The inaugural edition of the 2-day Adjacent Festival in AC happened over the beautiful Memorial Day weekend. With performances spread across 3 stages (each named after a Monopoly piece) along the beach, the lineup had something for everyone. Taking a look at the lineup, the organizers were clearly thoughtful about featuring acts from the Jersey tri-state/Mid-Atlantic region. Day 1 featured a headlining performance by famed pop punk outfit Paramore – since opening for Taylor Swift on her 2 Eras Tour kickoff dates in Arizona, they’ve just kicked off their own North American headlining tour in support of their latest release This Is Why.
After some delays getting into the festival grounds, we started off our day at the main Top Hat stage to catch Asbury Park’s Well Wisher. We’re big fans of their 2018 debut This Is Fine and their brand of indie punk was a perfect way to kick off the day. Well Wisher frontperson Natalie Newbold also plays double duty as the bassist in The Front Bottoms, so this wouldn’t be that last time we saw her this weekend. The afternoon was a mad scramble between the stages to catch Pinkshift and The Linda Lindas (who were joined by drummer Gina Schock of The Go-Go’s for their cover of “Tonite”). Rather than making the crowded slog between stages, we decided to chill at the main stage to catch Jeff Rosenstock and Beach Bunny before heading back over for Mannequin Pussy and PUP for some good ole-fashioned circle pits and crowd surfing.
We made it back just in time to the main stage for the beginning of Bleachers‘ set as they were performing “91” (from 2021’s Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night). Having attended Jack Antonoff’s Shadow of the City festivals in Asbury Park, I’m used to seeing Bleachers at the shore; however, it was extra special seeing them with this massive crowd of ~20,000 right on the beach along the ocean. Antonoff and co. fittingly covered Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl” (also famously covered by Bruce Springsteen) before performing his own love song to Jersey, “Chinatown”. Imploring the crowd to get on top of shoulders for the first ever Adjacent Fest, they launched into the tail of their hour-long set with “Rollercoaster” and ended with “Stop Making This Hurt”.
As 9:30 approached, the ocean of people became even more densely packed in anticipation of Paramore taking the stage. Kicking off their set with This Is Why track “You First”, the crowd went wild for Hayley Williams and co.; however, things got really loud as they performed hits from across their nearly 20-year career-spanning discography. Williams expressed her appreciation to their ever-growing fanbase on numerous occasions throughout their set, acknowledging both those who have been there from the beginning, as well as newer fans. Being my first time seeing them live, I was amazed by Williams stage presence (damn, she can dance) and flawless vocals. On the eve of Pride Month, Williams took the opportunity to speak out in support of marginalized communities and a took a dig at the quintessential Florida Man stating, “if you vote for Ron DeSantis, you’re f*cking dead to me”. Bravo (take note, Ms. Swift)! They brought back the nostalgia with “Misery Business”, “Ain’t It Fun”, and “Still Into You” before closing out the night with “This Is Why”.
After an amazing yet tiring first day, I don’t know how I’m going to do this for another one. Stay tuned for a re-cap of Day 2. In the meantime, check out my photos from the crowd from Day 1 below.
