The chill, beachfront live music weekend event known as Ohana Festival returned to the shores of Dana Point, CA from September 30 to October 2, 2022. Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder curated and headlined the festival. His musician friends and artists that he admires filled out the lineup, with a mix of new bands and classics. The weekend of music, local food vendors, and craft beverages provided thousands of attendees fun in the sun.
Vedder and his buddy, surf champion Kelly Slater, launched the festival in 2016. The waves at Doheny State Beach at Dana Point were the first that Vedder ever surfed and he wanted to create a music festival where surfers and beachgoers could hear the music. Live Nation, the concert, venue and festival behemoth produced the event so it had the expected professional components. The vibe was relaxed and on a smaller scale than most festivals with daily attendance capped at about 15,000 per day. A large grass and sand area allowed people to sit on blankets or stand while they enjoyed the music. There were only two adjacent stages that had alternating performances, so no one had to choose between acts and miss some shows. Attendees barely had to move to see and hear all of the sets.
Highlights from the weekend included the following: Stevie Nicks may be vain about her age and appearance (not a single spotlight on her all set), but her incredible voice still has the tone, power, and distinction that made her a legend. Her headlining set on the opening day of the festival launched a love fest for Tom Petty, who tragically left us all on October 2nd, five years ago. Before she came on stage, the PA system blared Petty’s “Runnin’ Down A Dream.”
Near the beginning of her set, she thanked Eddie Vedder for “putting this little festival here on the beach.” Then she talked about her long relationship with Petty before launching into their “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” – surprisingly, instead of guitarist Waddy Wachtel doing the vocal duet with her, Vedder came out to sing as the crowd went wild. Nicks later covered Petty’s “Free Fallin’” in addition to many of her classic Fleetwood Mac and solo tracks. Wachtel’s lead guitar work complemented Nicks’ distinctive voice with creative and noteworthy solos.
Eddie Vedder introduced his new side project at last year’s Ohana Festival. That band did not have a name then, but now they are known as The Earthlings and they headlined the Saturday lineup. Vedder and his buddies, including Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith on drums as well as guitarists Josh Klinghoffer (now a Pearl Jam touring band member) and Andrew Watt, played hard rocking originals as well as Pearl Jam’s “Rearviewmirror,” “I Got Id” (with a Neil Young “Cinnamon Girl” tease and “Porch” (with Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused” teases).
Vedder also paid tribute to Tom Petty during his set. He said he “was stoked about singing with Stevie Nicks last night. Tom Petty will be gone five years this week, but we are thankful to still have his memory and his songs.” Petty guitarist (and current member of Fleetwood Mac) Mike Campbell joined The Earthlings for covers of Petty’s “Room at the Top” and “The Waiting.” Vedder also said, “it’s turning into a Tom fest and I couldn’t be happier about it.” Later in the set, band member Pino Palladino (bassist in The Who) felt right at home as they threw in an excellent cover of The Who’s “I’m One,” to fill out the fine, rocking performance.
P!nk was honored to have the closing Ohana set on Sunday night. She expressed her thanks and paid tribute to Vedder by saying, “I have a picture of me as a girl holding a cassette of Ten; so when Eddie calls to ask if I’ll play at his fest…” She just rolled her eyes as the answer was obvious. P!nk sang “Get the Party Started” and “F**kin’ Perfect” among other tracks from her collection. P!nk is known for her high-energy performances and the stage production was a combination of a Vegas showgirls revue and an aerobics class, as her backup singers/dancers gyrated, swayed, and moved all over the big stage.
P!nk’s choice of covers was unexpected and brilliant as she did wild versions of 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up?,” Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love,” Heart’s “Barracuda,” Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee” and an inventive mashup of her song “Funhouse” with No Doubt’s “I’m Just A Girl.” P!nk and her band produced the “oh my God” moment of the weekend when she said, “I got to sing with Queen last week; it was amazing but under sad circumstances.” (that performance was during the Taylor Hawkins tribute show). She and the band launched into a breathtaking version of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” nailing all of the vocal pyrotechnics, to cap off her set.
St. Paul & The Broken Bones had a set on Friday afternoon at Ohana that kicked off a day loaded with dynamic singers performing excellent soul, funk, blues, and rock. Paul Janeway’s vocals and physical gyrations on stage defy description. Think possessed gospel singer, with a naughty grin. The band’s tight horn arrangements and those amazing Janeway vocals could be heard on their songs “Broken Bones & Pocket Change” and “Call Me.” They also did a fine version of David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream.”
Brittany Howard just keeps getting more artistically confident since branching out from Alabama Shakes, as the vocalist has built a well-deserved following as a solo artist. Her Friday afternoon set at Ohana featured enthusiastic vocals, scorching guitar solos, and enjoyable soul/blues tunes including her “Georgia,” “Stay High” and “Give It To Love.” Excellent covers included Funkadelic’s “Hit It and Quit It” and “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks.”
Howard also sang inventive interpretations of Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” and Nina Simone’s “Revolution.” Howard spoke intensely to the audience about the importance of being kind to each other. The set ending “13th Century Metal” got the crowd repeating the line, “we are all brothers and sisters.”
The Revivalists always bring a high-energy, fun vibe to their live shows. Frontman David Shaw has that rare combination of a smooth, powerful voice, hyper-stage presence, and a deep connection with the audience. The band is filled with excellent musicians that clearly love to play in front of a crowd and their Saturday evening set was no exception. They played several of their up-tempo songs like “Criminal,” “Soulfight,” and “Stand Up” which featured intricate, lengthy solos by guitarist Zack Feinberg and pedal steel master Ed Williams. The crowd went crazy when they closed the set with their mega-hit “Wish I Knew You.”
Billy Strings is true to his name as his fingers made the magic happen along his guitar fret board. His Saturday afternoon set at Ohana showed why he is at the top of the heap among modern interpreters of bluegrass music. Strings and his band took the Saturday afternoon crowd on a journey with songs like “Must Be Seven” and “Meet Me At The Creek” that touched on traditional bluegrass but ventured into psychedelic and acid rock. While a significant segment of the set was instrumental jamming, Strings also warbled on more traditional country and bluegrass tracks like The Stanley Brothers’ “Rank Stranger” and Jimmy Martin’s “Tennessee.”
Jack White will always be an enigma – fans never know what they are going to get from him. White is clearly not comfortable when limited to a 50-minute festival set, but his kinetic, on-stage energy and world-class musicianship wowed the Saturday evening crowd. Mixed amid songs from The White Stripes and The Raconteurs were four new tracks from his two 2022 album releases. He opened the show with “Taking Me Back (Gently),” a new piano-based, roots-rock tune. Another included a weird, distorted interpretation and sampling of Cab Callaway’s “Hi-De-Ho.” He ended the set with the guaranteed crowd-pleasers, “Steady As She Goes” and “Seven Nation Army.”
Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs continued the Tom Petty love fest on Saturday afternoon. Guitarist Campbell was Petty’s longtime partner in the Heartbreakers, so it was no surprise that the set leaned heavily on Petty songs. Campbell took on lead vocal duties on three of the Petty songs, “Even the Losers,” “Runnin’ Down a Dream” and “Fault Lines.” Campbell sounded shockingly like his old buddy and his impeccable guitar work remains highly entertaining.
St. Vincent, the stage name for Anne Erin Clark, had the Sunday evening set prior to P!nk and took the crowd on a sonic journey. The show was a disturbing and thrilling juxtaposition between her mesmerizing mezzo-soprano vocals and her heavily distorted guitar forays. Her unique talent blended with the band’s thick, thumping bass and drum lines on award-winning songs from the album Masseduction including “Los Ageless” and “Fear the Future.” The backup singers harmonized wonderfully and were a fantastic complement to Clark’s singing. The end of the set was emotional as Clark teared up as she told the crowd, “this is the last show of our tour so it is a real pleasure to get to spend it with all you guys. I hope that everything you ever want comes true.”
Ohana Fest 2022 featured chill vibes, cool ocean breezes, and fantastic performances, making Dana Point, CA an autumn Southern California destination for live music. Eddie Vedder will retire one day from recording and live performances, but he has a promising future as a festival promoter.
Photo(s) courtesy of Andy J. Gordon ©2022
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