We’re just 50 days away from Bruce Springsteen and Noah Kahan hitting the stage at the 6th Sea.Hear.Now Festival in Asbury Park, so let’s take a look at the lineup throughout the years.
2018:
The inaugural festival was a good one. 21,000 attended the first edition of the festival each day, which was headlined by Jack Johnson and Incubus.
The lineup featured a more raw, rock vibe – it’s what you think of when you think of Asbury Park. Social Distortion, Blondie, and Frank Turner, along with The Menzingers, made for a great undercard at the festival. Even the Tangiers Blues Band made it for the main festival!
2019:
The 2019 festival had a huge boost in attendance, with over 30,000 attending each day, a jump of nearly 10,000 people.
As an additional change, the Park Stage also became the secondary stage, whereas the Sand Stage served that role in 2018.
Dave Matthews Band and The Lumineers headlined the festival, which moved to a week earlier than 2018.
Artists like Bad Religion, Joan Jett, and Dropkick Murphys kept that rock vibe from the first year, but the addition of bands like Matt and Kim and Steel Pulse started a newer shift to the festival’s look.
2021:
We’ve made it – 2021: the year of Pearl Jam. Besides PJ, the lineup is so good but often isn’t recognized due to the fact. The Avett Brothers and The Smashing Pumpkins served as the other headliners, but Lord Huron, Billy Idol, Dirty Heads, and Orville Peck also topped off the lineup.
Pearl Jam’s set was their first show since before CoVID-19, so they got to debut many songs from their latest record at the time, ‘Gigaton.’
Sea.Hear.Now also kept the theme of supporting local artists by booking bands like The Happy Fits and Black Flamingos.
2022:
2022 brings probably the biggest lineup before 2024. Green Day, coming fresh off their Hella Mega Tour, is as big as they’ve ever been, and Stevie Nicks is self-explanatory.
Billy Strings, who was hitting his peak, was also booked, along with Cage the Elephant, Gary Clark Jr, and Michael Franti. The lineup was stacked on every level.
The local artist theme continued as well, with The Vansaders, Dogs in a Pile, and Dentist.
2023:
2023 was unfortunately know for its sound issues on Sunday, but it posed a great lineup and festival in general.
The festival brought back their rock vibe with two huge rock headliners: Foo Fighters and The Killers.
The undercard had lots of depth, including Sheryl Crow on the third line, the actual Beach Boys, Oteil & Friends near the bottom, and SNACKTIME, who blew the crowd away for many. Joey Valence & Brae also had one of the most electric sets of the weekend.
2024:
Easily the biggest lineup so far, whether you like it or not, is coming up this year. Bruce Springsteen in Asbury Park would sell out the festival on its own, but add in Noah Kahan, the hottest artist in the world, and some legends of the game, and you have an impressive lineup.
Sunday is pretty much a day full of Jersey-local artists: Bruce, The Gaslight Anthem, Kool & the Gang, Sunshine Spazz, and Rachel Ana Dobken, just to name a few. You can try to throw Trey Anastasio in the mix, too, as he grew up in New Jersey, though the band isn’t from the state.
Who are you looking forward to seeing the most? Let us know on our most recent Instagram post! (@njmusicfestivals)
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