Sea.Hear.Now: Two Days of Discovery

Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons

I’ve been going to Sea.Hear.Now for most of its run, sometimes as a fan and sometimes with a camera in hand. One of the things I’ve always liked about the festival is that there is always something to discover.

There are festivals built around one or two major performances that become the story of the weekend. Then there are festivals with a strong lineup where you can spend two days moving between stages, seeing artists you already know and finding a few you didn't know you needed to see.

For me, Sea.Hear.Now has always been the second kind.

The 2026 lineup had plenty of major names, with Mumford & Sons headlining Saturday and The Strokes closing out Sunday. But some of my favorite moments came from artists I had gone specifically to see and others I discovered along the way.

Day One

Saturday started with the unfortunate news that Nat Myers would not be performing because of his ongoing health issues. I’ve enjoyed photographing Nat in the past, so I was disappointed to miss him. Hopefully he is back on stage soon. Thoughts and prayers to Nat and his family as he continues his fight.

Steph Strings opened the Surf Stage and seemed like a natural fit for the festival. The Australian singer and guitarist brought a relaxed presence and music that worked perfectly with the beach setting. At one point she acknowledged the surfers in the water, then joked with the crowd about keeping their eyes on the stage instead. It was a fun way to start the day.

Men at Work followed, with Colin Hay joined by his wife, Cecilia Noël, on vocals and percussion. I’ll admit I initially wondered who the incredibly energetic woman on stage was and whether Men at Work really needed that much energy. Once I learned she was Colin’s wife, the whole thing made a lot more sense.

Later in the afternoon, Fitz and the Tantrums and The All-American Rejects played the Park Stage to a huge crowd that stretched all the way back toward the James A Bradley, “Dolly Parton” statue.

For a photographer, those were two particularly good sets. We generally get the first three songs from the photo pit, and sometimes a band doesn't really hit its stride until after we're gone. That wasn't the case here. Both bands came out at full speed and gave us plenty to work with from the first song.

Fitz and the Tantrums had plenty of hits to work with, while The All-American Rejects brought a different kind of energy and a lot of playfulness. The crowd responded to both.

As the sun went down, The Offspring took over the Surf Stage and gave the festival exactly what it needed. The volume went up, the crowd got louder, and the day moved into its nighttime phase.

The War on Drugs followed on the Park Stage before Mumford & Sons closed out Saturday.

Shaggy was another highlight on the Sand Stage. His set was essentially a giant party inside an already busy festival. The crowd seemed to know every song, singing along and keeping their hands in the air throughout the set.

That is part of what makes Sea.Hear.Now work for me. You can go into a day with a few bands you know you want to photograph and still find yourself stopping at another stage because something catches your attention.

Mumford and Sons

Shaggy

The Offspring

The All-American Rejects

Fitz and the Tantrums

Men at Work

54 Ultra

Steph Strings

Day Two

Sunday brought more of the same opportunity to find something new.

Over the years, I’ve found that the Sand Stage in the middle of the afternoon can be a particularly good place to find an artist or band you may not have heard of before. Last year, that was Mannequin Pussy.

This year, it was Die Spitz.

I had been disappointed that I missed flipturn on the Park Stage, but everything I was hearing pointed toward an epic performance from Die Spitz. They delivered.

The Austin all-female punk band was all over the stage, with high kicks, handstands, mosh pits and enough movement to keep any photographer busy. At one point members of the band came off the stage and into the crowd, not an easy thing to do from a festival stage.

They were one of my biggest surprises of the weekend and easily one of the most exciting new bands I’ve seen this year. Thanks, Sea.Hear.Now, for that one.

There were also several local artists represented throughout the weekend. Jarod Clemons brought together a large group of New Jersey musicians, with his cousin Jake Clemons making a guest appearance. Status Green, the Freehold band that became well known in the early 2000s, was also part of the weekend after recently reuniting for the Stone Pony's 50th anniversary.

And then there was Blaise.

The Asbury Park artist, known as The People’s Pop Star, performed early Sunday on the Sand Stage. It was one of the more visually different performances of the weekend and another reminder that Sea.Hear.Now leaves room for artists who don't necessarily fit into the same mold as the larger acts.

The Goo Goo Dolls also had a particularly strong New Jersey connection. John Rzeznik has embraced the state since moving here, and his involvement with the Light of Day Foundation has strengthened that connection. Seeing the band at Sea.Hear.Now added another chapter to that story.

As the final hours of the festival approached, Moby and The Strokes showed just how well a major outdoor festival can translate performances that could easily belong in an indoor club or theater.

Moby hit the Park Stage with an EDM-driven production of strobes, lasers, banks of LED lights and the kind of sub bass you don't just hear, but feel. For a moment, the festival field became a giant outdoor club.

Then The Strokes hit the Surf Stage as black silhouettes backed by a field of intense color. Sometimes it can be difficult to translate that kind of visual experience to an outdoor venue. The Strokes had no problem with it. The lights became a wall of color behind a post-punk, indie-rock powerhouse, with the band members appearing almost as silhouettes as they were banging out the songs.

All 35,000 people seemed packed onto the sand and boardwalk, completely engulfed in the music. And nobody seemed particularly bothered when, halfway through the set, the rain that had mostly held off all weekend, finally found the crowd.

When the final song, "Last Nite," was played, the soft rain had turned into a downpour. The crowd hardly flinched.

It was one more memory from another Sea.Hear.Now weekend, the kind of moment that becomes part of the story you tell later.

For me, that's what keeps bringing me back. The headliners are a big part of it, but so are the artists you discover, the photographs you didn't expect to make and the moments that could only happen at Sea.Hear.Now.

The Strokes

MOBY

The Goo Goo Dolls

Kim Gordon

Die Spitz

Ben Howard

Makua

King Stingray

Blaise

Sea.Hear.Now 2026 The Strokes MOBY Goo Goo Dolls Kim Gordon Die Spitz Ben Howard MAKUA King Stingray Blaise Mumford and Sons Shaggy The Offspring The All-American Rejects Fitz and the Tantrums Men at Work 54 Ultra Jarod Clemons