Sad Summer Festival Concert Review

On July 17 I went to the first-ever Sad Summer Festival at the Stone Pony Stage in Asbury Park, NJ (historic, if I say so myself)! It was a full day festival with a full bill of 7 bands, 3 of which were headliners.

The Sad Summer Festival is a touring festival that the bands seemed eager to continue throughout the years (just in time for the end of Warped Tour). The opening acts included: Stand Atlantic, Just friends, Mom Jeans, and Grayscale. The headliners were State Champs, The Maine, and Mayday Parade (The Wonder Years are also on Sad Summer Festival but did not play with this show. Just Friends was an amazing pop-punk/ modern Ska band that brought energy to the crowd on a very hot day. I was looking forward to Grayscale, who I recently discovered, but was a bit disappointed in their live performance because of noticeable backing tracks.

The Maine brought so much energy to the stage as the main act- dropping a nice mix of Pop and alt-rock with a dash of comedy in their performance. You could see how dedicated their fan base was and how much the band enjoyed performing. Mayday Parade was absolutely incredible. I have seen Mayday Parade 14 times after this show and every single NJ show they play is full of energy and love like no other show out there. They played a perfect mix of old and new songs as well as singles and not as well -known songs- they even threw in a cover of The Killers. Mayday Parade had a way of making everyone feel welcomed and valued while staying true to their rock roots.