*** Sea.Hear.Now Festival Fanviews Here 9/18/21 ***

Loved it and loved the privilege of hearing the new songs debuted, especially fifteen minutes from home. 

LastStopOnTheWestCoastLine said:

I'd have been happy with an extra long rendition of Bugs after all this time. But even after months of anticipation, this turned out to be better than one could have expected.

Gigaton songs sounded great live. Quick Escape into Seven O'clock was a dream. DotC was a bit of flat, but that's maybe because I've listened to the album so many times. Loved Present Tense and Red Mosquito.

Ed's voice seems frozen in time, and the other guys also seemed totally at ease. Just like old times.

On to Ohana!

I’d ALWAYS take an extra long rendition of Bugs! 👍🏻

pjhawks said:

You forget how great this band is sometimes. I thought they sounded incredible. Red Mosquito was probably my fave but pretty much all were great.  Perfect weather and didn’t feel crowded where we stood.  Was about 100 yards back from the first set of mid speakers.

two downsides had nothing to do with the music, idiots standing at the steps to the boardwalk. Keep the steps clear people. And getting out of town trying to find an Uber was a clusterfuck.  None available and people all thru town just sitting around looking for one.  Finally hauled down a cab at about 1:00 am.

Yeah we just walked back to our car, which luckily was only about a mile away. Definitely saw a lot of confused looking people along the way. 

Was great to welcome them back after 3 years. I didn’t Mind doc opener. I guess I was just happy to be there after everything. 

mcgruff10 said:

Lerxst1992 said:

mcgruff10 said:

nicknyr15 said:

Wasn’t there. Watched a stream but I have to ask… 7:00 at number 3 seemed to completely kill any energy that QE built. Did it feel that way?And all the all the older songs were 100% played at their normal tempo. It was very consciously done, I heard the tempo slow down when they started getting too fast. I’m also pretty sure I saw EV turn to MC and make a slow down gesture. Can’t remember which song though. I’m not a fan of Gigaton but they were obviously very excited to play the new ones. I think the setlist audibles were better to keep the crowd engaged. 

You would be correct in your assessment of 7:00's placement in the set.  

7 would/will be great in encore 1 full show

totally agree with you.  

I agree that it would be great in an encore but I don’t see why it was a problem where it was.  The only clunker to me, was DOTC as an opener.  7 is my favorite Gigaton song, though so I am biased.

Given the mix of casual fans, maybe it would have been better to not wait until song 4 to play an older song, though.

As pumped as I was to get a half a dozen debuts, Corduroy did kind of make it feel real.

 I really hope they are able to get a proper tour in next year. 

Left the beach at 2 on a perfect day. Headed north to Asbury Park.  Took 15 mins to find parking in a large public lot about 1 mile from the venue.  GREAT weather, GREAT vibe walking past the old carousel, the stone pony, seeing boats in the water and the surf. Entrance around 3:30 took about 30 mins, pretty well organized and lax security, no hassles.  Walked down to just left of the soundboard on Mike's side toes in the sand!  Setting was fantastic.  Blanket down and about 6 of us hanging out on the beach, having drinks, what a setting.  Completely exceeded my expectations. Patti Smith was pretty good, and the sound was really good right near the soundboard. Avetts came out hard! Loved their set and it was rocking. 

Wasn't thrilled with the PJ opener, knew they were going to play a bunch of new songs, and was excited to hear them, but was hoping for a more "traditional" opening.  Other than that, I think this was a very well thought out festival set for the first show back. "New" stuff sounded great and there were real gems for the hardcore fans. Other than Even Flow, I was happy they stayed away from Ten songs until the end.  I think I shed a tear during wishlist and during elderly woman. "My god it's been so long, never dreamed you'd return, but now here you are, and here I am" Fucking A, heard that song a million times, but this one got to me. I am getting chills as I write that.  Red Mosquito, WMA, waiting on friend and people have the power tags, My city of ruins, all great.  Really good show that exceeded my expectations. On to Ohana!!

nycrats said:

steven87 said:

Had an incredible time! I feel so fortunate to have been at the first show back. It was a truly cathartic experience for me seeing them live again after all this time. I thought the Gigaton songs rocked, and I was glad to hear so many of them. The energy in my section (a row back from the rail, Mike’s side), was incredible.  Everyone seemed to know every word of the Gigaton songs and was screaming them out. It was a long day getting blasted by the sun for 8 plus hours on the beach, but it was great getting to hang out with all you awesome people all day! Was really happy they played seven o’clock, my favorite song from the album, and thought it sounded great live. Also, quick escape and SBWM totally rocked and I could see them becoming live staples. I also thought the slightly slowed down versions of the regular staples sounded great (present tense, corduroy, GTF), and the band as a whole sounded really tight. Highlights for me were the opening words of corduroy, the sing along during small town, red mosquito with Danny clinch, porch with Eddie pretending to climb the scaffolding, Mike’s shredding solo in even flow, and my city of ruins. Can’t wait to see what they have in store for Ohana encore in two weeks!

Wow sounds like you were close!  What was the preparation like to get to that point?  Were people camped out a day before or something? Did you have vip? Numbers on wrists, notepads etc? Curious how one got super close for this.. must have been an extraordinary commitment 

Fortunately I live only a half hour away so I drove over early in the morning and got on line around 830. There were probably about 50 people or so ahead of me at that time. No numbers on wrists, no VIP. We all just took turns doing food runs, bathroom breaks, etc. while we were waiting and held each other’s spots. It was one big happy family! Was a serious commitment enduring the sun beating down on us all day (and of course I forgot to bring a hat) but was totally worth it in the end. 

pjhawks said:

You forget how great this band is sometimes. I thought they sounded incredible. Red Mosquito was probably my fave but pretty much all were great.  Perfect weather and didn’t feel crowded where we stood.  Was about 100 yards back from the first set of mid speakers.

two downsides had nothing to do with the music, idiots standing at the steps to the boardwalk. Keep the steps clear people. And getting out of town trying to find an Uber was a clusterfuck.  None available and people all thru town just sitting around looking for one.  Finally hauled down a cab at about 1:00 am.

I had an amazing time at the show. It was great to see them after 3 long years. I was just to the left of the soundboard. People around me were having a good time. I wish they didn't cut Retrograde. But loved every minute of it. Present Tense and Red Mosquito were my highlights. But it was all good. Now I wish I was going to Ohana. I would be sad it was over, but I still have 3 more shows to go to once they reschedule. Hoping that will be soon. I agree that the Uber situation was a nightmare. Big thank you to @RatherStarved for giving me and my friends a ride back to our hotel. We really appreciated it!!