The B.O.M.B Fest (Bring Back Our Music) was held Memorial Day weekend at the Comcast Theater in Hartford, featuring dozens of bands from the Constitution state, along with regional acts and top-billed acts Weezer and Snoop Dogg.The event began as a high school project for Frank Bombaci Jr. of Old Lyme, who envisioned a music festival that incorporated local Connecticut acts with national acts in order to raise money for children’s charities. Now in its third year, the two-day event has grown so large that it had to move from a college campus in Danbury to the Comcast Theater.The festival was not as well-attended as expected (ticket prices were cut in half for day two), but the thousands that did go were treated to some of the best local acts in Connecticut and the surrounding states as well as national headliners like The Freelance Whales, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros and Coheed and Cambria. Local bands the Heirlooms, The ReBel Yell, the Frank Critelli Band and the Manchurians all performed sets to the delight of the crowds. DJ 12th Planet spun the Viva la BOMB crowd into an impromptu rave complete with lighted hula hoop spinners. Many more bands will be hitting the Connecticut circuit this summer and were represented at B.O.M.B. Fest. The upcoming Gathering of the Vibes in July will feature Elvis Costello, Jane’s Addiction and many other outstanding musicians at Seaside Park in Bridgeport. The summer is shaping up to be an exciting one for music fans in Connecticut.

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