Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Idol Liz Cooper, Strand of Oaks Lead Sea.Hear.Now Day 2

Sunday brought slightly cooler weather, thinner crowds, and another day of good music to the sold-out Sea.Hear.Now festival. Lines were shorter, and it was much easier to move around and make it up to the front of the stages if your legs weren’t too tired from trekking through the sand from Saturday. The only folks who were disappointed with the weather were the surfers who had no real waves to ride. That being said, 70 degrees, sunny and breezy was made to order for a beach music festival. There were some solid sets, but before getting to that two groups of people should be applauded. The first was the overnight clean-up crew that inherited thousands of empty beer cans and other assorted garbage strewn along the beach from 35,000 Pearl Jammers and somehow turned the beach back into a can-less, garbage-less wonder by the time the gates opened at 12:00 on Sunday. The other group deserving congratulations were the army of thoughtful and pleasant security guards who labored all day in black tee shirts in the hot sun. Their presence alone had to be responsible for there not being a single violent incident that these reviewers were aware of. In addition to keeping the peace, they retrieved frisbees, lifted sick attendees over barriers and gently extracted dozens of crowd surfers as they approached the security railings.

Now for the music. The first bands hit the two smaller stages (Park & Sand) at 12:30, and it was a tough choice. Ron Artis II And The Truth alternated between blues and soul numbers both of which were enjoyable. He was equally at ease performing and conversing with the audience. At one point he acknowledged the Covid period of seclusion by saying, “I wrote a lot of songs over the past year which I’m never going to play for anybody because they are all about me being alone in my room.” He was also responsible for one of the more moving moments of the festival when he sang a duet with his 6 year-old-ish daughter, Ida Marie. The song explained that the easiest way to elevate ourselves is to help raise up others – Ron and Ida Marie delivered on that theme. The other opener of the day was the indie rock band American Trappist from Philadelphia. I was only able to catch their last few songs from this young four-piece band – the consequences of having to split a 45-minute set – but those songs epitomized high-energy rock that are worth a second look next time they play in the area. 

The main Surf stage opened at 1:15 with indie rocker Liz Cooper. Liz strutted out on stage flanked by her three sidemen in red and immersed herself in her music. Although most would classify her music as rock, all would agree that it is bolstered with punk foundations. Her lively set gave the slow-moving, early-arriving crowd a jolt of energy which helped us all get our day off to a good start.

Strand Of Oaks took over the Surf stage and turned in one of the most emotional performances of the festival. Many musicians spoke of the hardships of the past year, and many profusely thanked the audience for coming out to support live music, but none did it more honestly and humbly than frontman, Timothy Showalter. He and his band poured their hearts onto the stage for their 60-minute set. One of the more moving moments was after playing a solo, acoustic version of “Shut In” he thanked the audience and was visibly moved by the way they had respectfully listened to a new and quiet song. He closed with an extended version of “Forever Chords” and finished off the set with an impassioned version of “Rest Of It” telling the audience, “I’m sorry that I’m losing my voice, but I’m going to put the rest of it into this song”. He was true to his word. Catch them if you can as they are hitting 21 states over the next 40 days.

A stellar Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears shared their bottom-heavy blues and soul sound with the growing crowd. The combination of telecaster guitar, bass drums and baritone sax paired with the desperate vocals of Joe Lewis create a soulful variation on the neo-soul bands of today. Most surprisingly, their rich, deep sound seemed uncompromised when Joseph Woullard, their baritone sax player, switched to flute. 

Next up on the Sand stage was New Orleans’s own Tank and the Bangas who kicked off a high-energy, high-spirited party of a show. Unfortunately, even reviewers need to eat, so this writer meandered over to the sleepy Park stage to discover a massive party being thrown by Grouplove. It was as if a secret message was dispatched to all attendees under 25 years of age to gather at the Park stage. The band played an inspired set that featured crowd surfing, a bandmember chugging a beer that was poured into his shoe, and nearly every under-twenty-something audience member joyfully singing every word to every song. It was not only the second-largest crowd (Smashing Pumpkins being the largest) at Sunday’s festival, but also, the largest crowd assembled at the Park stage in the festival’s three-year history. It is hard to admit that this reviewer had never heard of this ten-year-old band that many younger patrons cited as the sole reason they attended, but I guess we all have to feel old and out-of-touch sometimes. The band was enthusiastic, talented, energetic, and fun and although their biggest hit “Tongue Tied” got the loudest cheers, every other song they played was appreciated almost as much.

Billy Idol played the penultimate set on the Surf stage. Everybody had an opinion on Billy Idol, the 80’s dance-punk icon. But what one couldn’t dispute is that he and his band put on quite a show. Or that there was a sizeable audience singing along with every one of his hits. From the moment Idol and the band hit the stage, they hammed it up for the photographers in the photo pit and then Idol greeted and danced with each band member during the opener “Dancing With Myself”. From there, he brought it all – the trademark sneer, the fist pumps, the bawdy gestures, covering the full stage, always in motion, belying his age (and years of hard living). He worked every song, bantered with the crowd and kept the energy high. Early in the set he sprinkled in two new songs from his days old EP The Roadside – “Rita Heyworth” and an excellent “Bitter Taste” which references his motorcycle accident of 30 years ago. He then moved on to the hits, “Eyes Without a Face”, “Rebel Yell” and “Mony Mony” with the audience still remembering to provide the lewd call and response lyrics.. There were costume changes galore until he eventually ended up shirtless but then changed into a long black jacket for encore “White Wedding”.  

At 7:45, folk powerhouse Ani DiFranco took the stage along with New Orleans musical veterans, drummer Terrence Higgins and bassist/keyboardist Todd Sickafoose. If you have ever been to an Ani DiFranco show, you know that her fans love Ani more than most parents love their children. She seemed empowered by the spectacular, rising near-full moon and blistered through old and new material. It was wonderful to see several parents brought their daughters to witness the strength, conviction and power that she exudes. She plowed through a 14-song set that she somehow compressed into 60 minutes. Her forceful guitar, passionate voice, and intricately poetic lyrics combine to create an intense and mesmerizing performance. Four songs stood out to this reviewer: “Do Or Die” – a call to action and to vote; “Play God” – a simple, but forceful demand for women to have control of their own bodies; “Revolutionary Love” – from her 2021 album of the same name; and closer, “Untouchable Face” – an angry torch song of unrequited love.

The last band to perform was the Sunday headliner, The Smashing Pumpkins. These alt-rockers from Chicago have had a steady and dedicated following since their formation in Chicago in 1988. Six foot three front-man Bill Corgan dominated the stage in a black and gold outfit that might best be described as part housecoat, part kimono. They played a good mix of new songs (primarily from the album “Cyr” which they released in 2020 but played most of the hits their devoted crowd was waiting for including “Cherub Rock”, “1979”, “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” and an acoustic version of “Tonight, Tonight”.  He closed with the dystopian-sounding version of “United States”. The band played well and the adoring crowd sang along to every song. The only awkward moment was when Corgan brought two of his young children onto the stage which seemed to be the last place on earth either child wanted to be. However, after that unfortunate segment, the band regained their composure and sent their satisfied fans home into the night under a beautiful moon and with music in their hearts.

It is remarkable that such a small, two-day festival can attract such a power-packed lineup. Kudos to the festival brass for procuring such a rich field of talent. If you love rock and like the beautiful beach scenery and can tolerate the sun, hurry up and get your tickets to Sea Hear Now 2022 because it will sell out and it will be special.