It was another incredible year at New Jersey’s beloved music festival, Sea.Hear.Now. Located down on the Asbury Park Boardwalk, it includes two full days of surf, sand and live-music, a perfect way to bring the summer season to a close. With over 35,000 fans gathered down on the shoreline to celebrate, it poses the question of why aren’t more concerts taking place on a sandy beach?
Saturday started out with spirits high, featuring Clarence Clemons’ youngest son, Jared, on Park Stage. Soon followed by a guitar serenade from Australian singer, Steph Strings. In between sets, ticket holders were able to catch the surf competition happening on the shore-line, grab curated drinks/food from local vendors and attend a private show inside the Transparent Clinch Art Gallery. This gallery, orchestrated by renowned Danny Clinch, showcases paintings, photographs and decorated drum heads from headline artists and past performers.
At this point, the festival was humming with energy. Attendees cheered on performances by Fitz and the Tantrums, Men at Work, The All-American Rejects and The Offspring. People were dancing barefoot, others were screaming along to lyrics and bodies were pressed up against the barricade.
Day 1 concluded with a captivating set by Mumford & Sons. Golden light arched down as Marcus Mumford sang favorites such as, “Little Lion Man,” “The Cave” and “Babel.” By the time “I Will Wait” drew to a close, vibrant fireworks exploded across the beach. Down the street, The Wonder Bar and The Stone Pony, held ticketed shows if the day’s events wasn’t enough.
With rain on the horizon for Day 2, fans didn’t let that stop them from lining up early. The crowd was a sea of plastic ponchos, as local artists such as Blaise and Status Green took the stage. Other standouts included performances by King Stingray, Die Spitz, and flipturn. Soon the pit blurred together as attendees moshed, crowd surfed and screamed lyrics in harmony to Goo Goo Doll’s “Iris.”
When the sun began to set, Moby and Pixies wrapped up their light-driven shows. Fans rushed to Surf Stage for The Strokes’ headline act. Now cast in darkness, the beach roared to life as the group opened up with “Lonely in the Future” off their latest album, Reality Awaits. Balancing recent tracks with crowd favorites such as Reptilia, Last Nite and The Adults are Talking. Right when Ode to the Mets wrapped up, the clouds finally let loose the downpour it was holding back all day.
Saturday: Jarod Clemons, Steph Strings, 54 Ultra, Anders Osborne, Men at Work, Fitz and The Tantrums, Tom Odell, Chaka Khan, The All-American Rejects, Susanna Hoffs, The Offspring, The War on Drugs, Shaggy and Mumford & Sons.
Sunday: Status Green, Blaise, King Stingray, Alice Phoebe Lou, Makua, Ben Howard. Flipturn, Die Spitz, Fontaines D.C., Ziggy Marley, Kim Gordon, Goo Goo Dolls, Moby, Pixies and The Strokes
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