Shadow of the City music festival announces 2016 lineup

The 2nd annual Shadow of the City Music Festival has officially announced its lineup for the 2016 incarnation of the festival. On Monday (March 14), the Jack Antonoff-launched music festival announced its genre-varied lineup. The 1975, Carly Rae Jepsen, FrnkIero andthe Cellabration, and others will make the trip to New Jersey in June.

The music festival which launched in 2015 is the brain child of the Bleachers frontman who explains he wanted to bring something back to his home state of New Jersey. “I always wanted to have a festival in New Jersey, so last year was amazing,” Antonoff tells Entertainment Weekly. “The whole thing is exactly what I hoped it would be, which is just like, if I was 15 and could throw a party and invite 10,000 people, that’s what it would look like.”

But while Bleachers were one of the many headliners for the inaugural event, the “Rollercoaster” group will not be appearing this year. Instead, another Antonoff band will perform; Steel Train.  “I was just thinking about it, and I was like, okay, I want this [festival] to exist beyond me, but I need to be part of this thing,” Antonoff explains. “I see Shadow of the City as, once a year, I can do something very bizarre, whether it’s get Steel Train back together, or talk to my friends about coming and doing a show with me. I want it to exist as a place where people can expect that I’m going to do something totally out-there.”

Check out the lineup for the music festival which is scheduled to take place at Seaside Heights, NJ on June 18.

Jack Antonoff NOT Leaving fun.

Fans of fun. have nothing to worry about because Jack Antonoff is not leaving the band. Ever since it was revealed that Antonoff had started another side band named Bleachers, speculations have begun online that the drummer/vocalist would be leaving the band to pursue Bleachers full-time.

After sensing the confusion among fans, Antonoff has taken to his blog to explain that he is not leaving the band even though he does explain that neither fun. nor Bleachers are a side project, because he frankly hates using the term. Antonoff’s full post can be read below and don’t forget, he’s been in this position before; remember his other group Steel Train?

“hi everyone!

it’s jack. i’ve been getting a lot of questions about Bleachers and felt like all of you deserves to hear about it directly from me. first off, i can’t thank you all enough for the amazing support. you’re my fucking favorite.

there is no world in which I’ve ever thought about leaving fun. my new project is not about one thing taking over another, its about adding something new to the equation. sometimes you go months without any good ideas, and then sometimes you are flooded with things you need to create. i’m sure a lot of you can relate to that in the work that you do. while on tour the past 2 years with fun. i started recording an album. i didn’t know what it was at the beginning. it was just happening. i’d go to the studio on off days, work all night in my hotel room, create time where there wasn’t any etc etc etc. i felt compelled to make bleachers exist during a time when it wasn’t necessarily ideal to do so. that’s something that’s special about the work you love – you don’t always get to chose when you need to do it.

neither bleachers or fun. are side projects. to be honest, i truly dislike the term ‘side project’ and I’ve been hearing it a lot lately. its a simple way of categorizing something that maybe isn’t simple or maybe shouldn’t be categorized at all. i’ve never been able to categorize or fully wrap my head around my love for fun., and now i feel the same way about bleachers as well. i don’t have kids, but it feels similar to the way people react when you ask them what its like to have a second kid. bleacher + fun. == my children. i’m so cheesy i hate myself!

i’ll put it this way – i plan on making the work i feel compelled to make for as long as I’m alive. i don’t think you would want it any other way even if it’s occasionally non traditional. but i do think you all deserve to know where my head is at for as long you as you all are being so supportive of me and my bands.

can’t wait for the months to come. gonna make a new fun. album, tour with bleachers and release the full album —- AND just new things all around. talk soon!

love,
jack”