Ohana Festival reveals updated 2021 lineup with Brandi Carlile, Spoon, Black Pumas & more

Ohana Festival - 2021 lineup

Ohana Festival //
Doheny State Beach – Dana Point, CA
September 24th-26th, 2021 //

Oh how we have missed you, live music! If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything over the past 15 months, it’s that the concert experience should never be taken for granted.

But with U.S. vaccinations increasing and summer right around the corner, music festivals are preparing to make their return all over the country, including up and down California, which has the lowest COVID-19 infection rate in the country now.

So why not escape to Doheny State Beach for a long weekend this September where you can rock out to Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder and Kings of Leon at Ohana Festival?

The three-day event founded by Vedder five years ago had already announced a 2020 lineup just days before the festival circuit was quickly shut down and now it has updated that roster, swapping in Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, indie-rock veterans Spoon, psych-soul duo Black Pumas, LA punk rockers The Regrettes, Long Beach’s very own Cold War Kids, Salt Lake City four-piece The Backseat Lovers and TikTok sensation Sky McCreery for originally announced acts like The Pretenders, Dermot Kennedy, EOB, Broken Social Scene, Gangs of Youth, Inhaler and Ethan Gruska.

As you can see from the poster above, Ohana Fest has delivered another largely rock-leaning bill after an excellent showing in 2019 headlined by The Strokes, Vedder and Red Hot Chili Peppers, but this year also boasts one of its strongest undercards with My Morning Jacket, Maggie Rogers, Sharon Van Etten, Durand Jones & The Indications, Mac Demarco, Wild Belle and Real Estate all worthy of catching down in Dana Point.

UPDATE (September 23rd): Just a little more than 24 hours before they were supposed to take the stage, Kings of Leon have canceled their headlining performance on Friday due to a family emergency. In their absence, My Morning Jacket will play an extended set and Vedder will close out the fest’s first day with an additional appearance.

Three-day GA and Sunday single-day tickets are already sold out, but single-day tickets for Friday and Saturday can still be purchased here for $138.50 plus fees. Don’t wait before it’s too late, Ohana fam!

Alessia Cara has a promising career ahead of her

Alessia CaraBy Steve Carlson //

Alessia Cara with Kevin Garrett, Craig Stickland, Leaf //
The Fillmore – San Francisco
February 11th, 2016 //

Toronto-area native and YouTube sensation Alessia Cara, 19, brought her soulful pop to The Fillmore last week in support of her debut LP Know-It-All, and the sold-out crowd was ready and eager for what proved to be a long and diverse night of music. The show featured no less than three opening acts, each with a completely different musical style from the others — truly a fitting lineup for the legendary Bill Graham’s former home.

First up was New York-based female rapper Leaf, who confidently hit the stage with a pair of dancers and later showed off the range of her talent by pulling out an acoustic guitar for a Justin Bieber singalong, which, unfortunately for her, fell a bit flat with the reserved crowd. Next was singer-songwriter Craig Stickland (not to be confused with the late country singer Craig Strickland), who stood and delivered a powerful set of soulful tunes with only the help of his acoustic guitar. And finally, there was Brooklyn soul-pop balladeer Kevin Garrett, who has toured alongside X Ambassadors and James Vincent McMorrow in the last year, arriving with a teddy bear look-alike in hand to serenade the audience with his own brand of smooth falsetto and downtempo, mellow pop.

Alessia Cara

With the stage clear for the night’s headlining act, Cara and her band arrived and proceeded to put on an energetic, hour-long set featuring every track from her debut album, culminating with the wildly popular single “Here” at the end of the main set. She paced back and forth across the stage like a caged animal, belting out her empowering hits with a confidence that went far beyond her age. But that’s not to say her youth didn’t show at times. When reflecting on the history of the legendary Fillmore, for example, Cara name-checked a few of the many famous acts who had played there, starting with … Coldplay. (She quickly redeemed herself with mentions of Jimi Hendrix and several others.) Thankfully, the appreciative crowd was more than happy to forgive her.

Setlist:
I’m Yours
Wild Things
Four Pink Walls
Overdose
Stars
Outlaws
Seventeen
Stone
River of Tears
Scars to Your Beautiful
Here

Encore:
Sweater Weather (The Neighbourhood cover)
My Song