Photos: Sea Hear Now 2024

This year’s edition of Asbury Park’s Sea Hear Now Festival featuring a homecoming for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band who carried the spirit of the festival on his back, making plenty of guest appearances throughout the two days of the festival that took place on September 13 and 14.

The festival featured a handful of big time established acts and up-and-comers, many of which were local to the area. On day 1 we caught a handful of promising new acts such as Bo Staloch, Sonic Blume and Joe P, who all carried the torch of the greats the came before, while showcasing plenty of promise and potential of there own.

The festival has always been good at focusing on the great acts of our time, some of which have gone slightly underappreciated. Acts like Kool & The Gang and Guster were particular highlights in the middle of the day during the weekend, bringing their own sense of style and flare that was a welcome sight.

The Hives and The Gaslight Anthem were particular highlights from the weekend, with The Hives wasting literally no time entering the crowd themselves and getting the party truly started. In essence it was a headlining set of their own that reminded me again that they are quite frankly one of the best live acts of our time.

The Gaslight Anthem + Bruce Springsteen

It seems Springsteen feels like the same way about The Gaslight Anthem, as he joined the New Jersey natives during the first two songs of their set (“History Books” and “American Slang”), just a few hours before his very own headlining set. As a photographer this was a thrill to witness as its rare that a set begins this way, let alone that we get to photograph.

Of course the moment that we all were waiting for was the headlining set from Bruce and the E Street band. We knew that it being a return to Asbury Park meant that he would break out some special tracks to mark the occasion. He did not disappoint, as the 30-song, three hour long set, featuring many cuts that they have not performed in nearly a decade, including “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)”, “Thundercrack”. “Meeting Across The River”, and “Blinded By The Light”.

I have seen Springsteen a few times now but this was by far the best of the bunch, a special thing to witness with an adoring hometown crowd that made it so. There was a special feeling in the air, literally from the waves of the nearby water on the beach, the perfect setting for one of the best sets that I have seen this decade, full stop.

Find a full gallery of photos from the 2024 Sea Hear Now Festival posted in the gallery below.

Bo Staloch: