The budding Sea.Hear.Now festival kicked off its fourth year in Asbury Park this past weekend with fans crawling from all over to see this year’s star-studded lineup. 

Stevie Nicks, Green Day, Cage the Elephant and The Head and the Heart are just some of the popular names that appeared at the 2022 Sea Hear Now music festival. The festival commenced this past weekend in Asbury Park, New Jersey. 

With an ocean view, sand at your feet and live music playing, how can you complain? The festival pulled out all the stops to make sure their guests were not only prepared with many photo opportunities but also making sure every guest was safe and healthy. Hydration stations were scattered across the venue along with many medical tents to ensure everyone’s safety. There were also designated sections of the festival for the most perfect photos, from huge jellyfish fields in the sand to surf boards that music goers can stand on and pose with. 

Amongst the big names, bands like The Backseat Lovers, Peach Pit, Wet Leg and Shakey Graves also performed, making the festival a popular attraction for people of all ages and music interests. 

But for many people at the festival there was one band in particular that they were there for; the band being none other than Cage the Elephant,  who have not toured since the release of their 2019 album “Social Cues.” 

“I have been a huge fan of Cage the Elephant for years now, when I saw they were in the lineup for Sea Hear Now this year it really sealed the deal,”  music festival attendee Ally Vlkovic said. “They mainly only play festivals now, so to experience a concert of theirs live was absolutely incredible.” 

The band’s lead singer Matthew Shultz is known to be an unpredictable force of nature while on stage. Him and the band go the extra length to make each performance unforgettable for the audience. They of course sang some of their most popular songs like “Come a little Closer,” “Trouble,” “Cry Baby,” “Ain’t no Rest for the Wicked” and “Cigarette DayDreams.” 

“I will never forget that night. Matt not only crowd surfed at the end of the set but also climbed the sound and lighting booth.” Vlkovic said. “Cigarette Daydreams played right when the sun was setting. The sun was up when the song started and by the time it was over, the sun was gone. It was nothing short of incredible.” 

Vlkovic also stated that she recently started to really get into “Wet Leg,” a British indie rock duo from the Isle of Wight. 

“Wet Leg was added to the lineup late, they weren’t originally set to play the festival when I first bought my ticket,” Vlkovic said. “So when I saw they were added, it made me ten times more excited to go.” 

What really made this festival special was the performance by the legendary Stevie Nicks, the lead vocalist of iconic band Fleetwood Mac. Who played some of her solo music as well as some of the bands most popular songs like “Dreams,” “Gypsy,” “Rhiannon,” “Landslide,” and “Gold Dust Woman.” 

On the festival’s final day, Green Day was set to headline and close the festival for the year. To no surprise they put on the show of a lifetime, singing all their iconic songs and closing the show with “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” to finally end one of the best weekends for live music. 

The blossoming festival is truly making a name for themselves as New Jersey’s biggest music festival known to date, changing and cultivating the game for pop and rock music goers.