Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band stand atop the most highly-anticipated Sea.Hear.Now lineup ever

By:  | August 26, 2024 |  Features |  Monmouth County

By Ryan Loughlin

Since its inception in 2018, Asbury Park’s annual Sea.Hear.Now festival has become THE do-not-miss event of September in Monmouth County. Serving as a final kiss goodbye to the summer season, the event — which runs from noon to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 14 and 15 — takes place on the sands of Asbury Park’s beach and boardwalk areas just north of Convention Hall and has grown exponentially over the years, with the current lineup being the most highly anticipated ever, thanks mostly to Sunday night mega-headliner, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.

So, if you were one of the lucky ones who scored passes to the festival (it sold out almost immediately), here’s a preview of what to expect and what not to miss:

The Bands

Two days of nonstop music set against the backdrop of Asbury’s gorgeous seascape makes for a fabulous time no matter what, but with this many acts split between three stages (two on the beach and one across the street in Bradley Park), you will need to pick and choose who is on your list of must-sees. Here are a few that definitely make our list:

The Black Crowes – Honestly, it surprises us a bit that The Black Crowes are not the headliner for Saturday night, but that honor has gone to singer-songwriter and relative newcomer Noah Kahan. For us, the Crowes are still the must-see act of the night though, as their signature brand of soulful American rock ’n’ roll is timeless, and their high-energy stage show is currently at the top of its game. The band itself feels reinvigorated too as of late, thanks to a killer new record of bangers (2024’s “Happiness Bastards”). We’re hoping to hear some tracks from that one in the set, in addition to all the classics.

Kool & The Gang – Every year at Sea.Hear.Now they seem to throw in a band (usually an group that was big in the ’80s) that seems a touch out of place with the other acts on the bill. In 2021 it was Billy Idol, in 2022 it was Culture Club, last year it was Living Colour, and this year it’s Kool & The Gang. While these throwback acts might seem unusual, each year without fail they end up being a  highlight of the festival, and Kool & The Gang will certainly continue this tradition, with their brand of Jersey-born R&B, funk and soul. Expect to hear all their hits, including “Fresh”, “Joanna”, “Ladies Night”, “Cherish”, “Jungle Boogie” and, of course, “Celebration.”

Illiterate Light – This two-piece rock act (when did two-piece rock bands become a common thing anyway? We blame Jack White.) hails from Virginia and has managed to make a name for themselves since the release of their self-titled debut album in 2019, despite it being near impossible for a rock act to get any serious traction on the radio or pop charts in recent years. Their live show is packed with passion, with drummer Jake Cochran playing a stand-up drum kit and managing to crowd surf his way through at least a portion of the performance. The sound is impressively big for a band with such a small roster, and much of that big sound can be attributed to frontman Jeff Gorman, who sings and plays guitar while also operating a Moog synthesizer with his feet.

The Hives – If you have never seen this Swedish punk rock act live, you have spent the last 20+ years missing out on possibly the best and most thrilling live band experience there is. Yes, there are bigger bands out there with more lights and more advanced production. But there are NOT bands with more visceral energy and showmanship than The Hives. Dressed sharply in matching black and white suits, the band’s songs are quick punk blasts, but as much fun as they can be, the music plays second fiddle to the stage presence of the band, particularly frontman Howlin’ Pele Almqvist, whose live persona lands somewhere between James Brown and Iggy Pop, with a bit of an old-school game show host vibe thrown in for good measure.

The Gaslight Anthem – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are obviously the most recognizable Jersey boys on the lineup at Sea.Hear.Now, but if there is a runner up, it’s definitely The Gaslight Anthem. Born from the punk scene in New Brunswick, Gaslight has managed to endear itself to a broad rock audience, as the band’s influences span well outside of the punk genre, taking bits and pieces from everything from The Cure to Springsteen himself, a friend and musical brethren of theirs who lent guest vocals to the title track from their most recent album, 2023’s “History Books.” Will The Boss be making an appearance on the Park Stage during their set Sunday night? Who knows. But we wouldn’t rule it out.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band are such a massively famous act and so specifically relevant to both New Jersey and the town of Asbury Park that frankly, it seems a bit ridiculous to even bother list their show as some sort of insider recommendation for what to see at the festival.

But it seems even MORE ridiculous to leave them off this list, because its BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND for God’s sake!

What can we say? The man turns 75 years-old this month and still brings enough fire onstage every night to make acts a third of his age hang their heads in shame. The legendary marathon-length shows that the E Streeters have become famous for are still very much a thing, and we can expect as much at Sea.Hear.Now, as their set time is scheduled to run from 7:30-10:30. And though he is a local boy, this marks the first time Bruce and the band have ever performed an outdoor show live on the beach in Asbury Park. It has the makings of not only a fabulous night, but a potentially historic one, that will likely go down in the annals of rock history.

Below is the full lineup of acts for Sea.Hear.Now:

Saturday, Sept. 14:
Noah Kahan
The Black Crowes
311
The Revivalists
The Hives
Grace Potter
Sierra Ferrell
Peaches
Guster
Ziggy Alberts
Robert Randolph Band
Joe P
Passafire
Sonic Blume

Sunday, Sept. 15:
Bruce Springsteen &The E Street Band
The Gaslight Anthem
Trey Anastasio Band
Norah Jones
Kool & The Gang
Action Bronson
Gogol Bordello
Larkin Poe
Joy Oladokun
The Aces
Eggy
Illiterate Light
Bertha
Sunshine Spazz
Rachel Ana Dobken

The Other Stuff

The Clinch Gallery – Festival mastermind and rock photographer Danny Clinch has a pop up version of his gallery onsite, complete with photographs and art pieces (some of which are submitted by the acts themselves). The gallery also plays host to various surprise pop up acoustic performances throughout the fest, giving fans a chance to have a front row seat they never expected.

The Surfing – The Atlantic Ocean makes for a lovely and picturesque backdrop for the event, but it also serves as ground zero for the surf contests which take place both days, with pros such as Balaram Stack, Cam Richards, Sam Hammer, Cassidy McClain and many more all catching waves throughout. Last year’s swells were particularly epic, thanks to some stormy seas, hopefully this year will bring some great ones as well.

Food and drink — While concerts are not generally known for providing their attendees with culinary masterpieces, Sea.Hear.Now does a commendable job bringing in local food vendors that offer some truly excellent dining options. Past years have included such local faves as MOGO Korean Fusion Tacos, Betty’s Ice Box, Hoagito’s, and more and we expect more of the same this year.

Now for the not-so-good part: No official word on this year’s setup, but in the past, they have only offered two specific sites with food vendors. Lines do tend to be long unless you go at oddball hours, and seating is an extremely rare commodity at Sea.Hear.Now, so you’ll have to get creative.

Figuring out the food situation has it’s challenges at the festival, but luckily, getting drinks is one of the easiest things at Sea.Hear.Now as they have a seemingly endless lineup of bars at every turn, all ready to serve you quickly and with little to no lines at any of them. The best of them are the sponsored bars, (The Malibu Rum beach house bar they had a few years back was a lot of fun as was the Sierra Nevada tent and we can’t wait to see the new ones for this year.)

Merch – The merch tents are most notable for their slow-moving long lines and for selling out of the specific t-shirt everybody wants, so your best bet is to make this your first stop upon entering the festival.

Bathrooms – A surprisingly efficient and clean system of individual port-o-pottys make the bathroom scene at Sea.Hear.Now one of the best and least gross you will find at any festival of its kind. Kudos to the organizers for having this aspect nailed down.