Oceans Calling got off to a rough start this year. The sold-out music festival boasted a solid lineup for its sophomore outing. The various sea-themed hotels were all booked and after a strong first year, the Oceans Calling music festival was poised and ready to bring the party back to the shores of Ocean City Maryland. The weather had other plans, at least at first. Hurricane Helene hammered the southern states sending its shock wave up the eastern coast and giving a small taste of its fury.
50,000 people flooded the Ocean City boardwalk buying buckets of fries, slices of pizza, caramel popcorn, or whatever “world-famous” soft serve they could get their hands on, all the while checking their weather apps and keeping one eye on the sky. Oceans Calling, like most fests, requires a bit of sacrifice. It's impossible to see every act, this is a given. But at Oceans Calling it becomes almost impossible to watch a whole set. This fest can be a bit hard to get around, as the crowd grows more dense and difficult to navigate throughout the day. There are no real walking paths; there is the beach, the boardwalk, and a small ally way past the Jolly Roger carnival entrance, that's it. If you are trying to get your fill of more than one band, ride the Ferris wheel or grab a drink or food. You have to leave ample time to navigate the crowd, especially on the sand.
Day 1
Winona Fighter was the first act that I took on for the day. The Nashville punk band immediately woke up the crowd, reminding the poncho-draped masses that they were at a music festival. Coco Luther (lead singer) came out rowdy, pumping up the crowd and shoulder-rushing bandmates Dan Fuson (guitar) and Austin Luther (bass). Their brand of fresh-faced punk was raw and ruthless. It was the perfect wake-up call on a dreary day.
The next act up was Larkin Poe. Sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell came out rocking with “Summertime Sunset” from their 2022 album Blood Harmony. The duo treated the crowd to what lead vocalist and masterful guitarist Rebecca Lovell referred to as “real rock and roll.” Megan Lovell worked her lap steel laying down heavy guitar riffs which blended with Rebecca’s energetic electric guitar. The Lovell sisters delivered a performance with strong southern harmonies and incredible musical prowess guaranteed to please any live music lover.
The Darkness kept the rock and roll going in classic rockstar fashion. It was a great mix of flashy and loud. Frontman Justin Hawkins demanded that all eyes be on him. The wild man jumped from platforms performing mid-air splits. He did a handstand on the drummer Rufus Taylor's platform. Dan Hawkins (lead guitar) and Frankie Poullain (bass) were no slouches either. Dan in his leather jacket and Frankie in a sparkling blazer with the collar popped up, laid it down for the tracks “Get Your Hands Off My Woman” from 2003's Permission to Land and “Motorheart,” the title track of their 2021 album. The Darkness delivered a high-octane performance reminiscent of the rock gods of old.
311 was next up on the Rockville stage and dominated their set. Having recently seen 311 I know for a fact that this is a band that has to be seen live. Dual frontmen Nick Hexum and “SA” Martinez perform with explosive energy, combined with guitarist Tim Mahoney's and bassist Aaron “P-Nut” Willis's memorable riffs and low end. 311 puts on an incredible live show with their performances of hits that sound like they are coming straight from the record. They opened with “Beautiful Disaster” from Transistor before Hexum slung his Flying V guitar on and went to work head-banging and dueling with Tim Mahoney on “Freeze Time” from Soundsystem.
The rain started to fall during Cage the Elephant's set and the band put on a perfect storm of a performance, with tons of frantic energy. Matt Shultz shows no signs of slowing down even with an injured leg. He wheeled about on a chromed-out knee scooter, popping wheelies and throwing devil horns while flames shot from canons on stage. Guitarist Brad Schultz lept into the crowd and rocked with fans face to face while performing “Cold Cold Cold” from the album Tell Me I’m Pretty. The set was one of my favorites from over the weekend. As the weather began to turn and the rain started falling it was like a dopamine drip of surreal, theatrical, magical.
I was excited to see Sublime, or I guess what's now considered the “real” Sublime. I was interested to see new frontman Jakob Nowel (son of original frontman Bradley Nowel) along with original members Eric Wilson (bass), and Bud Gaugh (drums). The band came out ready to rock, Jakob wearing nothing but board shorts. I found the sound mix to be lacking on the opening track “Garden Grove.” I could barely hear the vocals, they faded in and out and made even the most classic hits hard to sing along to. The problem never seemed to get worked out and that made it hard for me to enjoy. I wanted nothing more than to see what Jakob had to offer but unfortunately due to the sound, the performance was a bit disappointing.
All day long all the conversations I overheard were about the oncoming storm or about people's excitement to see Blink 182. Thousands of fans wore their best Blink 182 gear, eager to see one of the most iconic pop-punk bands. I was stoked to see them considering they had been such a big part of my youth. Unfortunately, the weather was not so concerned with what the fans wanted and the skies opened up on the crowd packed tightly on the beach in front of the Sea Bright stage. Fat drops of rain swept sideways, and the crowd stayed vigilant. They stood by and watched the hanging speakers and lights be lowered and raised, then booed when they were lowered again. They clapped when the rain seemingly stopped only to be let down when it started again. After an hour and forty-five minutes, Blink 182 took the stage. Tom DeLonge (guitar) flipped the crowd the bird to lift spirits and the band took off. They started the set with “Feeling This” from their 2003 self-titled album. Travis Barker and his drum kit were elevated center stage and he waylaid the drums with a fantastic fury. The band wasted no time and launched into fan favorite “The Rock Show” from Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001). Mark Hoppus (bass) took to the mic to thank everyone for braving the storm to see them. He told the crowd that they would play as long as they were allowed to, even passed the designated curfew. Their great performance of “Stay Together for the Kid” while the rain began to fall nonstop was a favorite moment of mine and a very wet one at that. Eventually, the weather won the night and the band was forced to rush a bit toward the end, but they still delivered a worthy performance.
Day 2
After a night of nonstop rain, the conversions of day 2 weren't about the bands of the day, but about everyone's level of water saturation from the night before. During Oceans Calling over 50,000 people are in attendance and, needless to say, parking and transportation to the festival grounds is a bit of a nightmare. Not for lack of trying on the city's part. Regardless, people were stuck getting hammered by rain waiting on shuttles for hours, or braving the storm and walking to their vehicles, some over 40 blocks away. It seemed the sky had conspired with the Atlantic to reclaim the streets of Ocean City. Streets flooded with knee-high waters. The rain drenched everyone the first night. Suddenly the next day, it had vanished. Although it was the main topic of discussion, the previous day's weather didn't stop the horde of eagerly awaiting fans ready to take in the tunes of day 2. The sky was clear and the sun was shining, mother nature decided to give us perfect conditions the second day.
Switchfoot was my first show of the day and they gave a performance I wasn't expecting but thoroughly enjoyed. “Ammunition” from The Beautiful Letdown, and set the momentum of the day going forward. Lead singer Jon Foreman engaged the crowd, leaping off Rockville stage and over the rail, and sang “This is your Life” buried in the massive sea of fans. I was told later that day that Jon jumped the venue fence and lept into the ocean during the band's final number. A moment I was sorry to miss, but had to sacrifice to make it to the next stage.
The Hives have earned a reputation as one of the best live bands around and I believe this to be true. Frontman "Howlin’" Pelle Almqvist deserves high marks for his showmanship and interaction with the crowd. Each member of the band – Nicholaus Arson (lead guitar), Vigilante Carlstroem (rhythm guitar), Chris Dangerous (drums), and The Johan and Only (bass) – gave so much energy in their matching black and white tuxedos.
During “Bogus Operandi” from 2023’s The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons Howln’ swung his mic in the air, strutted from amp to amp, and got up close and personal with the crowd. “Main Offender” from 2000’s Veni Vidi Vicious seemed to be instantly recognized by fans, and the crowd roar was met with equal energy from the band. The frontman spent most of the set buried in the audience, whipping his seemingly endless mic cord to and fro its coils constantly being wrangled by on-stage ninjas. Yes, ninjas! The Hives put on one of the best live shows that I have seen to date. You rarely see that level of interaction with a crowd these days, it was exhilarating.
The Offspring was one of the bands I was most looking forward to. Their album Smash remains one of my all-time favorite albums. It was a pleasure to see Dexter Holland (lead vocal, guitar) and the infamous Noodles (lead guitar) take the stage. I had not had the pleasure of seeing the Offspring live and I was not disappointed. The band started with “Come Out and Play” from Smash, the perfect anthem to get the crowd riled up and ready to rock. By the time they got to “Staring at the Sun” from the album Americana the band and crowd were locked in. Thousands of fans belted out every lyric. It was a real treat for myself and the audience when they hit us with an epic cover of Black Sabbath's “Iron Man” that was seamlessly blended with a punk rock spin on the classical tune “In the Hall of the Mountain King” and finished the merged cover off with the Ramones' “Blitzkrieg Bop."
Day 3
A slower day for the fest as fatigue from the first few days began to set in on the crowd. The crowd was still massive but way more sluggish. The day began a bit cloudy with a nice breeze coming in from the sea. It was a pleasant change of pace from the previous day's beaming sun, which made its appearance later in the day to give festival-goers another perfect day for festival festivities. Fans seemed to use the day to buy merch, take in the sights of the boardwalk, and ride the various rides at the Jolly Roger amusement park.
Guster was my first act of the day, it was nowhere near as rowdy as the previous two days and that was welcome. They opened with “One Man Wrecking Machine” a song that is a bit of a slow burn but one that pays off. Ryan Miller’s vocals rang out over the masses, and Adam Gardner’s guitar riffs began to perk everyone up. The crowd began to sway like the waves of the ocean beside them. When the band played “Barrel of a Gun,” drummer Brian Rosenworcel captivated the audience with his bongo skills, the perfect shift of energy from the slower opening song. The band performed one of their newer songs, “When We Were Stars,” a song with an incredibly catchy hook. Ryan told us how happy he was to be a part of the “Dad Rock Fest” and said how “surreal, and cool” it was to meet kids backstage whose dads are also famous musicians. Guster's performance of “Satellite” was one of my favorites from the fest. From the open strike of the acoustic guitar to the familiar keyboard tune, Guster crushed the performance and had the crowd dancing in the sand.
Blues Traveler was next up, and while I didn't get to see as much of the performance as I would like, I can tell you this: John Popper has still got it! I have never seen anyone who has commanded the harmonica in the way this legend does. The band performed their hit album Four in its entirety, and if that wasn't enough, Blues Traveler blessed the masses of Oceans Calling with an insane cover of Charlie Daniels “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and miraculously topped that with a cover of Black Sabbaths “War Pigs” it was a legendary performance and one of the best covers of the classic that I have ever witnessed.
The surprise of the weekend for me was Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. It was the only show I managed to catch under the Carousel stage tent. These guys came onto the stage full of energy. The Maryland natives seemed ready to bring the love to their home state. Frontman Greg Ormont dawned a white shirt with the phrase “Be Kind” on it. He could hardly contain his excitement for being there and that energy transferred into the crowd. Kicking off their set with the song “Porcupine” from the album Pizazz, Pigeons had the crowd under the tent captivated with their jam band meets prog rock blended sound. Jeremy Schon held everyone's attention as he laid down epic guitar solos that screeched out over the screaming audience. Ormont’s velvet and retro vocals are melded with funky embellished bass provided by Ben Carrey and all driven by Alex Petropulos’s crazy drum runs. The band has stated that their one mission is to “spread positivity” and they did just that. It was a fun, funky, and psychedelic set reminiscent of the early days of C.R.E.A.M., and it left me eager to catch these guys live again as soon as possible.
O.A.R and Friends is one of those sets you don't want to miss. They performed their hits during their day one set, which in itself was a phenomenal set. But this set is when the band performs covers with the help of the festival's musical guests. Oceans Calling is after all O.A.R’s baby and they pull no stops when it comes to the “Friends” set. It is their love letter to the festival goers; a thank you for the fans' support. It is a massive sing-a-long made all the more special by the guests who perform alongside them. This is a hard one to cover, though. There are so many great moments that happen during this performance that it's impossible not to have f.o.m.o when you miss guest performances later in the set. I was incredibly lucky to witness their first guest, the legend Junior Marvin. Junior and O.A.R. got the crowd swaying when they performed Bob Marley and The Wailers' “Stir It Up” and “Could You Be Loved.” Lead singer Marc Roberge and guitarist Richard On seemed almost star-struck and amazed to be playing alongside such a legend. While traversing the man-made sand traps and pitfalls to get to the next stage I also caught snippets of their cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” with the help of John Popper. They would later perform a song with Lisa Loeb and several others with Dee Snider.
Mt. Joy delivered my favorite performance of night three. Matt Quinn came onstage with his acoustic guitar in hand. Sam Cooper (guitar) Jackie Miclau (keyboards), Michael Byrnes (bass), and Sotiris Eliopoulos filed onto the stage to rapturous applause. Mt. Joy began their set with “Lemon Tree” from the album Orange Blood, Quinn strumming his guitar and singing, the unassuming opener pulling the crowd in while the band slowly builds towards an explosive hook. Cooper shredded the powerful catchy guitar riff, Jakie whipped her hair and danced her fingers across the keys, and I was swept up in the music. And it was only their opening song. They continued with “Strangers” from the album Rearrange Us and dazzled the crowd with a kaleidoscope of colors during the song “Orange Blood” from the album of the same name. Mt. Joy is a band that takes their already amazing songs and transforms them into even better versions of themselves on stage. The musicians are all on the same page, knowing when to give and when to take. These songs don't sound anything like their album counterparts: they sound infinitely better, almost as if their entire catalog is meant to be heard live to experience it fully. They closed out their set with “Silver Lining” from their self-titled album. It is a personal favorite of mine and a song I have heard on many occasions, but I had never heard it like this. Mt. Joy layered sounds like a painter layers paint on a canvas. It was improvised and embellished in all the right ways, expertly seasoned with the band's personal touches that amplified the sound and the feeling of the familiar tune. If you are a fan, Mt. Joy is a must-see live.
All and all Oceans Calling year two had a lot to offer. A fantastic lineup and the perfect background setting. The weather tried its very best to dampen the spirits of festivalgoers on day one, but once the sun came out it was again one of the most fun fall fests around. Festival parking, transportation to the venue, and clear ways to manage foot traffic at the venue could all use improvement. These are issues most festivals have faced and overcome and I believe Oceans Calling year 3 will do just that. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my second year at Oceans Calling and would gladly answer the call again next year!
