Delivers Three Epic Days of Music
October 7th, 2025 Review by Kevin Gomez & Jimmy Alvarez
Every fall Southern California looks forward to Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Festival. The three-day music fest takes over two stages at Doheny State Beach in beautiful Dana Point, right on the beach.
Starting the festivities off, Vedder was on stage Friday afternoon to introduce Kim Deal, noting, “We like when our legends are living.” With twin sister Kelley on electric violin, Kim opened with the title track of her solo album, “Nobody Loves You More” and “Crystal Breath.”
Kim covered The Breeders’ songs “Drivin’ on 9,” “Do You Love Me Now?,” (which saw Deal get on her knees for the solo), and “Cannonball” before closing with the Pixies classic, “Gigantic.”
Stereophonics opened with “Vegas Two Times.” Lead singer Kelly Jones said, “This is a song we wrote in San Francisco many years ago” and played the get-nice anthem, “Have a Nice Day.”
Jones switched to acoustic guitar for “Maybe Tomorrow” then they did “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” I waited 20 years to finally hear the Welsh band perform the indie classic “Dakota,” which they did as their final song.
Lukas Nelson opened his set with an acoustic cover of Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe” – with Vedder assisting – before being joined by the rest of his band. He sang “Fool Me Once” followed by “Make You Happy” and “Pretty Much,” declaring, “I pretty much fell in love right then.”
After “Ladder of Love” Nelson unleashed his powerful vocals on “Find Yourself,” turning the song’s ending chorus into a powerhouse jam finale.
For my money, Garbage had the performance of the weekend. They launched into a show-stopping rendition of “Vow” and “When I Grow Up.”
Lead singer Shirley Manson sported a plaid kilt with matching jacket and said she met Deal backstage for the first time and almost burst into tears. They crushed “I Think I’m Paranoid” and “#1 Crush.”
Finishing off with hit after hit, “Stupid Girl” and “Only Happen When It Rains.” Manson introduced their last song, “Push It,” by encouraging the crowd, “Let’s fucking fight these motherfuckers!”
A huge ovation went up as Kings of Leon opened with “Ballerina Radio” before going into fan favorite, “Supersoaker.” “On Call” featured a heavy bassline before the gents did “Soft” for the first time since 2014.
They played their first big radio hit, the Southern rock, “Molly’s Chambers.” Lead singer Caleb Followill said they had a song request from someone who has been yelling for it all night and they gave in with “Pyro.”
“Call Me” had a loud, thumping bassline from Jared Followill. “The Bucket” featuring some impressive playing and a wicked guitar solo from Matthew Followill as drummer, Nathan Followill expertly providing backing vocals.
The band led a singalong for “Use Somebody” under a crescent moon and closed with “Sex on Fire” igniting the beach.
Eddie Vedder’s backing band, The Earthlings, are Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, The Swell Season’s Glen Hansard on acoustic, Andrew Watt on lead guitar, Josh Klinghoffer on guitar and keys, and Jane’s Addiction’s Chris Cheney on bass. They opened with a cover of DEVO’s “Gut Feeling” before covering Pearl Jam’s iconic “Corduroy.” Watt’s interpretation of Mike McCready’s guitar solo was pretty damn impressive.
I feel like some of Smith’s best work is his drumming with The Earthlings on songs like “I’ll Be Waiting” and “Brother the Cloud.” They played a trio of songs from the movie soundtrack, “Into the Wild” that Vedder penned. The setlist was a hodgepodge of Vedder solo work mixed in with Led Zeppelin and George Harrison covers.
Vedder dedicated their cover of “I’m One” to The Who, which he got choked up talking about. They did a cover of The English Beat’s “Sooner or Later,” which turned into Pearl Jam’s “Better Man.”
They turned in one hell of a finale culminating in “Rearviewmirror,” “Porch,” and Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” which saw the band joined by Lukas Nelson and Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones.
Kicking off Saturday afternoon was David Duchovny. The dashing actor/singer-songwriter opened his set with “Nights Are Harder These Days.” For “Layin’ on the Tracks” Duchovny talked about the growing tensions between people in America and referenced, “a stupid orange man in a cheap red hat.”
“Hell or Highwater” featured clever lyrics like, “in the test of our love darlin,’ if it’s multiple choice I gotta mark none of the above.” He seemed humble and grateful to be playing as he closed out with “Prince of Pieces.”
Royal Otis was a band that blew up last year, which explained the big turnout crowd who showed up cheering as they ripped into “i hate this tune,” and their cover of “Murder on the Dancefloor” had people singing and dancing along.
For “Foam” they advised, “slow down and keep my name out your mouth.” Two large pink inflatable balls got tossed in the crowd for “Car.” They played a lovely rendition of their viral cover of “Linger” before closing on “Oysters in my Pocket.”
Tedeschi Trucks Band features some of the most talented musicians I’ve seen grace Ohana. “I Walk on Guilded Splinters” featured a nasty solo from lead singer, guitarist Susan Tedeschi. “Do I Look Worried” featured a slide guitar solo from Derek Trucks and a second guitar solo outro that absolutely shredded.
Vedder joined them for a cover of The Who’s “The Seeker” before closing with a Joe Cocker-style cover of “A Little Help from My Friends.”
North Carolina’s Rainbow Kitten Surprise brought a high-energy pace right from “When It Lands” to “Wasted.” The band has a massive following and received some of the biggest reactions all day after “Hide” and “Goodnight Chicago.” The sleek “Espionage” sounds like it could be a Bond theme one day. The crowd really seemed to come alive and sing along with Ela Melo for “Dang.” Melo had the entire crowd in a trance for the slow, bluesy closer, “It’s Called: Freefall” that had thousands singing together ending in a rocking outro.
One of the last performers Saturday was Fort Worth, Texas’s Leon Bridges. I thought it was the perfect setup for the evening’s headliner. The Grammy-award winning artist brought some soul and R&B to the main stage at Ohana.
I don’t think there was a woman within a 10-mile radius that wasn’t swooning as Bridges sang the soulful “Coming Home.”
He played “Texas Sun,” the title track off of his EP with Khruangbin, and his gentle vocals on “Ain’t Got Nothing on You” seemed hardly harsher than a whisper, yet conveyed so much.
Saturday’s headliner, Hozier took the stage to a huge crowd and a loud ovation. He opened with “Nobody’s Soldier” and then strapped on a guitar for “Jackie and Wilson.”
As he played a video projected behind him showing Lockheed Martin share prices that gradually climbed as time elapsed from the ‘90s; next the total dollar of global military spending from around that time showed eventually climbing into the trillions; another statistic showed the number of children killed in war-torn countries.
Like Vedder, Hozier is clearly using his platform on a huge stage like this in front of tens of thousands to bring awareness to important issues facing the world.
“Francesca” almost sounded like gospel, while the crowd went wild as Hozier played “Someone New” leading to one of the biggest moments in his set.
But nothing could compare to the larger-than-life sound and crowd singing along to his big finale as he hit “Take Me to Church.”
And on the third day, the sun rose and the beach was alive with the sound of music… punk rock music!
Doheny State Beach
Like the days before, crowds rushed in, merch was to be bought, and the sights and sounds of a mega-festival took shape in no time.
Everything cool about SoCal was represented, tattoos and teeny weenie polka dot bikinis were plentiful.
Great sand sculptures and the Story Tellers area had one incredible speaker after another. The number of people taking in the stories was impressive. But this was Punk Rock Day, and that didn’t get lost on anyone.
The stages were off to the races immediately. Skating Polly and The Criticals were a perfect way to start the day. But at 1:30 it got real as Lambrini Girls took over the main stage.
Lambrini Girls are electricity in a bottle and most likely the next evolution of punk rock. They even opened by saying, “We’re Lambrini Girls; we’re from England… we’re a political band. Hope you’re ready!”
Immediately they kicked off their set with two in your face smash hits, “Big Dick Energy” and “God’s Country.” Right away the mosh pit opened and it was insane.
Lead singer Phoebe Lunny asked the crowd if this was a punk rock show or not, and as everyone screamed, she asked them to clear path so she could come down – and into the crowd she went. She asked everyone to get down to their knees and before you knew it, mayhem exploded.
Honestly, I have not seen this kind of energy, excitement, and reception since the early days of Rage. The biggest travesty of the festival was they limited Lambrini Girls to seven songs, ending with the nuttiest song of all, “Cuntology 101.” What an impression these ladies made. We hope to see them around for years to come.
Other bands that killed were Australia’s answer to insanity, The Chats. Those Aussies brought it.
Another band that impressed was an English punk band that took it to another level.
Immediately, I had visions of Perry Farrell in the early days of Jane’s; that’s how bad-ass High Vis was.
The set was so good, even the sign language dudes were getting into it. Concertgoers got into their performance; it really was something to witness.
The energy and sheer joy just added to how electric this set was.
James is another band that always delivers. These Manchester natives are best known for their work on the “American Pie soundtrack,” but they are far more than that.
Yeah, they played “Laid,” but to see Tim Booth perform “Born of Frustration” live was simply incredible.
Eddie Vedder even came out to play an acoustic set. He joked about “who would book someone to play an acoustic set during punk rock day.” Then he laughed and said, “Oh yeah, it was me!”
Vedder was somewhat emotional as he thanked everyone for coming, and all the bands that played, and he delivered a heart-felt acoustic set that made it a highlight of the day.
Who else killed it? Wet Leg also came and conquered. Opening with their hit single, “Catch These Fists,” the duo from the Isle of Wight were there to take no prisoners.
Rhian Teasdale looked fantastic and showed off her vocal prowess with hit after hit: “Wet Dream,” “Pillow Talk,” “Chaise Lounge,” before closing with “CPR.”
As the sun was slowly dipping back into he ocean, it was time for Cage the Elephant. They sounded amped for this one.
Lead singer Matt Shultz was sporting his new ‘stache and he was energized. Opening with a very cool new wave sounding “Boy,” the hit parade went off.
“Mess Around,” “Trouble,” “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” were the songs that captured the crowd.
It was about then a SpaceX rocket flew over Doheny and caught the eye of many, including Shultz.
The set flew by like the rocket, and before we knew it, they were pumping out “Shake Me Down” and “Cigarette Daydreams” before closing with “Come a Little Closer.”
By now, the sun was no more, and the moon had the best seat in the house. Doheny State Beach had an insane number of people ready to see the headliner, Green Day.
As the Green Day punk rock bunny came out to “Blitzkrieg Bop,” the roar of the crowd was as deafening as a 747 taking off from John Wayne Ariport, all to the beat of “American Idiot.” It was evident this was going to be an epic night as they dove into “Holiday.”
The crowd was a sea of humanity with fist pumps and mosh pits erupting throughout the venue. Billie Joe Armstrong was full of energy, and as in shows past, he brought someone on stage that was celebrating her birthday. And amazingly, the fan knew all the words to “Know Your Enemy.” The crowd sang along, screaming every word!
The setlist was basically the “best of” catalog, taking us all from their early days of “Dookie,” to “American Idiot,” to where we are today with “Saviors.” Channeling our inner punker, the crowd went nuts over “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “One Eyed Bastard,” “Look Ma, No Brains,” “Longview,” and “Welcome to Paradise.” By then, the crowd was going totally bananas.
The night was charged with teenage angst that everyone felt, even the not-so-teens. “Brain Stew,” “Dilemma,” “21 Guns,” “Minority,” “Basket Case,” “When I Come Around,” “She”… I mean they gave the Ohana crowd the soundtrack to their lives – it was that unreal of a night.
If that wasn’t enough, “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” “Jesus of Suburbia,” and “Bobby Sox,” were the pre-cursor to the head explosion of the night as Armstrong, Cool and Dirnt delivered on a Bauhaus cover of “Ziggy Stardust.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crowd go that cartoon crazy.
As if we were a family going home from a BBQ or reunion, Green Day closed with “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” Probably one of the most heartfelt moments anyone can experience with about 20,000 of your closest friends.
Photo Courtesy of Ohana Fest by Nathan Zucker
It was another phenomenal night of music. Eddie Vedder… what can’t he do? Looking forward already to Ohana Fest 2026.
FESTIVAL PHOTO GALLERY
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SID 251008 | TRACI TURNER | EDITOR
