Events

Sea. Hear. Now 2022 Brings Thousands of Fans to the Jersey Shore!

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2 days. 30 bands. 35 000 fans daily. In a matter of a few years since its creation back in 2018, Sea. Hear. Now has become THE place to be to wrap up the summer in New Jersey.  

This fourth edition’s lineup was packed with local legends and global superstars who took over the three stages in Asbury Park, where “the boardwalk meets the beach,” as local queer icon FLETCHER would sing on Saturday night. With fifteen performances a day, including Boy George, Wet Leg, My Morning Jacket, Tai Verdes, Skip Marley, Aly & AJ, or even Cage The Elephant to name a few, fans always had a place to be, no matter what genre of music they liked. 

In between two sets, fans had the opportunity to enjoy different art installations, including Danny Clinch’s Transparent Gallery, and savor a vast variety of drinks and food at the different stands stretched across the boardwalk and its nearby grassy Bradley Park. 

Hendrick’s Gin stand at Sea Hear Now music festival on Sept. 18, 2022, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Alexia Hervoix | Stage Right Secrets

Surf lovers could also stop by the beach to enjoy the “North Beach Rumble,” a team surf contest featuring the top male and female professional surfers from the East Coast.

Sea Hear Now highlights: Saturday

THE BACKSEAT LOVERS

​​Alternative indie rock band Backseat Lovers sure knew how to rally a crowd at Sea. Hear. Now. Having performed at the local bar The Stone Pony the night before, the Utahn quartet was hyped and ready to rock some more. During their 10-song set, lead singer Joshua Harmon stopped a couple of times, in awe of the number of people singing the band’s lyrics back at them. Most of the band’s set consisted of music from their 2019 debut album When We Were Friends, with tracks like “Maple Syrup,” “Kilby Girl,” or even “Watch Your Mouth” having the crowd headbanging along. The setlist also included their 2020 single “Heavy” as well as their most recent releases “Growing/Dying” and “Close Your Eyes,” from their forthcoming album, Waiting to Spill due October 28, 2022. 

Backseat Lovers lead singer Joshua Harmon performs during Sea Hear Now music festival on Sept. 18, 2022, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Alexia Hervoix | Stage Right Secrets

PEACH PIT

Vancouver-based pop-rock band Peach Pit are already onto their third studio album in a span of 6 years with From 2 to 3, and the fanbase they’ve gathered in that same time period clearly showed at the Jersey Shore music festival. With their guitars and their long hair going crazy, the four-piece had the crowd dancing the whole way through to hits that have gathered millions of streams across the different streaming platforms such as “Almighty Aphrodite”

Guitarist Chris Vanderkooy of Peach Pit performs during Sea Hear Now music festival on Sept. 18, 2022, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Alexia Hervoix | Stage Right Secrets

FLETCHER

Fresh from the release of her debut album, “Girl of My Dreams” the day before, FLETCHER played an impeccable set for her hometown show on the Sand Stage. A perfect mix between old and new fan favorites, her setlist included her viral new hit “Becky’s So Hot” as well as songs from her latest two EPs, you ruined new york city for me and The S(ex) Tapes. The first time the artist played in Asbury Park, there were just about 15 people in a local bar, so the 28-year-old couldn’t help but share out loud how amazed she was that a few years later, she couldn’t even see how far the crowd extended for her set. The rising pop queer icon celebrated her birthplace by inviting her whole family onto the stage to sing a cover of local legend Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire.”. As parents, grandparents, siblings and childhood best friends piled up onto the stage, FLETCHER also performed an unreleased song that she had never performed before, “Jersey in Me.” Real ode to her roots, the song brought some fans, who had been waiting in the front row for her all day, to tears.  

FLETCHER performs during Sea Hear Now music festival on Sept. 18, 2022, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Alexia Hervoix | Stage Right Secrets

STEVIE NICKS

And we couldn’t talk about Saturday’s highlights without mentioning the headliner of the day: music legend Stevie Nicks. Nicks was the first female headliner of the festival’s history and served the 30,000 attendees a very eclectic 90-minute set, going from covers of Led Zeppelin and Buffalo Springfield to a sublime solo version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” that she emotionally dedicated to drummer Mick Fleetwood’s granddaughter who was in attendance. Fans also got to enjoy the half of Stevie Nicks’ setlist that was made of her solo hits, including “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” “Edge of Seventeen” and “Bella Donna.”

Stevie Nicks performs during Sea Hear Now music festival on Sept. 18, 2022, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Charles Reagan | Sea Hear Now

For more information, head to SeaHearNowFestival.com!

30-year-old writer, photographer and design editor located in Bordeaux, France. I bring queer content everywhere I go :) Inquiries at lex@stagerightsecrets.com