Ohana Festival – Preview of a Fine Music Festival on the Beach

Ohana Festival has steadily built its reputation as a music festival that is manageable in size, perfect in its location and noted for its eclectic list of quality artists.

Corinne Bailey Rae performing at last year’s Ohana Festival (photo by Joy Auerbach)

Ohana Festival will again be at Doheny State Beach, and opens for three days of sun and music on Friday September 29.

The opening day features a brilliant selection of artists. The evening will close with Eric Church and Norah Jones, each of whom have established a solid fan base. But throughout the day, attendees will be able to check out several great choices. John Doe Folk Trio will have the LA veteran sampling from his deep song book. As a founding member of the seminal X and then The Knitters (the name an homage to the influential Weavers band), Doe has also recently published a new book “Under the Big Black Sun.” He will undoubtedly also assay selections from his fine new album The Westerner.

Friday also offers Amos Lee, Nikki Lane and The White Buffalo. Lee’s latest release My New Moon is great.

Saturday at Ohana will include Eddie Vedder, who learned to surf nearby and undoubtedly used that familiarity to co-found Ohana Festival several years ago. Last year he was wandering around backstage happily; he was a headliner along with buddy Jack Johnson. As to this year’s Saturday, Johnny Marr gave a superb show at Coachella a few years ago, his post-Smiths years have been good to him. Yeah Yeah Yeahs are generally a solid bet, and Liz Phair has been back in the spotlight lately. Her seminal debut Exit in Guyville was recently reissued. The additional tracks provide even more insight into her ambitious album-long response to the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St.

Sunday will close with Mumford & Sons and Beck. Both have passionate followers. Beck was last seen opening for U2, and his latest album Colors was released a year ago but shows no signs of getting old.

Approaching ‘the golden hour’ at last year’s Ohana Festival (photo by Joy Auerbach)

This is Ohana’s third year, and they have done a great job growing wisely. Single day and VIP tickets are available.


Brad Auerbach has been a journalist and editor covering the media, entertainment, travel and technology scene for many years. He has written for Forbes, Time Out London, SPIN, Village Voice, LA Weekly and early in his career won a New York State College Journalism Award.

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