A slightly chillier, and even for a few brief moments, wetter, Ohana Fest returned to beautiful Doheny State Beach in Dana Point last weekend. Eddie Vedder has continued to put together a magnificent and diverse lineup combining well-established legends in the music industry right along with up and coming independent acts.
Photo by Quinn Tucker
With two – the larger Ohana Stage, and then smaller Tiki Stage – main stages of music right next to each other and no overlapping time, fans do not miss a single minute of action.
Before checking out the music, I would be remiss to not touch on what the festival is very proud of, its activism and engagement with concertgoers. The Cove is where the Storytellers stage was and everyone seemed to find themselves there at some point. Each year the festival presents breathtaking portraits supported by jaw dropping stories from, the people that make things happen. This year was no different. The theme I took away as did many others was … climate action!
Photo by Quinn Tucker
Back to the music – Headlining the Tiki stage Friday night was Father John Misty, an indie rock singer-songwriter, at times bordering on folk and moody blues. He opened with “The Next 20th Century” and “Strange Encounter,” and “Nancy From Now On.”
Photo by Roger Ho
As the horns started up for “When You’re Smiling and Astride Me,” the singer literally dropped to his knees, really adding some theatrics to the song. He closed his powerful set with “I Love You, Honeybear,” falling to his knees once more for the song’s last chorus.
The set that I keep thinking about and replaying in my head continually is HAIM. For a band whose music tends to be a bit more laidback, their live show is anything but. As the lights went dark, lead singer and guitarist Danielle Haim was the first to take the stage as they began playing “Now I’m In It.”
She was joined shortly by sister, Este on bass and backing vocals, and then for the first chorus by youngest sister, Alana on keys and vocals, and their backing band. Each girl had a drum set in front of her alluding to the song’s outro which featured a massive four-person drum solo (including their drummer Dash Hutton).
Photo by Quinn Tucker
All three members were excellent at hyping up the crowd, from Alana pumping them up in between songs, to their high-energy stage presence. They crushed “Want You Back,” and the angry, hard-rocking “My Song 5” featured a wicked bass solo that saw Este slapping her bass, making you feel each thundering thump.
Finally, it was time for Vegas’ sons to shine as headliners The Killers took the Ohana stage. What better welcome than Frank Sinatra’s “Lady Luck” blasted over the P.A. Touring guitarist Ted Sablay began the unmistakable opening chords to the 2000’s anthem, “Mr. Brightside,” and there wasn’t a single person in Dana Point that was not screaming every lyric back to lead singer Brandon Flowers. Eddie Vedder himself came out to join the band in a rendition of Tom Petty’s “The Waiting” that brought the house down.
Photo by Chris Phelps
They did a haunting performance of “Human,” followed by “Somebody Told Me,” the first single released off their debut album, “Hot Fuss.” Flowers played bass on “For Reasons Unknown,” and they played the recently released song, “Your Side of Town.”
Photo by Chris Phelps
Flowers said one of his favorite quotes is: “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also of the overcoming of it.” (Helen Keller) He then said, “You’ve gotta just keep on flying” and led into “A Dustland Fairytale.” Drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr. was wonderful, making his presence felt on “Runaways” and “Caution.”
They finished their regular set with “All These Things That I’ve Done,” the final chorus feeling almost like a church choir and the entire crowd caught the Holy Spirit.
Photo by Chris Phelps
The band came back on for their encore and Flowers asked, “Is it too late to blow your minds again? It might keep you up.”
Photo by Chris Phelps
As the familiar keyboards to Van Halen’s “Why Can’t This Be Love?” started, Sammy Hagar himself came out to sing with the band on a really great cover. The Killers ended night one with “When You Were Young” to a packed crowd.
The last band to play the Tiki stage on Saturday was The War on Drugs. They opened with “Pain,” which was definitely giving me Springsteen vibes in both vocals and guitar, thanks to lead singer Adam Granduciel. “Red Eyes” featured a more upbeat, almost inspiring rock song with Jon Natchez on saxophone. They welcomed the two lead singers from Lucius, and together they played “I Don’t Live Here Anymore,” before finishing with “occasional Rain.”
The Chicks are known for putting on a larger-than-life live performance and that took that same show for the thousands in attendance on the Ohana Stage Saturday night. They came out to antsy, hard-hitting “Gaslighter,” and followed up with “Sin Wagon,” a high-paced bluegrass hoedown featuring impressive playing by Emily Strayer on banjo and Martie Maguire on fiddle.
Photo by Lindsey Byrnes
They decided to slow things down a notch with “Cowboy Take Me Away” and their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” which over the years they’ve managed to turn into their own song. They played “Daddy Lessons,” a song they originally dueted with Beyonce, as footage played in the background of the four ladies rehearsing the song back around 2005.
They played “Wide Open Spaces,” the song that in a way started it all for them commercially, and launched them into the superstars they are today. They followed this with “Tights on My Boat,” a scathing song Natalie Maines penned about her ex. On the screen behind them as she sang, animated footage displayed Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin floating on an inflatable unicorn, only to be taken out by a giant octopus tentacle. Never one to shy away from politics or controversy, a sailboat then drifted by on the screen featuring mug shots of Trump’s alleged co-conspirators on the sail of a boat.
They finished their jam-packed set with “Not Ready to Make Nice” and then lightened things up with the fun “Goodbye Earl.”
As he usually does, Eddie Vedder headlined Saturday night, backed by his band, the Earthlings. They opened with “I’ll Be Waiting,” before playing Tom Petty’s “Room at the Top.”
Photo by Roger Ho
During one of their songs, guitarist Andrew Watt accidentally started the song prematurely. It happened a few songs later and Vedder jokingly chastised him by saying, “He’s the producer of the albums and he can run things in the studio. Out here, in this atmosphere? I’m not going to say I’m Bruce Springsteen, but I’m the fucking boss,” which garnered a huge laugh from the crowd.
When music had to be halted due to a undisclosed situation in the crowd, Vedder tried to entertain the audience by playing a few lines from The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” on guitar. They continued on and played a slowed down, bluesy version of Pearl Jam’s “Not for You.” They decided to have some fun with the song’s outro, first featuring a solo by Watt, then Hansard, then guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, culminating into a gigantic jam session with the power of a powder keg.
Photo by Roger Ho
They played Pearl Jam’s “Better Man,” although Vedder somehow forgot some of the words to the opening verse – he joked, “Ed Vedder, how could you fucking forget that song?” They invited the girls from Lucius on stage once again for “Isn’t It a Pity,” which parlayed into The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” to end their regular set.
Photo by Roger Ho
Vedder returned to the stage to play a gut-wrenching, solo acoustic version of Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe.” He was joined by the full band again for U2’s “One,” The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” and the Pretenders’ “Precious.” Vedder ended the two-hour set, as he usually does, with a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”
I specifically arrived early Sunday just to catch Suki Waterhouse, a sultry, soulful singer in the vein of Lana Del Rey. She opened her set with “Moves,” followed by “Neon Signs.” She introduced “O.D.” by saying, “I want to play the first song I ever released, which was six years ago?
At the time it felt like the end of something but really, ended up being the start of everything.” She played a haunting cover of Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You,” which itself faded into a cover of Taylor Swift’s “Lover.” She ended her set with “Good Looking,” like a seductive siren drawing you towards her with a voice you cannot resist, while her band gently lulled you peacefully to their command.
Photo by Roger Ho
There was a lot of excitement around Deaf Charlie, playing the Tiki Stage. I discovered later that this was their first live performance ever. The brainchild of Pearl Jam bassist, Jeff Ament and former Fitz and the Tantrums drummer, John Wicks, the result is somewhat of a rock-meets-jam session by way of jazz fusion.
There were times I was reminded of experimental alternative, akin to Talking Heads or Devo. They were joined by Abe Laboriel Jr., who played drums with Eddie Vedder and the Earthlings the night before.
Photo by Lindsey Byrnes
For Deaf Charlie, he was part backing vocals, part rapper, and part hype man. They played a brief glimpse of “Too Great” before jumping into “Losing My Mind.” I found myself singing the chorus to “Ched Man” later, with the infectious “life was better, future brighter” lyrics. They played “Comeback Player of the Year,” a song about a mutual friend that passed, which first inspired sparked the band’s creation. They finished with a Buzzcocks cover, “Sitting Around at Home.”
One of the most pleasant surprises of the weekend for me was Thee Sacred Souls. The amount of talent possessed by drummer Alex Garcia and bassist Sal Samano is matched only by the incredibly honey-sweet vocals of singer Josh Lane. Though the trio is at the core of the band, for live shows they are backed by two lovely backup singers, horns, and keyboards. Lane’s words – both in song and in between songs – were just as powerful.
Photo by Roger Ho
For “Running,” Lane jumped off the stage, into the crowd and indeed began running as the cameraman rushed to try and catch up to him. Lane eventually slowed down, sat down next a young girl and sang, “he didn’t mean to break your heart….” before eventually coming back to the chorus of, “running, running, running….” and once again took off in a full sprint. It was entertaining as hell and just showed what an overall performance they put in, complete with theatrics. They closed their set with “Trade of Hearts” and “Weak for Your Love.”
I got to see the Pretenders Sunday, a bucket list item I didn’t think I’d ever be fortunate to check off. Their setlist was dedicated primarily to their self-titled debut and “Learning to Crawl,” accounting for over half their set. They opened with “Losing My Sense of Taste,” “A Love,” and followed up with “Turf Accountant Daddy.” Chrissie Hynde looks and sounds amazing. I was shocked to learn later she is 72-years young, because she is still just as badass as the rebellious 28 year old releasing a debut album in 1978.
Photo by Fernando Zuñiga
I found myself get overwhelmed when the band launched into “Back on the Chain Gang,” a song that has been part of my life from as far back as I can remember. Hynde asked the crowd, “Okay, who wants to dance?” She went into “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” which just might be in my top 10 favorite songs of all time; something I never thought I’d have the opportunity to hear live.
Photo by Lindey Byrnes
I saw Eddie Vedder and all of the Earthlings side stage catching the entire set, along with tennis great, John McEnroe. Guitarist James Walbourne had no less than six guitar changes due to sound issues, and at one point looked ready to chuck his guitar off the stage in frustration. But he stuck with it and ended “Thumbelina” with one of the nastiest, longest guitar solos I’ve ever witnessed that literally left my jaw wide open and speechless. Bravo.
Photo by Lindsey Byrnes
The band would play their power ballad of the ‘90s, “I’ll Stand by You” and “Let the Sun Come In.” Walbourne was all snarls and attitude while they played “Middle of the Road” featuring one of his solos and Hynde on harmonica. The Pretenders were joined by McEnroe on left-handed guitar to close their set with the honky “Precious.”
What seemed like the biggest crowd that’s ever gathered at Ohana Fest came together for the one and only Foo Fighters. This was the first time for several fans to see the band since legendary punk and session drummer Josh Freese had filled in for Taylor Hawkins, who tragically passed away last year. This was going to be big and important and emotional for everyone involved, not least of all, the band themselves.
Photo by Roger Ho
Wasting no time at all, Grohl raced onto the stage first, guitar in hand, as he kicked right into “All My Life” as the rest of the band joined him onstage. They went into “The Pretender,” and then the hard rock/metal-inspired “No Son of Mine,” culminating in a Chris Shiflett solo, a Grohl solo, and a larger-than-life solo by Freese. Grohl started “Times Like These” soft and gentle, accompanied only by Rami Jaffee on keyboards, before the rest of the band joined in following the second chorus. Similarly, Grohl began “My Hero” solo acoustic, before the rest of the band exploded into the song for the last verse and chorus.
Grohl took a few minutes to introduce every member of the band, allowing each to shine with their own solo. Shiflett walked to the front of the stage, playing a solo single-handed, with his right hand behind his ear daring the crowd to cheer louder as he ripped a glaring solo. Jaffee played a spacey keyboard and synth solo that made you think ELO was coming out.
Photo by Roger Ho
Nate Mendel began playing the opening riffs to the Beastie Boys “Sabotage” and the entire band joined in for a few riffs. Pat Smear, the legendary Germs and original member of Foo, played Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” getting the band and crowd to chant, “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!” Grohl introduced Freese and asked the crowd if they knew he drummed for Devo, leading him to take the band into a short rendition of “Whip It.” He also reminded us that Freese played with Nine Inch Nails and the band launched into a few notes of “March of the Pigs.”
Photo by Roger Ho
Grohl addressed the elephant on the beach and said, “Tonight, we are in Taylor Hawkins’ backyard. You know that right?” to a huge ovation. He said he never really understood Hawkins “until I fucking came to Laguna” and laughed. With his voice breaking several times, he introduced “Aurora” as “the first song that we wrote together, and we’ll play it every night for the rest of our lives.” For the song’s final chorus, a giant hawk outlined in white appeared behind them; Hawkins’ famous logo.
Photo by Roger Ho
They finished their regular set with “Best of You.” They came back out for one song, having played for over two hours. Before launching into “Everlong,” Grohl told the crowd, “We love to make music, but fuck man, we love to make it with you. It’s the best fucking job in the world, and it has been for over half of my fucking life. I never like to say goodbye because I hope that we see y’all again.”
