Read previous – Shadow of the City 2021 ft. Bleachers, Japanese Breakfast, and more
Jersey’s own musical luminary Jack Antonoff (frontman of Bleachers and pop producer extraordinaire) brought his highly anticipated and beloved Shadow of the City music festival back to The Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park on Saturday, June 15th. Since its 2015 inception, this year’s Shadow of the City is its sixth installment – the event sold out immediately after tickets went on sale, before the full lineup was even announced. Fresh off the release of their self-titled 4th studio LP, Shadow of the City was fittingly announced to be the final date of Bleachers’ From the Studio to the Stage tour. While their popularity and fanbase have grown far beyond its 4500-person capacity, I can’t think of a venue more synonymous with Bleachers than The Stone Pony Summer Stage. In addition to a headlining Bleachers performance, this year’s event featured Dirty Hit labelmates Been Stellar and The Japanese House, as well as Grace Ives, Bartees Strange, The Wonder Years, and Samia.
Keep scrolling for more photos and to read more.
Unlike the last Shadow of the City (in 2021), the day began without the fanfare of Bleachers’ saxophonist Evan Smith demoing his signature hot sauce. Instead, NYC 5-piece Been Stellar kicked off the day’s festivities, followed by singer-songwriter and producer Grace Ives.
DC-based musician (by way of England and Oklahoma) Bartees Strange played a way too short set, but debuted a new song titled “Sober” that was co-written with Jack Antonoff.
Philly pop punk stalwarts The Wonder Years were up next. They’ll be bringing back their curated Loneliest Place On Earth festival back to Philly this summer.
Likewise, Samia played a short set but performed a new/unreleased track called “Bovine Excision”.
The Japanese House started their set off strong with “Touching Yourself” from their 2023 LP In the End It Always Does. They also debuted a brand new track titled “Smiley Face”.
By the time the sun was starting to set, the crowd swelled to the point where seemingly every square inch of the Summer Stage was occupied. Like a salmon swimming upstream, I made my way towards to the pit for the final time of the night in anticipation of Bleachers’ headlining performance. The crowd burst as Antonoff and co. kicked off their performance with Bleachers track “I Am Right On Time”. Antonoff’s kinetic and earnest energy filled the Summer Stage and managed to make it still feel like an intimate performance. They performed songs from across their discography and finished out the night with “I Wanna Get Better”, “Don’t Take The Money”, and “Stop Making This Hurt”.
With a growing and fervent fanbase, I’m not sure how much longer the Summer Stage will be able to accommodate Shadow of the City (especially with gap years between events); however, I hope it finds a way to stay here. Bleachers will be playing their largest headlining show to date this October when they play MSG… no surprise, it’s already sold out.
Watch the music video for “Tiny Moves” (from the Bleachers LP) below and keep scrolling to see the rest of the photos.
