The Sea.Hear.Now Music & Art Festival is a big deal. We all know about the bands …but you’d be surprised at a number of cool events happening in-and-around the festival you might be sleeping on.
Surfing
One of the absolute coolest things in the world is surfing. Maybe I’m biased because I named the site after the movie Point Break. However, one of the awesome thing Sea.Hear.Now does is celebrate the great surf culture of the Jersey Shore. There will be numerous surfing events happening. The first will be the “Expression Session” which will be a mini-tournament featuring surfers from all over.
Daily Times:
2:30 – 3:00 PM Men Expression Session Heat 1
3:00 – 3:30 PM Men Expression Session Heat 2
3:30 – 4:00 PM Men Expression Session Heat 3
4:00 – 4:45 PM Women Expression Session
4:45 – 5:15 PM Men Expression Session Final
Featured surfers include: Sam Hammer, Mike Gleason, Pat Schmidt, Clay Polloni, Quincy Davis, Cassidy McClain, Autumn Hayes, Tom Ihnken, Ben Gravy, Randy Townsend, Simon Hetrick, Corey Lopez, Logan Kamen, Rob Kelly, Maddie Ryan, Andrew Gesler, Morgan Iglay, Jude Clark, Seth Conboy, Kyle Tester.
There will be a Board Shaper’s Alley which focuses on the art of creating surfboards. The schedule, and the shapers are listed below in the graphic. To me this absolutely fascinating because, again, surfing is absolutely fascinating.
Art Galleries
One of most intriguing aspects of the festival is the art. Art will be surrounding the entire festival, but the tent with the majority of the art will be off the beach at the “Park Stage” area in Bradley Park, which located across from the beach. I know what you’re thinking…”BRO, why would I look at art at a music festival?” But hear me out. First off, Danny Clinch is one of the best photographers out there, period. His compositions and portraits have inspired generations of music photographers. So, that alone demands your attention.
There will also be two distinct sets of artists at the art tent will be from local arts. One of them is Pork Chop whose work can be found all around Asbury Park — walk through the Casino at the south end of the Asbury boardwalk and you’ll see his amazing works. There will also work from surf artist Jay Alders, Maggie Fischer Brown (wife of our pal Chris Brown), and the Wooden Walls Project — a collective that has adorned the north end of the boardwalk with some amazing work.
The second set of artists will just blow you away.
It’s actually the musicians from the festival. Yes, musicians from a number of bands will be showing off their art work. Of course Danny Clinch, will be showing off his art. But you’ll also be seeing work from the man himself, Dave Matthews, along with Christopher Thorn and Rogers Stevens of Blind Melon, Renee Maskin and Dana Dellers from Lowlight, Adam Weiner from Low Cut Connie, Donavon Frankrenreiter, Bryan Kienlen from Beach Rats/Bouncing Souls, Brad Corrigan of Dispatch, Stefan Lessard and Jeff Coffin of Dave Matthews Band, Greg Graffin of Bad Religion, Nadav Shapira of RIPE, Browan Lollar of St. Paul & The Broken Bones, and more.
Yoga Sessions:
Sea.Hear.Now Yoga Sessions featuring Eoin Finn will taking place each morning of the festival (Sept. 21-22) from 8:30am-9:30am inside the festival site. Relax and recharge with us on the beautiful beach.
Sea.Hear.Now Yoga Sessions are be free and open to the general public. Arrive early as you will have to go through a security check point to enter the site. The entrance for Yoga will be on the Boardwalk on the Southside of Convention Hall, just to the right of the Box Office.
Late Night Shows:
A very cool thing about Sea.Hear.Now is the Late Night Shows. While the Friday night shows have come and gone, there are still three shows you can check out. The first is St. Paul & the Broken Bones with Tangiers Blues Band at The Stone Pony. Dubbed “The Ocean Avenue Stomp” this night will be an absolute dance party. Now, last year the Stomp turned into an all-star jam session, and we’re expecting the same thing here.
RIPE will be taking to the Wonder Bar for their brand of jam-tastic goodness. Click here for tickets. Down the street at House of Independents will be a “Hooligan Holiday” featuring Dave Hause and the Mermaid. Special guests for the show include members of: The Bouncing Souls, The Gaslight Anthem, Bad Religion, Sick Of It All, The Loved Ones, The Explosion, The Scandals, Work In Progress and more. Click here for tickets.
Unofficial after-parties include:
Black Pumas at The Saint (Main Street) – Saturday
Gods & Cold Seas at Asbury Park Yacht (Boardwalk) – Saturday
Mister Ticklehands & DJ Foggy Notion at Asbury Park Yacht Club – Sunday
Hot in Herre: A 2000s Dance Party with DJ Mike Merrell at The Asbury Lanes – Saturday
Changing Lanes at The Asbury Lanes – Sunday
