For the past decade, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has been bringing his Ohana Festival to Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, CA once a year. Vedder pretty much always headlines one night of the festival with an ad-hoc band of his friends, and Pearl Jam usually play, as well. This year's edition will return to the beach in September, and it'll once again feature Vedder as a double-duty headliner, both solo and with Pearl Jam. The rest of the lineup is cool because it's clearly a reflection of Vedder's taste, not another version of the same festival lineup that we keep seeing.
Pearl Jam's set at Ohana might mark the debut of the band's as-yet-unnamed new drummer. Former Soundgarden member Matt Cameron, the longest-tenured drummer in Pearl Jam history, left the band last year, and they haven't played live since then. I guess Pearl Jam could just have a fill-in drummer, but that's not really the way they do things. (Former member Dave Abbruzzese would like the job, but he knows he probably won't get it.)
This year's third headliner is rootsy country great Tyler Childers, which makes a lot of sense. The long-running Mexican band Maná are billed as night-one co-headliners with Vedder. The bill also includes a cool, idiosyncratic set of famous names, including Fontaines D.C., Alabama Shakes, Billy Idol, Pixies, Rilo Kiley, Bad Religion, Jon Batiste, Sugar, Courtney Barnett, Men I Trust, the Format, Stephen Wilson Jr., the Front Bottoms, Alice Phoebe Lu, Ecca Vandal, Horsegirl, and Otoboke Beaver. Looks pretty good! It's fun to imagine Vedder bumping all these artists around the house! For more info, head over here.
