Photo Credit: Bahram Foroughi
Last weekend, Southern California’s scenic Dana Point lit up for the return of Ohana Festival. For its 2024 staging, the event founded and curated by Eddie Vedder drew an eclectic mix of 33 acts from the local scene and far beyond to celebrate music and nature from the shoreline at Doheny State Beach. Emphasizing the cultivation of a positive atmosphere over strict adherence to any single genre, Ohana brought on unforgettable sets from big names and rising stars alike in another smashing success.
The party started on Friday, when early acts like Jamie Wyatt, Flipturn and Dogstar–featuring Keanu Reaves–set a warm and welcoming tone for the days to come. Things heated up as the day crept on with performances from country-pop singer-songwriter Maren Morris and Australian 80’s icons Crowded House, who welcomed a sit-in from Vedder for set-closing covers of Hunters & Collectors’ “Throw Your Arms Around Me” and Split Enz’s “I Got You.” Next came the incomparably arty, angular synth-punk originators DEVO, who tore the house down with “Girl U Want,” “Whip It,” “Uncontrollable Urge” and “Jocko Homo,” which saw frontman Mark Mothersbaugh step out into the crowd to lead the call and response: “Are We Not Men? We are DEVO!”
Vedder, who sat side-stage for the majority of the three-day series, was clearly inspired by the openers for his first Pearl Jam set, as he worked a whole verse from DEVO’s “Beautiful World” into the tail-end of “Daughter” and teased the band’s version of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction in “Who Ever Said.” Beyond essentials like “Porch,” “Corduroy” and “Yellow Ledbetter” and now fully-realized Dark Matter cuts like “Scared Of Fear” and “Wreckage,” Pearl Jam worked in some jaw-dropping rarities, with an eight-year bust out of “Future Days” delivered solo by Vedder and a debut staging of “Whale Song, pulled from a 1999 benefit album for the Surfrider Foundation and featuring its originator Zach Irons. A true highlight arrived with a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” which featured a chorus of performers from Friday.
Ohana came into full swing on Saturday, building momentum with early sets from Ibibio Sound Machine, The Moss, Cat Power and Glen Hansard, who welcomed Vedder for a sit-in on “Tender Mercies” just as he’d joined Pearl Jam for its tour-closing sets in Boston on Sept. 15 and 17. After a set from Jenny Lewis, Vedder took the stage yet again alongside Black Pumas for a breezy treatment of Otis Redding’s “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” in thh midst of a powerful set from the psychedelic soul ensemble. Finally, a twilight show from bluegrass-folk favorites Trampled by Turtles set the stage for Sting, who veered from hard rock to slow-burn with solo originals and The Police essentials like “Message in a Bottle,” “Roxanne” and “Every Step You Take.”
Sunday’s lineup was the most markedly diverse of the festival, welcoming a taste-expanding range of up-and-coming acts like LA LOM’s surf and cumbia-inspired retro rock and roll, high-voltage, alternatively tuned alt-rock from India’s Peter Cat Recording Co. and Los Angeles-based, heritage-forward Latin ensemble La Santa Cecilia, who brought bossa swing to The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Later acts included ‘90s rock favorites Kim Gordon–who Vedder introduced with a monologue on her critical legacy–and The Breeders, as well as IDLES and Alanis Morissette.
Pearl Jam returned on Sunday to close out the festival, and their year of intense touring, with a final set. The grunge mainstays staged another perfectly balanced performance, stacking up fan favorites against promising new entries and working in plenty of surprises. To warp Ohana on a high note, the band busted out the true rarity “Big Wave,” debuted The Silly Surfers’ “Gremmie Out of Control” and invited sit-ins from Andrew Watt and Hansard for “Rearviewmirror” and “Song of Good Hope.” Headlines were made when Vedder’s daughter Harper joined for a mash-up of “Last Kiss” and Taylor Swift’s “The Best Day.” And indeed it was, leaving the crowd eager for the festival’s return in 2025.
Get an inside look at Ohana Festival 2024 in the gallery below, courtesy of photographer Bahram Foroughi.
The post Ohana Festival 2024 (A Gallery + Recap) appeared first on Relix Media.
