Sea.Hear.Now (SHN) is a two-day rock music festival that took place mostly on the beach in Asbury Park, NJ the weekend of September 16th & 17th. The festival runs from noon – 10:30pm and combines music (30 bands divided among three stages); art (several custom art installations, the statue of Asbury Park founder James Bradley dressed up as Jimmy Buffet plus local photographer Danny Clinch’s tented Transparent Gallery which shows his work alongside original artwork created by many of the performing bands); and a professional surfing competition (which had reasonable waves for the first time in the festival’s 6-year history).
Most uniquely, the festival takes place on a beautiful stretch of beach in Asbury Park where all one has to do is turn one’s head to see the beautiful ocean view. It is a professionally run festival run by C3 Presents (who also run Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, and Shaky Knees) with guidance/partnership with famed Asbury Park photographer, Danny Clinch. Like most professionally run festivals, SHN has all the modern trappings of a big-time festival: scanned wristbands, lockers, corporate sponsors, hydration stations, a wide range of festival merchandise, giant stages, jumbotrons, and lots and lots of security.
One other thing that comes with most big festival production companies is premium experiences and SHN is no exception. There are four basic tiers of tickets for the roughly 35,000 attendees (prices are for a 2 day pass without fees): GA (General Admission) $230, GA+ (essentially the same as GA with nicer bathrooms) $400, VIP (upfront viewing areas and VIP-only lounges) $695, and Platinum (viewing area in front of VIP, a Platinum-only air-conditioned lounge, free food and drink) $1,700. While the festival is thoughtful about the viewing arrangements – each stage limits the VIP/Platinum viewing areas to half the stage so that hard-working GA ticket holders get half the rail – there is no doubt that it creates an atmosphere of haves vs. have-nots and an audible inflated sense of entitlement that gives everyone something to complain about.
Now for the music – Saturday featured fifteen bands across three stages (Surf, Park & Sand) centered around rock, but with a few leanings into soul and funk as well. The Surf stage is the largest stage and never has competing bands at the other stages, while the Park and Sand stage always run acts concurrently. The minute an act finishes on the Surf stage, two other bands start on the Park and Sand stages and vice versa. The acts that played on Saturday in reverse chronological order were: *The Killers, Bob Moses, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, *Greta Van Fleet, Living Colour, Tash Sultana, *Sheryl Crow, Royal Blood, Cory Wong, *Oteil & Friends, Snacktime, Babe Rainbow, *Surfer Girl, Quincy Mumford and Yawn Mower (the five starred bands played on the main Surf stage).
The three bands that most stood out were:
Greta Van Fleet is a rock quartet from Michigan fronted by twin brothers Josh Kiszka on vocals and Jake Kiszka on guitar. The quartet is rounded out by their younger brother Sam Kiszka on bass and keys and Danny Wagner on drums. Although they are a young band, they are more akin to a 70’s rock band than their rock peers. Their flamboyant, often shirtless, costumes and antics have drawn many comparisons to Led Zeppelin or the Doors, but make no mistake about it, GVF are not a retread band. They bring energy, showmanship, and musical talent to every performance. The show was full of all the accoutrements of a high-price, arena rock show with seven flame cannons, a fire walkway, and enough pyrotechnics to scare every dog in the neighborhood.
The band was promoting their 2023 release, Starcatcher, and three of the members were in silky white satin outfits that would have made Elvis (in his healthy days) envious – with Jake opting for an all-black getup. All were in various degrees of shirtlessness. They had the penultimate act on the Surf stage from 7:00 – 8:00, and although they only were able to squeeze in seven songs they were the consensus MVP of Saturday – even among many die-hard Killers fans who reluctantly admitted as much. Although they had a large group of adoring fans who fell in love with the band from their first three albums, they focused on new material with three songs from their 2023 release Starcatcher (“The Falling Sky”, “Meeting The Master” and “The Archer”), two from their 2021 album The Battle At Garden’s Gate (“Heat Above” and “Light My Love”), and two from their 2017 release From The Fires (“Safari Song” and “Highway Tune”).
When one watches this band the spotlight naturally falls on the twins with Josh’s powerful vocals and Jake’s prolific guitar solos, and while those are two of the most important aspects of the band, their secret sauce seems to be how much fun they seem to have performing in front of crowds. They take themselves seriously enough to be professional, but not so seriously to take their success for granted. They have four more US dates this month in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Connecticut and Cleveland before they head out for a 17-date European Tour. I’d figure out a way to see them.
Royal Blood is a rock duo (mostly) from West Sussex, UK comprised of drummer, Ben Thatcher and bassist and vocalist, Mike Kerr. They brought their “no holds barred” brand of rock and roll to the Sand Stage and squeezed 10 songs into their set from 4:00 to 5:00. Although they opened and closed the set with songs from their 2014 debut, Royal Blood (“Out Of The Black” and “Figure It Out” respectively) they represented all four of their albums, including three songs from their 2023 release, Back To The Water Below (“Mountains At Midnight”, “Pull Me Through” and “Shiner In The Dark”).
Although Thatcher is a monster on drums – so much that he proved the theory that if one beats the shit out of the drums, one needs a dedicated roadie to adjust something to keep the kit together after almost every song – the real secret to the band is the bass playing of Kerr who seems to have made a pact with an engineering devil so he can simultaneously emit guitar and bass sounds from the same instrument. Their hard-driving rock sound pleased the headbangers in the audience and may have even impressed some of the pop-rockers who came to hear other bands on the ticket. One of the nicer things about SHN is that there are very few musical conflicts where an audience member needs to choose between two acts, but the biggest conflict was between Royal Blood and Cory Wong who puts on a fun, professional show with a funky horn section. This reviewer chose Royal Blood and had no regrets.
Bob Moses is a duo from Vancouver of Tom Howie and Jimmy Valence. They play a style of music that falls somewhere between trance and EDM that sounds eerie and profound but is extremely danceable. Howie does most of the vocal and guitar work, while Valence works the keys and effects. For their SHN set they included an incredible drummer named Joe Zizzo and a bassist. What makes Zizzo’s drumming so unique is that he keeps time like a drum machine, and mixes traditional and electric drums in a way and at a pace that is hard to fathom. Throw in Howie’s understated but mesmerizing vocals and you have a sound that is quite compelling. Give “Afterglow”, “Love Brand New” or “Inner Light” a listen if you want to get an idea of their sound.
They played the dreaded closing set at the Sand Stage at a time when most of the festival was scurrying off to stake their claim of real estate for The Killers, but the few hundred fans who stayed were treated to a wonderful dance-party-inducing performance. They played a number of songs from their 2022 album The Silence In Between and even included a new song called “Round And Round” that they had never played in front of an audience before. They didn’t seem to mind the sparse crowd as those that were there were dancing enough to make even the most demanding aerobics instructor proud.
Although those were this reviewer’s favorite sets on Saturday, there were plenty of other quality sets of music:
Surfer Girl had great energy for the full 45 minutes they were allotted and played their laid-back style of pop rock that felt a touch harder than their recordings.
Yawn Mower was another young, local indie rock band that made the most of their 45-minute opening set. Although they are billed as a two-member band, they performed as a seven-piece outfit and got the festival off to a nice start. Most of their songs were from their 2022 release To Each Their Own Coat, but they even threw in a new song called “Igor’s ….” and another called “Shed Is Old”(with the …. representing a word this reviewer could not make out).
Oteil and Friends quenched the musical thirst of the jam band set from 3:00 – 4:00 on the Surf Stage. Their all-star band fronted by bassist and jamband hero Oteil Burbridge may have presented the most accomplished musicians at the festival this year. The band featured Melvin Seals on organ, Steve Kimock on guitar, Lamar Williams Jr. on vocals, Duane Betts on guitar, Jason Crosby on keys, Johnny Kimock on drums, and Tom Guarna on guitar. The band played an hour of relaxed yet intricate jam band rock. The vibe was fairly mellow but solid. Unfortunately, just as they were starting to sizzle through their rendition of “Whipping Post” the sound was cut as they had exceeded their time and were infringing on the Royal Blood’s set on the Sand stage.
Snacktime is a funk and soul band proud of their Philly roots “Representing the 215”. They had a heavy horn section, and the bassline was carried by a sousaphone. They had the crowd dancing and proved that they would be a fun outfit to see in a club.
Tash Sultana continued with her current trend of constructing songs through solo-created loops as a live act. Although the songs were well-constructed and had a great groove to many of them, it was probably not the most compelling act to watch on a festival stage. That being said, she did keep a medium-sized crowd entertained for her entire half-hour set. In fact, several people reported that it was their favorite set of the weekend – to each their own.
The Killers surprised all their fans and this reviewer by opening up with their biggest hit “Mr. Brightside”. Brandon Flowers controlled the stage and exclaimed, “If you came here looking for rock and roll, you came to the right place because we are some of the finest purveyors of rock and roll on this planet!” Later they invited a local drummer in the crowd named Zach up to the stage to play drums on their tune “For Reasons Unknown” and Zach performed well. Later they stepped into Asbury Park’s sacred territory by playing a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire”. Their brand of pop-influenced rock satisfied many of their fans, but fell a little flat compared to the antics, energy, and rock quotient of the preceding act, Greta Van Fleet.
Sheryl Crow reminded the Asbury Park crowd of just how prolific her career has been. Like a human jukebox, she played hit after hit and made them all sound like their produced versions. She opened with “If It Makes You Happy” (those lyrics are also printed on her guitar), closed with “Everyday Is A Winding Road” and fit in hits “Real Gone”, “My Favorite Mistake” and “Soak Up The Sun”. She even managed to squeeze in Rod Stewart’s “The First Cut Is The Deepest”.
Sunday brought similar temperatures and another 14 bands (after Tegan and Sara canceled) – again in reverse chronological order: *The Foo Fighters, The Breeders, Rebelution, *Weezer, Mount Joy, *The Beach Boys, Joey Valance & Brae, Stephen Sanchez, *Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Adam Melchor, Easy Star All-Stars, *Sunflower Bean, Waiting On Mongo and Alexander Simone & Whodat (the five starred bands played on the main Surf stage).
Here are the four bands that turned in the best performances.
Weezer brought the party to the Surf stage’s penultimate slot. Although the band is clearly fronted by Rivers Cuomo, they feel like a true band in that they don’t devolve into a cult of personality like some other bands with strong frontmen/women do. They seemed to have the best time of any band on stage deriving equal pleasure from the audience and from each other. Given the predominant crowd that had been holding on to space for the Foo Fighters, this reviewer was very surprised at how well the crowd responded to Weezer and how many of them seemed to know every word of every song. They opened their 60-minute set with “My Name Is Jonas” and crammed 12 songs into the rest of their set including “Beverly Hills”, “Say It Ain’t So”, “Island In The Sun” “Hash Pipe”, “Pork and Beans” and they closed the set with “Buddy Holly”. In addition to the exhilarating performance, the band might have summed the entire weekend up when Cuomo told the crowd, “This is so great playing on a bill with The Beach Boys, The Breeders, and Foo Fighters, geez, 90’s me is freaking out now.”
Sunflower Bean opened the Surf stage and rocked it for their entire 45-minute set. The alt-rock trio is fronted by Julia Cumming, who handles the bass and lead vocal duties. The band is rounded out by Nick Kivlen on guitar and Olive Faber on drums. People often say that playing bass and singing lead is extremely difficult, but you would never know that watching Cumming who plays real bass lines and sings effortlessly. This was the band’s Asbury Park debut, and they made the most of their 45-minute set on the big stage pulling mostly from their 2022 album Headful Of Sugar. Some of their songs sound poppier on recordings, but their SHN show tasted much heavier. They are based in Brooklyn, so if you are from the tri-state area, you should have ample opportunity to see them in the coming year.
Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country was another snack offered to the jamband community, but unlike Sunday’s offering of Oteil and Friends, they came out of the gate smoking. The quartet played on the big stage from 2:30 – 3:30 with Donato on lead vocals and guitar, Nathan “Sugar Leg” Aronowitz on keyboards and vocals, Will “Mustang” McGee on electric/upright bass, and Noah Winner on drums. The band expanded songs into thick seamless jams and they were either well-rehearsed or completely keyed into each other. They’ll be back at Asbury Park’s Wonder Bar on October 20th. My guess is that several of the fans they created on Sunday will be back.
Waiting on Mongo is an Asbury Park, seven-piece outfit that has earned their way into SHN. They play a lot locally and their brand of rock-influenced funk fits nicely into the SHN portfolio. This is the first year that this reviewer can remember that there wasn’t a single band at SHN from New Orleans, but their horn and organ-heavy funk sound scratched that itch. Give the first two tracks on 2022’s Funk Portal Part One, “Funk Portal” and “Coliseum”, a listen and you will get it. They only had 45 minutes, but they made the most of it by playing with energy, enthusiasm, and appreciation. They are definitely worth catching next time they swing by your area if you are looking for a night of funky fun.
There were other bands that definitely kept their fans happy.
Foo Fighters had the longest set of the weekend, from 8:30 to 10:30 on the main stage. Their fans got there early and held on to their real estate as best they could for the entire day. When the band hit the stage, Dave Grohl wasted no time showing the crowd who was in charge. He commanded the crowd to sing, turn on their camera lights, wave their hands, and had the stage crew turn the lights up and down several times so he, “could see who I’m playing to”. He took a poll of who had and hadn’t seen the band before and seemed to control every aspect of the performance from who was soloing and for how long. \
At one point he reacted to all the people holding up signs with, “All you “Price Is Right” motherfuckers, holding up signs, put them down now so the people behind you can see the gig.” The band played an 18-song set, opening with “All My Life” and closing with “Everlong”. He did a nice job of introducing the members of the band about halfway through the show allowing them to play snippets of songs they had recorded with other artists, the most memorable was when he introduced drummer, John Freese and played about 30 seconds of Devo’s “Whip It”. One of the more genuine moments of the gig was when the band left the stage and Grohl started “My Hero” with just the help of the crowd. After about a minute the band re-joined him on the stage to build and finish the song in splendid fashion.
The Breeders had the misfortune of closing out the Sand Stage when most of the attendees were preparing for the Foo Fighters set. They stuck to their 1993 hit album Last Splash and played it faithfully. The first half of their set was great, showcasing their minimalist alt-rock sound with numbers like “Cannonball” and “No Aloha” led by Kim Deal. They even played the instrumental, “Flipside” which was named as a cue to get ready to turn the album over. Unfortunately, the second half of the set was marred by mic issues, and some of the energy was sucked out of the crowd by the remaining folks heading off to the main stage.
Mt. Joy played at the Park stage and benefitted from a lack of musical competition since Tegan & Sara canceled last minute. Their band was tight, and their fans joyfully sang every word of every song. Although the band is capably fronted by Matt Quinn, one doesn’t have to watch them perform for long to discover how integral keyboardist and backing vocalist Jackie Miclau is to their sound. They seemed to have a particularly good time singing “The Johnson Song” which Quinn promised was not intended to be as phallic as it sounds.
The Beach Boys were unfortunate in they were victims to recurring sound issues from a rumored failed speaker tower and a shift of wind from the south. Although this reviewer felt their performance was lackluster, many people I spoke with cited The Beach Boys set as their favorite of the weekend.
Stephen Sanchez is a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Nashville. He has a beautiful, soulful voice and his songs and performances on social media seemed to have caught the heart of every teenage female in the area. Young women pushed up front to soak up as much Sanchez as possible while singing every word of every song he performed. He was backed by a drummer, keyboard player, bassist and guitar player. The crowd seemed to swoon with every knee bend and many moments were captured on many cell phones, especially during “Evangeline” and “Until I Found You”. In the middle of the set, he played a medley of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Elton John’s “Benny And The Jets”. The young crowd knew all the words to both songs as well.
You will probably hear many people complaining about aspects of Sea.Hear.Now, but this reviewer continues to find it to be a thoughtful, professionally run festival. There were never lines at bars, bathrooms or hydration stations; trashcans were promptly emptied; and those fans who realized there were two food areas never had to wait in line for food either.
There is a commitment to art and the environment that isn’t seen at other festivals of this kind. Environmentally, the festival did a great job of keeping trash out of the ocean – they employed a system for drinks using orange reusable cups, had a surplus of hydration stations that allowed people to quickly re-fill water bottles and other drink containers, had a fence in place to keep blowing trash out of the ocean and even partnered with the Surfrider Foundation’s earnest volunteers to ensure that all trash was picked up and recycled from the beach. Hope to see you all there next year….
