The 2024 Oceans Calling music festival took place this past weekend. 55,000 were in attendance to see killer headliners. Here is a little peek into the bustling festival if you didn’t get a chance to attend yourself.
Overview Of The Festival
Although raining on Friday, the festival was held in a picturesque coastal setting, where fans danced and sang in the sand, and bands and solo artists performed. The festival aims to celebrate the beauty of music and the ocean. This year’s festival featured a variety of genres, ensuring that there was something for everyone. From rock and pop, to indie and electronic music, the event captured the hearts of thousands.
Some Highlights From The Lineup
This year’s lineup was packed with incredible performances from both established artists and emerging talents. With headliners such as Blink-182, Cage The Elephant, Sublime, O.A.R, The Killers, Counting Crows, Dave Matthews Band, The Beach Boys and much much more, each festival goer was able to experience fierce, iconoclastic music.
As I was fortunate enough to attend, here were some of my personal favorite performances…
Cage the Elephant
Cage the Elephant left the crowd in awe after performing their smash hit songs and angsty ballads at Oceans Calling. At 7:15 on Friday night they opened with their song “Broken Boy” from their fifth album [“Social Cues”]. The song allowed the audience to seep into the Cage the Elephant World due to its high tempo and the compelling childhood story the song includes.
The band consists of six members who started their musical journey back in 2008 when they released their first album [“Cage The Elephant”] and their song “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked”, the album’s third single, peaked at number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a top 50 hit in Canada and the United Kingdom. The singles “In One Ear” and “Back Against the Wall” additionally topped the Billboard Alternative songs chart.
With Matt Shultz [lead vocalist], Brad Shultz [lead guitar], Nick Brockrath [guitar], Daniel Tichenor [bass guitar], Jared Champion [drum kit] and Matthan Minster [as keyboardist] the performance on Friday night was electric and unparalleled. Matt Shultz even had a broken foot and dislocated shoulder, but still presented an energetic performance to the crowd.
They went on to perform other songs such as “Trouble”, “Ready to Let Go”, “Cold Cold Cold”, “Cigarette Daydreams”, and a couple songs off the newest album “Neon Pill” and “Good Time”. Their performance left the crowd cheering, screaming, and longing for more when they stepped off the Sea Bright stage at 8:15.
The Darkness
The Darkness is a rock/alt band from the UK who hit the stage at 4:15 on Friday and played an array of music for the festival. Justin Hawkins, the lead singer, wowed the crowd with his unique voice and impressive guitar skills. He was very energetic and sporadically interacted with fans.
The band opened with their song “Growing on Me” and got the crowd ready for the crazy hour that was to come. They played their song “Love is Only a Feeling” with a little tease of “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC incorporated into the intro, and a cover of “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin that the crowd happily sang along to.
They Later performed their famous song that was released as a single in September of 2003 “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” that peaked at number two on the UK singles chart. The song also charted worldwide, becoming a top-10 hit in Ireland, New Zealand, and Sweden, as well as on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Chart.
They concluded their set with the song “Love on the Rocks With No Ice.” Fans were sad to see them go, but happy they made the trip to Ocean City from England!
Other Bands and Artists performed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, However I wasn’t able to document those other artists. But that’s alright, let’s move onto some of the other things the festival has to offer!
Beyond The Music
Oceans Calling has much more than just music! Small businesses, the Beatbox Party Pub, and amazing food vendors with everything from Filipino Lumpia rolls and WookieDogs were present at the festival as well.
Special appearances from acclaimed Chefs including Chef Mac Murphy, Robert Irvine, and Amanda Freitag all participated in a special Q&A interactive with fans in attendance.
This year’s Oceans Calling Festival rocked… Literally! And next year’s festival is highly anticipated as thousands will come back to the beach as one fan from Kentucky is planning on doing. He feels there is nothing more special than seeing your favorite band in the sand!
Oceans Calling was fun, energetic, and exhilarating. If you love a good time and Alternative music, I would highly recommend it!
