'Cracked Rear View' forever: Darius Rucker and the gang's easygoing roots-rock reunion, with good-natured hits played exactly as remembered.
Roots rock
Oceans Calling 2026 Lineup
Oceans Calling 2026 is cancelled
Called off on September 25, after tides, flooding and high winds from the nor’easter stopped the build on the boardwalk. Tickets bought through Front Gate Tickets are refunded automatically to the original payment method.
Read the announcement
Three days on the Ocean City boardwalk: the songs you grew up on, played where the pier meets the Atlantic.
Oceans Calling is expected back September 2027 (dates aren't announced yet). Until then, here's the full 2026 lineup and the acts you would have loved.
Find the acts you'll love at Oceans Calling
Name a few bands you love and we'll scout all 40 acts on the Oceans Calling bill for the ones you shouldn't miss.
About Oceans Calling 2026
Oceans Calling turns the Ocean City boardwalk into three days of radio-dial time travel: stages beside the pier's Ferris wheel, the Atlantic over your shoulder, and a bill built almost entirely of songs you already know every word to. The 2026 edition doubles down on the formula: Dave Matthews Band, Twenty One Pilots, Gwen Stefani, and a Mumford & Sons closing set up top, with the '90s and 2000s (Third Eye Blind, Matchbox Twenty, Hootie, Violent Femmes, Dashboard Confessional) running underneath. It's less a discovery festival than a 40,000-person beach singalong, and on that score, nothing else on the East Coast touches it.
Expect alt-rock, pop-rock, rock and roots rock across 40 acts.
At a glance
- Dates
- –Friday to Sunday, three days
- Where
- Ocean City Boardwalk, MD
- Lineup
- 40 acts
- Website
- Official site
Oceans Calling 2026 lineup & schedule: all 40 acts
Search it, filter by day, stage or genre.Browse all 40 acts
Search it, filter by day, stage or genre.
Violin, saxophone, and Matthews's rhythmic yelp make this a jam institution whose setlists still never repeat, and whose players still surprise each other nightly.
Jam rock
No Doubt's voice and a solo-pop era of her own: 'Hollaback Girl' on a boardwalk, as intended, with ska-era deep cuts if you're lucky.
Pop
Genre-agnostic arena duo (rap, ukulele, and existential dread) with a devoted Clique and lore deep enough for a wiki.
Alt-popRock
Rob Thomas's hit factory, from '3AM' to 'Unwell,' is the sound of every late-'90s radio dial, played by a band tighter than the nostalgia requires.
Pop-rock
Banjo-driven crescendos that defined a decade of festival folk, now delivered with the electric guitars left plugged in. The singalongs are never optional.
Folk rockIndie folk
'Exile in Guyville' rewired indie rock's rules: blunt, brilliant, foundational, and still the reference point three decades on.
Indie rock
Mr. Boombastic himself: dancehall-pop sunshine, certified boardwalk-appropriate, 'Angel' and 'It Wasn't Me' back to back.
Reggae-popDancehall
Maryland's own, where 'That Was a Crazy Game of Poker' is a state holiday in these parts, with roots-rock jam warmth built over decades.
Roots rockJam
Violin-powered pop-punk: 'Ocean Avenue' at the actual ocean, and the violin still carries the hooks.
Pop-punk
Atlanta's fastest wit, with twenty years of hits delivered with a showman's grin, from 'Southern Hospitality' to stadium-hosting polish.
Hip-hop
'Put Your Records On' warmth and a fearless experimental streak since, in a career that swerved from café-soul comfort into art-rock and electronic left turns.
Neo-soul
'Blister in the Sun' and the strangest great American songbook: acoustic punk forever, xylophone solos included.
Folk-punk
Emo's original singalong leader, Chris Carrabba, conducts thousands through 'Hands Down' and 'Screaming Infidelities', acoustic confession turned mass ritual.
EmoAcoustic
Semi-charmed alt-rock perfection: a greatest-hits set with no skips, doot-doot-doots at maximum participation, Jenkins still selling every word.
Alt-rockPower-pop
Amber-toned reggae-rock positivity out of Omaha: three decades of hybrid grooves, rap-rock verses, and sunny choruses that made them a permanent institution of the summer shed circuit.
Alt-rockReggae-rock
Maryland pop-punk heroes with two decades of fast, funny, chorus-first anthems, and 'Dear Maria' hits different in home waters.
Pop punkAlternative rock
Buffalo rock band behind 'Iris', 'Slide' and 'Name', a run of late '90s radio staples that a whole field can still sing word for word.
Alt-rockPop-rock
The rhythm-guitar machine of Vulfpeck fame, with relentlessly upbeat, impossibly tight funk, a horn-powered live band, and a clinic's worth of right-hand technique.
FunkJazz-funk
'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' and Aussie garage swagger, reunited, with enough riff-rock singles to keep the tank full.
Rock
Seattle indie-folk harmonies where 'Rivers and Roads' will wreck you on a beach at dusk, exactly as designed.
Indie folk
MMMBop and beyond: three decades of brotherly pop craft, zero irony required, from teen phenomenon to sturdy adult power-pop institution.
Pop-rock
The treadmill-video geniuses bring power pop with engineering-degree stagecraft, confetti physics included, and songs that hold up without the treadmills.
Power popRock
Banjo-led Ohio folk warmth: campfire songs grown to amphitheater size, with ragged harmonies that make sincerity feel like the whole point.
Folk
Jim James's reverb-drenched howl over southern rock that keeps drifting into something cosmic and unhurried, with jam-scene trust earned two hours at a time.
Psych-rockJam
Linka Moja
Pop
Yolŋu surf-rock from northeast Arnhem Land, with joyous bilingual anthems that carry Australia's oldest musical traditions on the brightest new hooks.
Surf-rockYolŋu rock
'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree' looped live by a Scottish folk-pop firecracker who builds the whole band from one pedal, then plays the hits.
Folk-pop
'Buzzin'' beach-rap breeziness: summer of 2008, bottled, still fizzy on opening, sunscreen-scented hooks intact.
Beach rap
Sons of Legion
Nashville outfit pulling blues, soul and Southern rock into their country, heavier and grittier than the format usually allows.
Country
'Good' still is, and so are these New Orleans alt-rock lifers, with easy charm and a '90s catalog deeper than the one-hit tag suggests.
Alt-rock
'I Don't Want to Be' and a piano-soul catalog built for singing along, with 2000s radio warmth delivered by a genuine road-tested voice.
Pop-rockSoul-pop
House of Pain's frontman turned bluesman: 'What It's Like' still lands heavy, acoustic grit and rap cadence sharing one gravel voice.
Hip-hopBlues-rock
American Idol alum with an ethereal, aching voice and hushed, cinematic singer-songwriter material that aims straight for the chest.
Singer-songwriter
'Counting Blue Cars' is one of the '90s' great one-song legacies, played with pride by a band with more catalog than the tag implies.
Alt-rock
Gravel-and-honey soul-folk with 'Walk With Me' warmth and stomp-and-clap swells built for arms-around-strangers moments, gospel-warm and stadium-ready.
SoulFolk
'Santa Monica' and Art Alexakis's survivor's-eye alt-rock: hard-luck autobiography set to some of the '90s' stickiest guitar hooks.
Alt-rock
Korean-American country-blues revivalist with National steel guitar and dust-bowl holler, prewar blues played like breaking news.
Country blues
'The Way' is power-pop's great mystery-novel single, still gleaming, from an Austin band with sturdier album cuts than one-hit status implies.
Power pop
The Bangles' voice on her own, with 'Eternal Flame' and jangle-pop grace and a songbook that spans eras.
Pop-rockJangle pop
The headliners
Dave Matthews Band · Violin, saxophone, and Matthews's rhythmic yelp make this a jam institution whose setlists still never repeat, and whose players still surprise each other nightly.
Hootie & the Blowfish · 'Cracked Rear View' forever: Darius Rucker and the gang's easygoing roots-rock reunion, with good-natured hits played exactly as remembered.
Twenty One Pilots · Genre-agnostic arena duo (rap, ukulele, and existential dread) with a devoted Clique and lore deep enough for a wiki.
Gwen Stefani · No Doubt's voice and a solo-pop era of her own: 'Hollaback Girl' on a boardwalk, as intended, with ska-era deep cuts if you're lucky.
Mumford & Sons · Banjo-driven crescendos that defined a decade of festival folk, now delivered with the electric guitars left plugged in. The singalongs are never optional.
Matchbox Twenty · Rob Thomas's hit factory, from '3AM' to 'Unwell,' is the sound of every late-'90s radio dial, played by a band tighter than the nostalgia requires.
Up-and-comers to catch early
Cassandra Coleman · American Idol alum with an ethereal, aching voice.
GoldFord · Gravel-and-honey soul-folk: 'Walk With Me' warmth.
King Stingray · Yolŋu surf-rock from northeast Arnhem Land, joyous bilingual anthems.
Nat Myers · Korean-American country-blues revivalist: National steel guitar and dust-bowl holler.
Other acts worth planning around
My Morning Jacket · Louisville's reverb-cathedral builders: 'One Big Holiday' is a religious experience live.
Violent Femmes · 'Blister in the Sun' and the strangest great American songbook.
Liz Phair · Exile in Guyville rewired indie rock's rules: blunt, brilliant, foundational.
Corinne Bailey Rae · 'Put Your Records On' warmth and a fearless experimental streak since.
Dashboard Confessional · Emo's original singalong leader: 'Hands Down' screamed back by thousands.
Ludacris · Atlanta's fastest wit, twenty years of hits with a showman's grin.
Cory Wong · Vulfpeck's rhythm-guitar machine, impossibly tight funk with horns.
The lineup by day
Friday lineup (September 25)
Dave Matthews Band, Hootie & the Blowfish, Ludacris, O.A.R., Yellowcard, Shaggy + 9 more
Friday set times (15 sets)
- Linka Moja · Sea Bright
- King Stingray · Rockville
- KT Tunstall · Sea Bright
- Shwayze · Carousel
- Sons of Legion · Rockville
- Gavin DeGraw · Carousel
- Better Than Ezra · Sea Bright
- Everlast · Rockville
- Shaggy · Sea Bright
- Liz Phair · Carousel
- O.A.R. · Rockville
- Hootie & the Blowfish · Sea Bright
- Yellowcard · Carousel
- Ludacris · Rockville
- Dave Matthews Band · Sea Bright
Saturday lineup (September 26)
Twenty One Pilots, Gwen Stefani, Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, All Time Low, 311 + 7 more
Saturday set times (13 sets)
- Cassandra Coleman · Rockville
- Dishwalla · Sea Bright
- GoldFord · Rockville
- Corinne Bailey Rae · Carousel
- Everclear · Sea Bright
- Violent Femmes · Rockville
- Third Eye Blind · Sea Bright
- Dashboard Confessional · Carousel
- 311 · Rockville
- Gwen Stefani · Sea Bright
- All Time Low · Carousel
- Goo Goo Dolls · Rockville
- Twenty One Pilots · Sea Bright
Sunday lineup (September 27)
Mumford & Sons, Matchbox Twenty, My Morning Jacket, CAAMP, The Head and the Heart, Hanson + 6 more
Sunday set times (12 sets)
- Nat Myers · Rockville
- Fastball · Sea Bright
- Cory Wong · Rockville
- Jet · Sea Bright
- Susanna Hoffs · Carousel
- The Head and the Heart · Rockville
- Hanson · Sea Bright
- OK Go · Carousel
- My Morning Jacket · Carousel
- CAAMP · Sea Bright
- Matchbox Twenty · Rockville
- Mumford & Sons · Sea Bright
Oceans Calling 2026 lineup FAQ
When is Oceans Calling 2026?
September 25–27, 2026, Friday through Sunday.
Where does Oceans Calling take place?
On the beach and boardwalk at the Ocean City Inlet, Ocean City, MD.
Who is headlining Oceans Calling 2026?
Dave Matthews Band and Hootie & the Blowfish (Friday), Twenty One Pilots and Gwen Stefani (Saturday), and Mumford & Sons closing after Matchbox Twenty (Sunday).
How many acts are playing?
39 acts across three days and multiple boardwalk stages.
What days do specific acts play?
Every act's day is already on this page. Expand the full lineup below or check the day-by-day breakdown.
How do I figure out which acts I'd like?
Tell the finder at the top of this page a few bands you love. It'll match you with your must-see sets, with reasons why.
Is Oceans Calling 2026 cancelled?
Yes. Called off on September 25, after tides, flooding and high winds from the nor’easter stopped the build on the boardwalk. Tickets bought through Front Gate Tickets are refunded automatically to the original payment method.
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