(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Due to popular demand, White Eagle Hall has added a second show for Future Islands on Friday, August 30. Doors are at 7:30pm, show at 8:30pm. The show on August 31 is completely sold out. Tickets for the August 30 show are $25-$30.
The years since the release of Singles have been transformative for Future Islands, catapulting the Baltimore-based band from cult favorites to synthpop icons. As addictive songs like breakout “Seasons (Waiting on You)” turned the world on to sublime pleasures a loyal fan base already knew, this hard-touring band plowed forward, playing their 1,000th show in July 2015 and celebrating their 10th anniversary in February 2016. Now Future Islands returns at the top of their game with new album The Far Field, delivering twelve chest‐pounding love songs and odes to the road as only they can. The Far Field refines and builds on the breakthroughs of Singles, bursting with undeniable hooks and disarmingly honest lyrics written by Samuel T. Herring (vocals, lyrics), William Cashion (bass, guitars), and Gerrit Welmers (keyboards, programming).
The band began writing new material in January 2016 on the coast of North Carolina, and continued throughout the year in Baltimore before road-testing these songs with a series of secret shows under fake names. In November 2016, they settled in with Grammy Award-winning producer John Congleton at Los Angeles’ legendary Sunset Sound, where everyone from The Beach Boys to Prince have laid down masterpieces. The result is Future Islands’ best set of songs yet, both an emotional summation of the themes they’ve explored over the past decade and a further distillation of their signature art-pop sound. It’s the first Future Islands record featuring live drums by Michael Lowry, who joined the band prior to their viral performance of “Seasons” on Letterman, and whose energy propels the band’s sound to new heights. With Congleton’s production and string and horn arrangements by Patrick McMinn, The Far Field finds Future Islands crafting soundscapes larger and more opulent than ever before, as sonically lush and expansive as they are lyrically raw and direct. With each spin of The Far Field, Future Islands’ fifth album and second for 4AD, another of its dozen impassioned and impeccably crafted tracks will jump out as a favorite.
“Shadows,” a stunner of a duet between Herring and Blondie’s Debbie Harry, offers a naked look at heartache, finding hope and power in facing pain and personal flaws head-on. Both “Time on Her Side” and “Day Glow Fire” attest to the beauty lurking in even our most painful memories, and assert that even lost love can give life deeper meaning. “North Star,” first single “Ran,” and “Beauty of the Road” all mark this as an album about taking to the road, chasing after love and self-knowledge—and coming to terms with what you find there. As Herring sings on the heartfelt “Through the Roses,” It’s not easy, just being human And the lights and the smoke and the screens Don’t make it better I’m no stronger than you and I’m scared… But we can pull through—together Together We can pull through.
Drawing inspiration from their community of friends and their growing numbers of fans, The Far Field brilliantly expresses the band’s central themes: that there’s power in emotional vulnerability, that one can find a way to laugh and cry in the same breath—and be stronger for it.
The Far Field speaks directly to the bruised but brave romantic each of us carries within. It’s forty-five minutes of brilliant pop mini- symphonies made for dancing, loving, and self-reflection; twelve beautiful reminders that one can grow and evolve while still staying true to oneself—just as this band has done for a decade now and counting.
White Eagle Hall is located at 337 Newark Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Join us for McCarter at the Museum - renowned performing artists in one-night only events at the Princeton University Art Museum.
Jason Robert Brown is a four-time Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist of The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World, 13, The Bridges of Madison County, Honeymoon In Vegas and The Connector, has performed as a soloist or with his band in venues around the world, including sold-out shows at the London Palladium and Carnegie Hall. His albums as a singer-songwriter include Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes and How We React and How We Recover on Ghostlight, and Coming From Inside the House and Live In Concert with Stephen Sondheim on Concord.
With Special Guest Tony nominee Betsy Wolfe. Tony Award-nominated actress Betsy Wolfe is currently starring as Audrey in the acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, following her recent Broadway run as Madeline Ashton in the hit musical Death Becomes Her. She previously originated the title role in Joy, the new musical inspired by inventor Joy Mangano, and earned a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her celebrated performance as Anne Hathaway in & Juliet. Other Broadway credits include starring as Jenna in Waitress, Cordelia in the acclaimed revival of Falsettos, Bullets Over Broadway, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Everyday Rapture, and 110 in the Shade, as well as her critically acclaimed performance as Cathy in the Off-Broadway revival of The Last Five Years. Wolfe made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Fledermaus and has appeared as a guest artist with more than 65 symphony, pops, and philharmonic orchestras worldwide, including the New York Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra, with performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Her screen credits include First One In, Estella Scrooge, CBS’s Instinct, and the film adaptation of The Last Five Years. Wolfe is also the co-founder of BroadwayEvolved, the acclaimed musical theatre training program she launched in 2018 to train and mentor the next generation of theatre artists.
A limited number of early access tickets for McCarter Director’s Circle members and members of the Museum’s Partner Circle are available, on sale Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM. General public on sale begins Friday, September 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM.
Please be aware there is no public drop-off or parking at the Museum. For visitors with mobility needs, please contact the Museum at least three business days in advance of your visit to request special access to the Museum via Elm Drive. Call 609-258-3788 and select option 1 to speak to a visitor services staff member, or email Louise Barrett at [email protected].
