The Oceans Calling Festival is back, delivering another unforgettable weekend of music, mouthwatering food, sandy shores, and yes, plenty of rain to keep things wild. Day 1 kicked off with a hot & humid vibe that didn’t stop a massive crowd from rocking out to headliners Green Day alongside fan-favorites Cake, Nelly, Live, Spin Doctors, and more. From punk anthems to hip-hop throwbacks, the diverse lineup had something for everyone, making the OC shore a perfect backdrop for an electric start.
Kicking things off, Izzy Escobar steps onto the stage and becomes the day’s spark. It’s her first festival slot, and she owns it as her short catalog lands clean and confident with plenty of covers to match. “Sunny in London” lifts like a breeze, pulling the boardwalk crowd in tight instead of letting them drift.
BEL is next and she treats the ocean air like a rehearsal space she’s earned, easing into the set she told local press she’d been dreaming about since grade school. Dream-soft pulse, a little still in beach heat, but it keeps people planted for the sprint to the afternoon. I tag it “listen later” and keep the lens up.
Ballyhoo! flips us from sway to bounce. They’re Maryland beach-rock lifers, and it shows; the clap pattern you can see from the merch tent pulls the middle forward, and the pit answers with grins. Home-state band, home-field feel.
Spin Doctors come in easy and smiling. “What Time Is It?” to start, “Two Princes” to finish and crowd singing without a cue. “Purple Rain” in the middle hushes the sand for a minute. Barron points the mic and the whole beach follows.
Fountains Of Wayne grab the baton and sprint with one of their first shows since Adam Schlesinger’s passing, with Max Collins of Eve 6 handling bass on this run. When “Stacy’s Mom” hits, the hill turns into a wedding reception that forgot to be polite. Dads and kids yell the same chorus; strangers high-five between verses. It’s silly. It’s perfect. It’s why this reunion matters.
Live arrive heavy and human. The Throwing Copper staples stack up, and the tell is the bridge in “Lightning Crashes”: band drops soft, beach keeps singing anyway full-voiced and unembarrassed. That isn’t nostalgia. That’s buy-in.
Nelly flips the script and the shoreline becomes cardio. “Ride Wit Me” squeezes the back half forward like a tide change; “Hot in Herre” pops every aisle. Vendors grin. Beer runs move fast. Photographers sprint. Nobody wants to miss that turn.
Cake plays it bone dry and it works in ocean air. The trumpet slices the breeze, and “The Distance” locks hand claps without instruction. Setlist watchers swear the pocket is “Sheep Go to Heaven,” “Frank Sinatra,” and “I Will Survive.” Tonight it lands. A kid in a thrifted tee knows every word and teaches his dad mid song. Small thing. Everything thing.
Green Day hit and the ground shifts. The tape rolls through “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Blitzkrieg Bop” with the bunny bit, then the intro medley spills into the first riff and the pit turns into a moving belt under my feet. Every cue gets an answer. “Welcome to Paradise” carries quick teases of “Iron Man” and “Crazy Train,” “St. Jimmy” flashes a “Free Fallin’” nod, and deeper cuts like “Haushinka” and “Waiting” feel like gifts for the lifers. Fireworks crack at the end of “Waiting,” streamers ride the wind, and Billie Joe conducts a beach full of voices from the shore line to the food court and back. Not humming. Singing. Loud, proud, together.
From the stage to stage it felt safe, loud, wildly engaged—the kind of day you point to when you ask to come back.
Photos: T. Cody Strubel / Rock Documented – Oceans Calling Day 1
