Day 1

Last weekend, Oceans Calling Festival returned to Ocean City, Maryland featuring a nostalgia-packed lineup for music lovers young and old. The three-day festival kicked off on an overcast Friday as the effects of Hurricane Helene lingered over the East Coast. Stolen Gin opened things up, followed by Vincent Lima, Winona Fighter, and a special demonstration by Chef Marc Murphy featuring actor Jason Biggs. Biggs would return to host additional segments with Chefs Robert Irvine and Amanda Freitag over the course of the weekend. 

Phillip Phillips made his Oceans Calling debut along with Tonic, Larkin Poe, and The Darkness. The weather continued to impact the festival while O.A.R. and Sugar Ray took the stage before 311 played in a downpour that soaked the Rockville Stage at the end of the inlet. The rain continued off and on throughout the day and finally went into a full deluge around 8 pm, interrupting the fun and funk of Sublime’s set. The rain then caused a nearly hourlong delay of Blink-182’s Day 1 headlining performance, leading to them only playing five songs before the festival’s 11 pm music cut-off. 

Day 2

Day 2 opened with perfect weather! It kicked off with Glom on the main stage and another chef demonstration, this time with Chef Robert Irvine, Jason Biggs, and O.A.R. Katelyn Tarver opened up the Rockville stage, and the day gave way to performances by Switchfoot, The Beaches, Brett Dennen, The Hives, Young the Giant, Grouplove, and Rebelution. The Beach Boys, All-American Rejects, and Offspring lit the fuse on the evening sets. While every band rocked on day 2, this was the second year in a row the festival had at least one band mismatched with the stage they were assigned. The Carousel stage is significantly smaller than Rockville or Sea Bright, and the crowd for All-American Rejects was overwhelming, to the point of being dangerously packed in. The Killers headlined Day 2 on the main stage with Somebody Told Me, which blazed into an impressive set of classic Killers songs that concluded with Mr. Brightside. 

Day 3

Sunday brought sunshine and the largest crowd of the entire festival. People stretched on the sand from the Sea Bright stage all the way to the other end of the festival at the Rockville stage, where Stephen Kellogg and Jade Bird got things started. The third and final chef demonstration happened on the Carousel stage with Chef Amanda Frietag and Jason Biggs. The day brought performances by Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Guster, and Lisa Loeb. Blues Travelers drew a huge crowd to the Rockville stage, followed by Barenaked Ladies on the opposing Sea Bright stage. Baltimore favorite Pigeons Playing Ping Pong made their Oceans Calling debut on the Carousel stage before the highly anticipated 2024 O.A.R. and Friends show debuted on the all-too-appropriately named Rockville stage. Mt. Joy took the Sea Bright stage at 6:45 pm, while Boyz II Men played the final Carousel stage set of the festival. Counting Crows closed out the Rockville stage before Dave Matthews Band closed out Oceans Calling 2024. 

The 2024 Oceans Calling Festival brought the same nostalgic vibes with a whole new set of bands. Ocean City is a great place for this festival. The setting and people can’t be matched. Each year it connects music fans old and young, near and far, and reinforces why we all love music so much. Oceans Calling 2025 promises to be another amazing festival!