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Things got tricky on the second day of the Sea.Hear.Now music, arts, and surfing festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey this Sunday when Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run-DMC joined Public Enemy for a rousing surprise performance of “Walk This Way” and “It’s Tricky,” thrilling a sold-out crowd of 35,000 fans gathered on the beach.
DMC’s appearance was one of several major moments at the seventh iteration of the annual seaside festival, which took place this past weekend with a wildly eclectic lineup that included headliners Hozier and Blink-182 along with Lenny Kravitz, Alabama Shakes, ZZ Top, De La Soul, Sublime, 4 Non Blondes, LCD Soundsystem and many more. The sold-out crowd embraced the festival’s signature mix of surf, sand and sound with open arms.
Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav was everywhere throughout Sunday — first surprising the crowd with a guest spot during Grace Bowers and The Hodge Podge’s set, where they covered last year’s festival favorites Kool & The Gang’s “Hollywood Swinging.” Bowers, the 19-year-old guitar-shredding sensation, will also be featured on an upcoming Public Enemy single titled “She’s Got Game,” which Flav described as an update of “He Got Game” in honor of women in sports. He also popped into the Transparent Clinch Gallery pop-up art tent and was later seen dancing up front during Blink-182’s hilarious and energetic Sunday night headlining set.
Among the most anticipated performers was 4 Non Blondes, who returned to the stage ready to have fun and let loose. The group fronted by Linda Perry — who has two albums set for 2026 (including a solo project), a documentary in the works and a buzzed-about song written for Paris Jackson — lit up the beach with a blistering rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.” She followed with candid stories, including one about Courtney Love and the song she wrote for her, “Drama Queen.”
New songs got a huge response, but the singalong to “What’s Up?” was easily the loudest of the day.
“We’ve only played four shows so far, I think, and they’ve been really fun,” Perry told The Hollywood Reporter. “We’re just having a good time — it’s a nice escape from being in the studio all the time because I’m always so serious. With 4 Non Blondes, it was a dark time for me because I was really unhappy with where the music was. So to cut to now, where we’re just up there having a good time — I forgot how to have fun. All these years I’ve been so focused on making ‘good music’ — blah, blah, blah. I’ve got to be deep. So it’s been fun just rocking out. I wrote a bunch of new songs for us to play — we’re not just playing songs from the old record because, personally, I didn’t like the record.”
While Perry acknowledged that the crowds seem to be enjoying the shows, she said that’s not her primary concern.
“I don’t care, to be quite honest. I’m on stage having fun, playing with some old friends, and we’re getting these great opportunities,” she said. “I’m doing my best to entertain everybody, and I hope they love it — but ultimately, I can’t control their experience.”
The day and night also marked a triumphant return for Sublime, the legendary Long Beach band that last played Asbury Park during the Warped Tour in the ’90s with original frontman Bradley Nowell.
This time, they returned with Jakob Nowell, Bradley’s son, whose voice and stage presence not only honor his father’s legacy but also forge a unique connection with a new generation of fans. The band — featuring original bassist Eric Wilson along with drummer Bud Gaugh — delivered a powerful and emotional set that resonated with longtime followers and new listeners alike.
Just hours before taking the stage, Sublime learned that their latest single, “Ensenada,” had reached No. 1 on Billboard’s alternative radio airplay charts — the group’s first chart-topper since “What I Got” in 1997. The milestone set a record for the longest gap between No. 1s in the chart’s history. Even more astonishing, the record was driven by an entirely independent team, without a major label, under Nowell’s SVNBVRNT records, Regime Music Group and distributed by Create Music.
“I opened a fortune cookie the other day and it said, ‘You’re gonna be number one,’” Wilson told THR.
“No. 1, dude—that’s crazy,” Jakob Nowell added. “We just got full confirmation today that it’s been on there long enough to solidify its spot, or whatever that means.”
He reflected: “I wonder how many songs between father and son have hit number one?”
“You never know what’s going to happen when you put out music. But we’ve got an awesome team, they’ve been pushing hard, and we really believe in the material. It’s been fun playing it,” he said. “It’s cool seeing some of the younger generation get into it, and the older generation come out and embrace it too.”
Hozier headlined the festival’s first night, pausing midway through his acoustic set on the B-stage to take in the view of 35,000 fans stretched across the beach.
“There’s something in the water,” he remarked.
Opening with “Nobody’s Soldier” and continuing with hits like “Someone New,” “Too Sweet” and “Take Me to Church,” Hozier reinforced the civil rights themes that have defined his tour. He paid tribute to icons like Mavis Staples, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie and directly addressed current global issues.
“Peace, safety and security for everybody in the Middle East means seeing a Palestine that’s free from occupation,” he said. “It means seeing a Palestinian people who are free of the cycles of genocide and violence we see on our TV screens.”
Inhaler came off as arena-ready early on at the Park Stage, with U2 frontman Bono’s son Elijah Hewson’s pop-rock vocals and confident stage presence cutting through the afternoon heat. Remi Wolf felt like a favorite vocal coach, leading the crowd through warmups before launching into songs like “Kangaroo” and a lively cover of Tom Cochrane’s “Life Is a Highway.”
LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy — whose Jersey roots include working at The Princeton Record Exchange — talked about how New Jersey is the most densely populated state. To his point, the crowd in front of the Park Stage for their set was packed tighter than traffic on the Garden State Parkway as the beach was transformed into a full-blown rave.
Note to the festival: scheduling LCD Soundsystem against Australia’s hottest export — Royel Otis — on the Sand Stage is a crime against humanity. Fans were running back and forth trying to catch both acts, and the beach was so packed for the Aussies that people in the VIP section were waiting in line at the boardwalk to be allowed into the more expensive section, which was overpacked.
Several artists gave shout-outs to New Jersey. Gigi Perez, from Hackensack, paid homage to her roots and “fellow New Jerseyans” with her dreamy track “Sugar Water” and viral hit “Sailor Song,” which has Radiohead-like vocal echoes.
Lenny Kravitz, originally from New York, shared that his first four albums were recorded in Hoboken, New Jersey, and his sultry renditions of songs like “Always on the Run” had the crowd swooning.
Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus praised Jersey girls, joking that the crowd looked better than the one in Buffalo (likely a tour staple), while Hozier introduced Washington Township’s Ryan Connors as his new music director.
The entire weekend came to a close with a bombastic, hit-filled set from Blink-182, complete with an on-screen middle finger engulfed in flames and a fireworks show exploding over the Atlantic Ocean.
Tracks like “All the Small Things,” “I Miss You,” and “Dammit” had the crowd screaming into the night.
