I’ve grown up just a bridge’s distance from the Jersey Shore. Yes, that one. Summertime here has always been something sacred to us locals. Yes, the traffic doubles, and the Bennies crowd our streets, but there is just something in the Jersey air once the weather warms that sweeps you up in a swell of pride in our home. The pride that is a pork roll, egg, and cheese in the morning by the pool, a Wawa sub on the shore for lunch, and a burger around a fire in the evening. The pride that is winning an arcade game to lug around an oversized prize your girlfriend really wanted, or the rash you get after staying in your wet bathing suit for far too long because you’ll just swim again soon anyway so what’s the point in changing? Michael Franti & Spearhead were able to elicit this feeling and amplify it down the beach and across the boardwalk on July 13th, 2024 at the Seaside Heights Live stage.
Stepping down into the sand that would soon be thumping with bass, my shoes were swallowed by beach, and my nose wrapped in smells of marijuana and Nag Champa, cigarettes and sunscreen. Before any music had been played, vibes were already high. No one was without smiles or movement as I walked up to the stage to prepare for our opener, Trevor Hall and the Great In-Between.
Taking the stage, I was immediately captivated. Their sound is somewhere in the center of a Venn Diagram of indie, folk, and atmosphere. Within a couple of initial plucks of his strings, Hall had the crowd swaying in waves that matched the ocean serving as background noise for the rest of our evening. I find his vocals similar to a George Ezra-esque sound, with these occasional harmonies that bring to mind Ladysmith Black Mambazo if they had fewer members. His musicians are also incredible with a violin player, Tim Snider, who is spectacular, playing an amazing solo to soaring applause from the crowd. I really enjoyed their performance and found it to be a nice grounding sound before our headliner.
Before taking the stage, the crowd was treated to a just over two-minute countdown that would occasionally display lyrics to the blaring Ain’t No Mountain High Enough but also tasks to complete such as HUG SOMEBODY, TELL SOMEBODY YOUR NAME, or TAKE A SELFIE WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND. Michael Franti’s music puts a major emphasis on trying to enjoy life by embracing differences in people around you, more succinctly, peace and love. More so than the majority of artists I have listened to. He has a unique way of performing that is really interactive with the audience in front of him, bringing them up on stage or leaving the stage to get to them many times throughout the night. This led to one of the weirdest things I’ve seen as a concert photographer; a staircase leading from the stage to the sand, and a barrier removed from in front of the crowd, leaving nothing between the fans and Franti.
Franti’s story was then told alongside videos and photos from his youth. Stories of his biracial birth parents putting him up for adoption for reasons including fear of the things people may say to him as a mixed man, his adoption to white Finnish immigrants alongside a black brother, and how his family now consists of a “brother whose a cop and a sister whose a lesbian!” to illustrate where his love of people despite their background came from. Then, began Meet Me When the Sun Goes Down, just as the sun was dipping behind the sand dudes casting a purple-blue sheer across the air above us, with the moon quickly rising and reflecting off the water’s horizon. It was the start of an unforgettable night.
Before the first song could even finish, Franti was already charging off stage, followed frantically by security, to the small stages placed throughout VIP for Franti to climb onto and dance alongside whoever he could fit on stage with him. At one point Franti even ran to the edge of VIP to also include audience members of general admission in his antics. It was incredible to see two things, first was an artist trusting enough to merge with the crowd and pull them alongside him, and second was an audience respectful enough to allow it. He’d continue from the main stage with I’m Alive (Life Sounds Like).
There were honestly too many moments from the show to write about, so I can only share just some of my favorites, with some honorable mentions being his performances with his sons and a water gun fight he had with the crowd including all his band members. We begin with Hayden Wallace, a young fan called up on stage to sing The Sound of Sunshine with the band. When asked what he does for a living, Wallace said he, “plays basketball, soccer, and sings,” to which Franti replied, “Me too,” and began strumming. That wouldn’t be the only fan with a mic though. Many fans got to have that moment when visiting the side stages, but none quite captured the audience’s hearts like Sophia, who sat atop her parent’s shoulders and caught Franti’s attention by asking to trade bracelets. The two got talking, then singing, and soon Sophia was the only one on the mic singing every word, not surprising as I had seen her doing the same with every song of the night from her added height in the crowd.
Franti would not just invite the young on stage, but the elderly too, the oldest fan of which was 85, who would soon be locking arms with the singer and spinning around the stage despite his age. To make room on stage, Franti would send out his guitarist and bassist to stand on the tinier crowd stages and play their instruments from there. A special moment was also had when, during the same call out to fans, an 81-year-old woman was rolled over to the stage on her beach wheelchair, and assisted by security as she walked up the stairs onto the stage to accompany Franti. He made sure no one would be left out of his performance.
Michael Franti was able to take a crowd full of people, infants to elderly, black to white, left to right, and bring them together for two hours of live music, the most powerful tool we have. The audience even listened to Franti when he’d tell them to lock arms with strangers and spin or grab hold of the hands of those around them to form circles, sending in members to have a moment of dancing before he’d call for the next. His message of peace, love, and acceptance is echoed throughout every moment of his music, and it’s difficult to not feel it. He cares about his audience and puts on a stellar performance right up until their last song, and even past it. Once the concert had officially finished, and the barricades were taken down and bars closed, the band would walk down the stairs, instruments in hand, and perform a small acoustic set of their music and covers for whoever was in earshot and wanted to hang around to hear. He was a real genuine act who utterly captured what a summer night in Jersey can be.
The Togetherness Tour will continue crawling towards the West Coast until August before going international, and should you have the chance, I’d highly recommend stopping by a show and experiencing Michael Franti & Spearhead.
