Bleachers, natives of Bergenfield, NJ, put on their 6th edition of Shadow of the City on the Stone Pony Summer Stage on Saturday.
The festival featured seven bands on the main stage throughout the day, a dunk tank, and some epic moments.
Bleachers, who sold out the 4,500-capacity venue in Asbury Park, have shown their immense growth over the years – ten years ago, Bleachers played for around 150 people at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville.
Been Stellar opened the show with a short set at 2:30 pm. Grace Ives and Bartees Strange followed the opener, before the very much anticipated set by The Wonder Years as the evening began at 5:15 pm.
The Wonder Years, who are coming back to the Summer Stage later this year for Sad Summer Festival, opened the show with ‘I Don’t Like Who I Was Then’, from their 2015 record ‘No Closer to Heaven’.
The band also had their continental US debut of ‘Year of the Vulture’, which they first played in Europe earlier this year.
Samia, the 26-year-old singer from California, came on next. She had already played at Asbury Lanes earlier this year, so her return was much welcomed by many. Her set was full of hits like ‘Is There Something in the Movies?’ and ‘Honey’.
Subheadlining was The Japanese House, one of the most anticipated sets of the day. The band came out swinging with ‘Touching Yourself’ and continued with a full 11-song set.
The band also played a brand new, unreleased song titled ‘Smiley Face’ which they debuted in Europe in May. They finally closed with ‘Sunshine Baby’, and the wait for Bleachers began.
Bleachers, who were closing their ‘From The Studio To The Stage’ tour, played for around an hour and 45 minutes, playing tons of hits and new songs. They came out to ‘Drug Free America’ on tape, and started off hot with ‘I Am Right on Time’. They continued with their groovy, Springsteen-like hit ‘Modern Girl’, from their newest self-titled album. The band played eight songs from that record.
Over the course of 24 songs, they played hits like ‘Rollercoaster’ and ‘I Wanna Get Better’, as well as performing four songs acoustically.
During ‘Wild Heart’, Jack Antanoff, the lead singer, stopped the song to check out somebody in the crowd, before eventually restarting it.
After unveiling a Jersey Tomato banner above the stage, the show finally concluded at around 10:30 pm. Many are hoping a seventh edition of the festival will be announced soon.
NJ Music Festivals 