Beach Road Weekend’s second headliner is Phil Lesh and Friends, Adam Epstein, promoter of the three-day festival, told The Times.
Lesh is the former bassist of the Grateful Dead. He will close out Sunday’s performances along with Grace Potter, Epstein, CEO of Innovation Arts & Entertainment, said. “We’re pretty stoked about it,” he said.
Phil Lesh and Friends join John Fogerty, the Saturday concert headliner, at the three-day festival, Aug. 9 to 11, at Veterans Memorial Park in Vineyard Haven. The opening-night act is an outdoor performance of the movie “Jaws,” accompanied by the Cape Cod Symphony playing the film’s haunting score.
Monday’s announcement comes as Beach Road Weekend is about to kick off its ticket sales, giving Martha’s Vineyard members of the Summer Concert Series first dibs. An email is going out to that membership Monday night, Epstein said.
Along with Lesh and Fogerty, the lineup includes Dispatch, Grace Potter, Matisyahu, Galactic, the Original Wailers, Alejandro Escovedo, Mason Jennings, and North Mississippi Allstars.
Epstein said he has agreed to contract terms and language with the town. Tisbury town administrator Jay Grande wrote in an email that he expects that will come at the board’s next meeting on Tuesday, May 21.
Epstein said he’s been pleased with the public reaction the weekend festival has received online since the lineup for the event was announced. “I feel really good about it,” he said. “It’s been great. We’re getting really good engagement online.”
It hasn’t been an easy path to this point. Epstein, who lives in Chicago in the offseason, has made nearly a half-dozen appearances before selectmen since he first introduced the concept in December. Opponents of the festival raised concerns about traffic, public drinking, and the drain on town emergency services. Selectman candidate Seth Gambino made the event a campaign issue. Proponents have compared the event to the Oak Bluffs fireworks and Edgartown wine festival — events that attract visitors to those towns to eat at restaurants and spend money at local shops.
There are several levels of tickets, including reserved seating and lawn seating that will feature beach chairs. Epstein expects most of the sales will be general admission tickets. Ticket sales will begin online May 31 at 10 am at beachroadweekend.com.
