Jack Bradley did not see the Doors, Yardbirds or Cream play at Staples High School.
He was born 30 years after those legendary concerts (and many others).
But the 2016 Weston High School graduate is a huge rock ‘n’ roll fan.
And to paraphrase the Byrds — another great band that played here — he wants to be a rock ‘n’ roll star.
Bradley is well on his way.
Jack Bradley
For the past few years, the guitarist’s band The Thing has drawn attention — and sold out shows across the US and Europe — with their music.
It mixes the Kinks, Grand Funk Railroad, Pink Floyd and garage and psychedelic bands of the 1960s and ’70s, with newer artists like The Black Keys.
This Friday (February 27, 8 p.m.), they kick off the Westport Library’s 5th annual VersoFest.
The actual 4-day music and media extravaganza takes place March 26-29. But The Thing will be on a national tour then. So the Library snagged them for this show. It will be the opening date of that tour.
Before he was a rocker, Bradley was a producer. Not many teenagers were as obsessed as he was with rock. So he created a makeshift studio in his Weston basement, recording and producing rappers.
But during a stint at Millbrook — after Fairfield Country Day School, and before Weston High — he’d met Michael Carter and Zane Acord. They bonded over their love for music their parents loved.
They stayed in touch after Bradley left. They scattered across the country — he went to Berklee College of Music in Boston Zane headed South, and Mike to the Pacific Northwest. When the pandemic hit, they reunited in a big farmhouse in Sharon, Connecticut.
They recruited a drummer, recorded there, then moved to Brooklyn. They won a Battle of the Bands at Our Wicked Lady — the famed (and now closed) music venue there — which kick-started their career.
Jack Bradley and The Thing.
The Thing was invited to South by Southwest. They bought a van, and for the past 2 1/2 years have played over 300 shows.
Thursday’s will be their first in Westport, though.
The route to the Library began in late 2024, when the band played at Fairfield Theater Company.
Bradley met Dick Wingate there. The longtime music industry executive and Westport resident — a key figure in past VersoFests — made the connection for this year.
Bradley is familiar with the event. Gang of Four kicked off their “Long Goodbye” tour at it last year. He was there, and met the band.
The Thing and friends, at Flushing Meadows Park.
Bradley looks forward to their own tour kickoff. He expects a crowd like many of their US shows: teenagers and grandparents. (Their European audiences tend to include “the whole town.”)
He hopes there will be plenty of fans in between. His own parents will be there, for sure. (His mother is very proud that Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon features The Thing often, on his Sirius XM show.)
From last year, Bradley knows what it’s like to hear and play music in a library. He’s not sure his bandmates do.
“If you haven’t been there, you don’t realize how cool” the venue is, he says.
But, he warns: “We’re loud!”
Also cool: the opening act.
Fever Dream is a 5-person group. Staples and Weston High musicians Seamus Brannigan, Griffin Delmhorst, Ari Sklar, Harry Schultz and Ezra Schwartz play covers of their favorite classic/alternative rock and grunge songs, along with originals they’ll release soon.
Fever Dream. Three members (top row) performed in Staples Players’ “Les Misérables” last fall.
Jack Bradley didn’t have a band, when he was in high school.
This Thursday, a large VersoFest crowd will see that once again, it’s The Thing.
For tickets and more information on The Thing show, click here. For the full VersoFest lineup — including Wyclef Jean, Ani DiFranco and much more — click here.
(“06880” regularly covers the local entertainment scene — including its many fascinating back stories. If you enjoy posts like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
