Ohana Festival 2025 Day 1 review - Dana Point, Calif.

Nathan Zucker/Ohana Festival

Whenever Eddie Vedder introduced a music act at Ohana Festival in Dana Point on Friday, he came across like a proud papa who has watched his child grow and flourish. A personal connection to many performers was obvious too. No surprise there: the Pearl Jam leader started the Doheny State Beach event nine years ago and curates the multi-faceted lineup.

Before Kings of Leon took the stage for its dazzling penultimate evening set, Vedder said, “When the idea came upon us to do a music festival close to the beach, this is one of the artists we thought of first” and although it took several years and “lots of effort,” they were finally here.

Vedder also relayed how much he enjoyed watching Seattle indie rock group Deep Sea Diver – whose Ohana set was mighty impressive - open for Pearl Jam on tour last year. Regarding The Breeders’ Kim Deal, he said: “We like our legends living”; On Stereophonics: “I got to know (frontman) Kelly Jones while raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust” (The Who-supported UK charity) and Pearl Jam “shared a stage with them at London’s Hyde Park.”

Earlier this year, Ohana won another prestigious Music Festival of the Year award from industry trade publication Pollstar under the category Global: Under 30K Attendance.

Drawing approximately 15,000 attendees daily, Ohana stands out as being a more relaxed affair than fellow SoCal music festivals like Coachella and Stagecoach. With only two side-by-side stages, smartly scheduled set times and less than a dozen acts, catching favorite bands is easy.

The event’s vibe and purpose revolve around informing and celebrating beach culture, particularly at The Cove area, where activists and conservationists enlighten attendees about environmental issues. The Gallery, curated by Charles Adler, features an awesome assortment of classic concert photos and posters, memorabilia and more.

Eddie Vedder and Earthlings (pictured above) delivered an energized 21-song set to close Day 1. The supergroup comprised drummer Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Josh Klinghoffer (RHCP, Pearl Jam), acoustic guitarist/backing vocalist Glen Hansard (Swell Season, Frames), guitarist/backing vocalist/producer Andrew Watt (Rolling Stones), and bassist Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction).

After launching with an instrumental, Earthlings did powerful covers of Pearl Jam’s “Corduroy,” “Lukin,” and “Better Man,” as well as Mono Men’s Sixties garage rock-styled “Watch Outside” and The Who’s “I’m One” (prefaced by a heartfelt introduction about what the legendary British rock band meant to Vedder). Early in the performance, the singer recalled his formative years in Encinitas, surfing his first ocean wave at age 12 and eventually finding “this sacred spot” to present Ohana.

The musicians did some songs from their 2022 studio album “Earthling,” notably the jangly, “Tom Petty-styled “Long Way,” a furious “The Dark,” bolstered by a passionate Vedder vocal and needling guitars, and an intense “Brother the Cloud,” which saw Vedder hunched over a monitor in his "support independent record stores" shirt as he sang. Everyone onstage was having a blast - particularly Watt, who was grinning ear to ear. 

Ashley Osborn/Ohana Festival

Kings of Leon brought its complete eye-catching visual tour presentation for its Ohana debut, which singer/guitarist Caleb Followill (pictured left) admitted was delayed because they had to get “real life” shit together…better late than never.” The alt-rock band was in fine form - you gotta love those family harmonies - throughout the 90-minute, 18-song set which was chock full of soaring anthems dating back to the 2000s. And Bassist Jared Followill still looked as if he just stepped off a runway at New York Fashion Week.   

The guys played two songs from latest studio release “Can We Please Have Fun”: the lean “Mustang” and intense “Seen,” with lyrics flashing on the screens. 

Highlights included “Use Somebody” (where the full-on harmonies still proved shiver-inducing), a gleaming “Manhattan,” the sleek “Revelry,” Matthew Followill’s chunky lead guitar work amid “On Call,” the quieter, folksy “Back Down South,” the driving pace of “Waste a Moment” (bolstered by Matthew’s The Edge-inspired effects) and of course, Kings of Leon’s signature hit closer “Sex on Fire,” where fans sang along loudly.

Dusana Risovic/Ohana Festival

Garbage recently announced that the current tour for latest album “Let All That We Imagine Be the Light” will be its last major one (the band headlines The Palladium on Nov. 5). Kicking things off with “There’s No Future in Optimism,” its compelling single from last spring, the dynamic Ohana set found singer Shirley Manson genuinely complimenting other acts on the bill, admitting to being a fan and admiring how they’ve conducted their careers (Vedder, Jones, Deal). 

Manson was fierce and defiant as ever onstage, even flipping the bird a few times with a sly smile to make some lyrical points. Providing a veritable modern rock hit parade of the past 20 years, Garbage was firing on all mechanical rocking cylinders, especially during “Vow,” “#1 Crush,” “Stupid Girl,” “I Think I’m Paranoid,” and “Push It.”

Lukas Nelson, on the heels of last weekend’s appearances at Farm Aid, brought good old country strains (fiddle, pedal steel) to the beach. The life-affirming, frequently soulful set started with an acoustic guitar-led duet with Vedder on Pearl Jam’s “Just Beathe.” Upon the conclusion, Nelson looked so thrilled and gave the elder musician a big hug. 

Nathan Zucker/Ohana Festival

Nelson and his current backing band (dubbed “The Spread Eagles”) played some terrific Promise of the Real tunes (“Carolina,” “Fool Me Once,” the bluegrass-driven “Ladder of Love,” which segued into dad Willie’s 1974 song “Bloody Mary Morning” and a jaw-dropping “Find Yourself” – handling the Lady Gaga duet parts with ease). Then there was a lovely “Pretty Much” and “Make You Happy” off aptly titled new album “American Romance.”

Stereophonics potently delivered all the rock ‘n’ roll goods, showing why it still headlines huge UK/European festivals after 25+ years. Clad in a black leather jacket, black t-shirt and jeans, Kelly Jones marveled about being at Vedder’s fest, considering he used to do Pearl Jam covers as a young unknown musician. The Welsh rock band began with the in-your-face thrust of “Vegas Two Times.” Jones prompted and effortlessly received audience participation (a Mellotron and Fender Rhodes-infused “Maybe Tomorrow; exhilarating synth-fueled set closer “Dakota,” “There’s Always Gonna Be Something”). 

The latter midtempo tune, off this year’s “Make ‘em Laugh, Make ‘em Cry, Make ‘em Wait,” saw the frontman giving what probably the best advice heard all day long: “Everybody in the world is going through stuff. Leave all your troubles at the door, be present and have a good time (today). Your phone will still be there in the morning.” 

Ashley Osborn/Ohana Festival

Jones (pictured left) has always been an incisive storyteller. Melodic stomping rocker “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” off 2015’s “Keep the Village Alive,” about a couple having an affair, was a prime example. Other high points included a tension-filled “Geronimo,” complete with sax solo, and the breezy singalong “Have a Nice Day,” reminiscent of 1970s American pop.

Kim Deal’s interesting 2024 studio effort “Nobody Loves You More” – primarily recorded by the late, great Steve Albini - is orchestral-tinged, so she brought along a two string and two horn players for an endearingly ragged Ohana set. Her backing band included former Breeders bassist Mando Lopez, who also played on the album. Opening with the charming title track, they did six songs from it. Before an enticing and fun “Coast,” Deal asked the crowd if anyone surfed and confirmed that East Coast Ocean waves are much colder. “Are You Mine” felt like a lullaby; the discordant “Big Ben Beat” was quite strange. The sunny melody of “A Good Time Pushed,” included a refrain that could have summed up everyone’s opinion at that moment: “We are having a good time.” Still, her songs from The Breeders (“No Aloha,” “Cannonball”) and Pixies (“Gigantic”) got the most enthusiastic responses.

Deep Sea Diver was my best new Ohana Fest discovery (in 2024 event, it was Flipturn). The Washington state alt-rock band is led by singer/songwriter Jessica Dobson, whose resume includes past touring/recording work with The Shins, Beck, Spoon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Conor Oberst. With red flower-dotted stage gear, the five-piece launched the set with a captivating, synth-driven title track to highly recommended latest album “Billboard Heart,” released via Sub Pop Records earlier this year. 

Nathan Zucker/Ohana Festival

Dobson (pictured left) described the propulsive, percussion heavy winner “What Do I Know” as being a tongue-in-cheek tune about an existential crisis. “Emergency” was equally thrilling. Dobson joked that she tried to dress in clothes suited for the beach, yet ended up looking like a "German school boy." Her drummer/husband Peter Mansen was obviously pleased to be at Ohana. I look forward to checking the band out again sometime in the future.

LA-based indie dream pop vocalist Akira Galaxy has opened for Travis and Silversun Pickups in recent months. Last year, she released the great debut EP “What’s Inside You” and just dropped a cover of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony.” In Dana Point, Galaxy and her band began with the EP’s ethereal title track; it was like a cool ocean breeze. She was all over the stage doing expressive gestures amid the new wave-leaning standout “Hit the Ground.” A slowly unravelling take on Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” proved hypnotic and different attitude-laden song showed she could also rock out with abandon. In fact, Galaxy’s electric guitarist apparently played his strings so hard that at one point, blood was splattered across the instrument’s bridge.

A version of my review originally appeared at ocregister.com.

Photos courtesy of C3 Presents.