Eddie Vedder joined The Killers onstage at the Ohana Festival in Dana Point, CA on Friday to cover Tom Petty’s “The Waiting.” Vedder promotes the festival and is known to always make guest appearances with other acts at the stadium over the years, ranging for the Red Hot Chili Peppers to the Strokes.
It capped off an amazing Day 1, with the Ohana Festival becoming a well oiled machine after 7 years, with great concessions, and much shorter lines for drinks than you see at other festivals, with plenty of offerings for fans everywhere at Doheny State Beach.
There is no better setting than Doheny State Beach to see a concert, with Ohana cultivating a hybrid of south Orange County and Hawaiian culture. Haim were one of the biggest acts of Day 1 on Friday, showcasing how diverse their catalog is over a decade in now, mixing acoustic sing-a-longs with dancey and rockier tracks. Haim even toughed out a band member illness, stating they wanted to finish out their 2023 tour strong for fans at Ohana.
The Killers headlined with a fan friendly greatest hits set. 20 years into his career, Brandon Flowers has become the most charismatic rock frontman of his 2000’s generation, managing to keep The Killers a powerful live act even with the live absence of founding members Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer. Flowers and drummer Ronnie Vanucci Jr. were in perfect lockstep during “For Reasons Unknown” with B-Flow rocking the bass.
Eddie Vedder joined Brandon Flowers onstage in a dream collaboration seeing the voice of 90’s Grunge rock meet the voice of 2000’s indie rock, as they covered Tom Petty. Flowers had high praise for Vedder, and Eddie pointed out a fan he had seen wearing a Killers shirt who had been waiting since the early afternoon to see the Las Vegas rockers. “The Waiting” was definitely the hardest part. Sammy Hagar also joined for “Why Can’t This Be Love.”
Definitely check out Eddie Vedder and The Chicks tonight at Ohana for Night 2, with tickets at Ohana Fest‘s website.
