Sea.Hear.Now Festival returned for its eighth year on Asbury Park’s North Beach, and day one was more difficult than in years past.
Sound issues and the new festival layout plagued primarily the Park Stage on Saturday. Thanks to new multi-million dollar apartments being built by the Wonder Bar, Sea.Hear.Now’s old food space had to be moved. The oversight here is that the new space created food and bar lines that extended into crowd walkways, creating total chaos for anyone trying to navigate to and from the park. Plus, it made it feel incredibly packed for early bands like Fitz and the Tantrums.
And thanks to high winds blowing off the shore, sound was affected at all stages, and carried over the worst during The All-American Rejects on the Park Stage. There were issues for other artists, including Chaka Khan on Surf, but they were fixed for the headlining acts, Mumford and Sons and The Offspring.
Inside the Clinch Gallery Tent is probably where sound was the best, thanks to the intimate acoustics. Tom Odell and Jarod Clemons performed inside, and Tyson Ritter from The Rejects did a Q&A with Danny Clinch about his art.
Tonight, The Strokes will close out the day with help from Goo Goo Dolls, Pixies, Fontaines DC, and many more.
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