For the third year in a row the Ohana Festival took place in Dana Point, California and did I mention it’s right on the beach? The festival has featured some incredible acts in the past and this year was no different. I was able to attend day two of the festival and had the chance to see The Frights, Glen Hansard and Eddie Vedder. I was seriously excited to see Vedder because he’s someone I’ve wanted to see play live for a long time.
When I first got to the festival The Frights were on and I had never listened to them before. My little brother had talked to me about them a million times so I was eager to finally see how they sounded. It was toward the end of their set when I arrived and they were playing a medley of cover songs. The band put their own spin on each and that gave them a twist that made them memorable.
A little later on I was able to catch Glen Hansard’s set and I was really excited to see him. He had a lot of energy for someone who flew in from Ireland the night before. He played an all acoustic set and it was filled with some of his popular songs like “High Hope” and “Winning Streak” and a few cover. One of the highlights of his set was when he covered “Vigilante Man” originally by Woody Guthrie. He told a story about meeting Guthrie and then he went right into the song. After that he ended his set with “Present Tense” by Pearl Jam and invited Eddie on stage to perform it with him.
The moment I had been anticipating for a week had finally come. Eddie Vedder took the stage as the headliner for night two of Ohana Festival where he played a solid mix of Pearl Jam songs, solo stuff and a few covers. His set began with a new untitled track after which he moved into a cover of Fugazi’s “I’m So Tired”. Both were played on a small organ which is something I’ve never seen at a music festival. The classic Pearl Jam song “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” was after and it marked the first of many throughout the night in which the whole crowd sang along.
One of the things that got me hooked on Eddie was the soundtrack for Into The Wild. He brought out his mandolin and played “Rise”. It was really funny, during the middle of the song he told everyone that the mandolin was made in 1915. He then called the mandolin an old man and encouraged it to get through the rest of the song. A bit later a singer from an earlier set named Liam Finn came out and sang “Society” with Eddie. The two singers sang well together and the guitar solo in the middle had almost a twangy feel to it but still sounded really delicate.
There were some really memorable moments during his set. He dedicated “Just Breathe” to a couple who had written him a letter from New Jersey that had recently gotten married. Vedder brought out a bottle of champagne and toasted the couple. The whole thing was filmed and was going to be sent to the couple to see. Towards the end of the set, different guests were brought out to sing along during certain songs. The first was Simon Townshend from The Who to sing a cover of “I’m The Answer” by The Who. After that he brought out Irish singer Glen Hansard to sing “Falling Slowly” from the musical Once. This was my favorite moment of the whole set. I have always wanted to hear these two guys singing this song together and it was amazing.
To end the night, Vedder invited Simon Townshend, Fiona Apple, Glenn Hansard and others to sing a cover of “Rockin’ in the Free World”. That was a good way to end the night.
- New song (untitled)
- I’m So Tired (Fugazi cover)
- Elderly Women Behind the Counter in a Small Town
- Brain Damage (Pink Floyd cover)
- Sometimes
- Wishlist
- I Am Mine
- Can’t Keep
- Sleeping By Myself
- Just Breathe
- Immortality
- Far Behind
- Rise
- Lukin
- Porch
- Isn’t It A Pity (George Harrison cover)
- I’m The Answer
- Society
- Falling Slowly (The Swell Season cover)
- Rockin’ In The Free World (Neil Young cover)
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Post by Madeline Cronin
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