Crooked Coast @ The Ocean Mist | Matunuck, RI w/ IRIEspect – South Kingstown, RI

Welcome to the grooviest event of the year – **Crooked Coast @ The Ocean Mist** in Matunuck, RI! Get ready to vibe with the awesome sounds of **IRIEspect** on Fri, Feb 28, 2025 at 9:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Join us at the iconic Ocean Mist for a night of good music, good vibes, and good company. Don’t miss out on this unforgettable experience! See you there!

About: Crooked Coast

About 70 miles south of Boston, Cape Cod stretches out into the ocean with water on three sides. In the summertime, it welcomes tourists from around the world to its beaches and classic sights. Once winter rolls in, the party stops, and the year-round residents brace for the same cold reality endured by the rest of the state. It makes sense Crooked Coast call this place home. On one hand, the quartet – Luke Vose (vocals, guitar), John McNamara (guitar, vocals), Ben Elder (bass, vocals), and Shaqed Druyan (drums) – take inspiration from reggae rhythms and hip-hop grooves. At the same time, they infuse punk energy into sky-high rock hooks laced with pop appeal. After piling up millions of streams independently and earning acclaim from Dig Boston, Cape Cod Times, Vanyaland, and many others, they perfect this balance on their 2022 album Picture This and more to come..

“The sound definitely reflects where we come from,” notes John. “In the summer, it’s basically tropical. Everybody’s in board shorts and sandals. That’s where you get the reggae. In wintertime, we all grew up doing construction jobs, cooking, or working with our hands and listening to rock ‘n’ roll. We fuse these two sides together.”

“We meet visitors from everywhere, so there are all of these different flavors in Cape Cod,” Shaq goes on. “At the same time, there’s a ‘Boston Energy’—which is tougher. New England is the fucking best, and we carry that through our music.”

“Since there’s no entertainment industry here, we didn’t have a blueprint,” Luke notes. “If you want to be a professional musician and make original music, you go figure it out on your own.”

A shared sense of brotherhood has driven Crooked Coast since day one. John and Ben played in a band way back in junior high before welcoming Luke to the fold. With the addition of Shaq, the current iteration solidified by 2017. Beyond slogging it out with countless local gigs, “Go Slow” gathered north of 566K Spotify streams. During 2020, “Rise & Shine” cracked the Top 5 of the iTunes Top Reggae Songs Chart. Mixed by Courtney Ballard [5 Seconds of Summer, Good Charlotte, The Used], their 2022 album Picture This amassed over half-a-million streams as the band graced the bills of major festivals, including Boston Calling, Beach Road Weekend, and Reggae Rise Up. Not to mention producing and headlining their own Coast-Fest in Falmouth, MA. They recently wrapped an album featuring production by Gary Cioffi [Grayscale, Transit], Anthony Saffery [Portugal. The Man] and Charlie Scene [Hollywood Undead.] The new singles are not only fan favorites but have made their way to editorial playlists like Apple Music’s Rise and Grind Punk Playlist.

“Each of these songs is a different exploration,” Luke reveals. “It’s a wide-ranging project, but we were able to tie everything together into a unified sound. It’s representative of who we are.”

In the end, you might want to escape to Crooked Coast for a while.

“If you’re going through a rough time or just had a bad day at work, I hope our songs makes you feel better and forget about your problems,” John leaves off. “We want to take you away from the moment for as long as possible.”

“We just love playing,” Shaq concludes. “We do this from the heart, and I think it’s apparent. There’s so much chaos in life, we want you to have fun, breathe, and live in the moment.”

“Crooked Coast is our own Twilight Zone version of Cape Cod,” adds Luke. “It’s a place you can go.”

“The Bay State’s Crooked Coast has swept the region with extremely innovative shows and music for years. The Cape Cod band takes inspiration from classic rock, hip-hop, and reggae to create a vibrant, powerful sound that hits nostalgic notes while staying new.”-Dig Boston

Crooked Coast’s 2020 single “Rise & Shine” debuted at #5 on the iTunes reggae charts, marking the beginning of their work with acclaimed producer/engineer Courtney Ballard (5 Seconds of Summer, Good Charlotte, The Used.) Their latest recording, Picture This, was released in 2022. In 2019, they produced and headlined their own music festival, Coast-Fest, selling out the Falmouth bandshell in their home of Cape Cod, MA.

The band blurs the line between music and visual art, self-producing music videos and graphic design, which they show off through their extensive line of merchandise.

“The Bay State’s Crooked Coast has swept the region with extremely innovative shows and music for years”

“The Cape Cod band takes inspiration from classic rock, hip-hop, and reggae to create a vibrant, powerful sound that hits nostalgic notes while staying new.”

-Dig Boston

About: IRIEspect

(New York, NY) – Dub Rock Reggae masters IRIEspect present the “IRIESPECT LP”, their eagerly awaited debut offering on Dubshot Records – now available on Spotify and all the major music services.

Recent digital highlights include their single “Blasting” being featured as the best new single in the Tun Up Reggae playlist on Apple Music, achieving 1,000 album streams on Apple Music within the first day of release (July 20th), and accumulating 10,000 all-time streams on Apple Music.

The band has had several recent notable performances, including the Great South Bay Festival in NY with Pepper, Badfish, Tropidelic, and more; supporting the legendary Long Beach Dub Allstars in Richmond, VA, and Ocean Mist, RI; a live on-air performance and interview at Irie Radio at Seacrets Ocean City, MD; and shows with The Quasi Kings at Bowery Electric, NYC, and with Sensamotion at Mercury Lounge, NYC.

IRIEspect has also expanded their reach to markets in RI, CT, MA, NH, PA, upstate NY, NJ, MD, VA, and down the East Coast to FL. They have shared the stage and collaborated with notable artists such as Ballyhoo, Pete Francis of Dispatch, Alific of Stick Figure, Ras Ajai of Dutty Rock (Sean Paul’s record label), Marley of Rebelution, Gary Dread of The Movement, Dale & The ZDubs, Roots of Creation, Expendables, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Sid Mills of Steel Pulse, The Grouch, Treehouse, Joe Samba, Sundub, Half Pint, HR of Bad Brains, and many more.

IRIEspect is set to support The Wailers at Paramount NY on October 20th, promising an unforgettable performance. IRIEspect is a six-piece band known for their versatile sound that blends elements of roots, rock, reggae, live dub, hip hop, dancehall, Latin, and more. Their energetic live shows have captivated audiences across over 200 performances in the LI/NYC markets and the surrounding East Coast. Their music appeals to fans of Sublime, Stick Figure, The Elovaters, Slightly Stoopid, Pepper, Rebelution, Iration, and more.