Asbury Park’s First Annual Sea.Hear.Now Festival packed in 20,000 fans. It was a wonderful display of music, art, and Jersey Shore culture that took place last weekend on Sept. 29 and 30.
The festival was made up of three stages: Surf Stage on the north beach, Sand Stage on the south beach by Convention Hall, and Park Stage in Bradley Park.
The Battery Electric kicked things off on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.., followed by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band at 1:30 p.m.
The headliners on Saturday were Blondie, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, and Incubus, who played on the Surf Stage.
On the other hand, The English Beat, Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, and Brandi Carlile were on the Sand Stage. Finally, on the Park Stage, Deer Tick and Highly Suspect played for thousands of fans.
On Sunday night, the headliners were Jack Johnson, Social Distortion, and Twin Peaks.
When Social Distortion closed their act for the night, Bruce Springsteen made a surprise guest appearance and joined along, playing three songs – one of which being Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” (if only he played “I’m on Fire.”)
This surprise appearance from Springsteen made Social Distortion’s set one of the best.
The audience agreed too; they exploded in screams and applause when The Boss turned around with a guitar in hand, accompanied by Mike Ness.
Besides The Boss gracing the festival with his presence, Blondie, The English Beat, Social Distortion and Jack Johnson were also phenomenal. Blondie played hits such as “One Way or Another” and “Atomic.”
The English Beat, a classic reggae-punk band, played “Save It for Later,” which is an awesome tune gaining popularity again because it was in the Spider-Man: Homecoming soundtrack.
Social Distortion rocked out to “Machine Gun Blues,” and even Jack Johnson played a little piece of it on ukulele in between his sweet classics like “Banana Pancakes,” “Upside Down,” and “Better Together.”
Other acts for the festival included The Original Wailers, Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, The Front Bottoms, The Menzingers, and SOJA.
Later in the evenings at 11 p.m., after shows were held at the Stone Pony and Wonder Bar that featured performances by the Tangiers Blues Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Danny Clinch, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, members of Incubus, Blondie, Nicole Atkins, and many more.
There was also a nice smaller section for local, up and coming bands like Asbury’s This, That, and the Others and Ocean Township’s The Little Brothers Band.
Seeing these local bands perform was refreshing, because it shows how festival organizer Danny Clinch and his team really worked hard to make this festival accessible to all kinds of people alike, youth included.
When I asked two festival attendees, Robby Kremler and Kirk Snyder, what they thought about the festival, they were both impressed by the experience. Kremler said it was, “An incredible trip through time, sitting and watching blooming new bands like This, That, and the Others on the street, then walking up to the beach to see Blondie and The English Beat.”
“I always thought I would have to travel to Woodstock or Firefly to experience something like this,” he added.
Somehow, I stumbled back stage for Jack Johnson’s set, and his performance as a singer/songwriter and performer at this festival was perfect for the ambiance the organizers intended.
After all, the Sea.Hear.Now festival wasn’t only a festival for music, but for surfing and the arts as well.
Clinch was born just south of Asbury Park, in Toms River.
The organizer’s profession as a photographer and artist shows in the way he produced this festival.
Aside from all of the musicians, there were also professional surfers like Sam Hammer, Rob Kelly, and Cassidy McCalin competing.
Additionally, the spaces in between the stages were filled with different paintings and murals by local artists like John Glenn.
Not to mention the Transparent Gallery, Clinch’s own art gallery in Asbury, where Jack Johnson, Brandon Boyd, and Chris Stein displayed their art.
No one could disagree with Danny Clinch Sunday evening when he said, “At the inaugural Sea.Hear.Now Festival, dreams do come true.”
Last weekend was a success for the bands, fans, surfers, artists, and for Asbury Park.
The Sea.Hear.Now festival was promoted as Asbury Park’s First Annual, and after such a beautiful festival production by Clinch, as well as great music from Blondie to Jack Johnson and all the different art, there is no reason it shouldn’t return next year.
When asked about playing at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival, Kenny Vest of This, That, and the Others said, “It’s like a cool breeze was waving down the dunes, it really was a fine day to play some tunes.”
IMAGE TAKEN from The Pop Break
