Eddie Vedder brought some friends for his headlining set on Day 1 of Ohana Festival 2026. What most of the audience didn’t know was that his friends for the majority of the show would be the rest of Pearl Jam.
Vedder began his set in front of a black drape blocking the rest of the stage behind him as he perform a few songs acoustically, kicking off with ‘Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town’. He was then joined by guitar tech Simon Good to perform a heartfelt cover of Glen Hansard’s ‘Song of Good Home’ as a tribute to the late singer-songwriter who died in a motorcycle accident in late July. Hansard was a frequent performer at Ohana over the festival’s ten years.
Billy Idol, who performed a full set earlier in the day, was the next friend to take the stage, covering The Who’s ‘I’m One’.
Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament was the final guest for the acoustic portion of the show.
Vedder then started to perform ‘Corduroy’ by himself, but suddenly stopped to ask for an electric guitar instead. He also told the audience that the song could use a few more friends. The black drap dropped revealing the rest of his Pearl Jam bandmates plus Paul McCartney’s drummer Abe Laboriel Jr.
Eddie Vedder and Friends was a full on secret Pearl Jam show. Fans who purchased an Eddie Vedder and Friends show poster or a white t-shirt with graphical lettering saying “This is not an Eddie Vedder t-shirt” unknowingly bought a piece of merch with invisible ink. Shine a UV/black light on it and it revealed “Pearl Jam”. The band was only officially scheduled for Day 3.
Laboriel Jr. was announced by Vedder as “filling in” at drum, but speculation is that he might be the permanent replacement for Matt Cameron. Fans will learn more on Sunday night.
I arrived at the festival in the mid-afternoon, missing a few acts due to usual first day travel delays. Upon entering the grounds, I found out Florence Road were unable to perform at Day 1 due to all of their gear being stolen from their van in Los Angeles the previous night. According to an Instagram post, the festival is efforting to possibly provide them a timeslot later in the weekend.
Doheny State Beach was toasty and humid Friday. The 20,000 festival goers seemed to be staying hydrated as there were no noticeable stoppages of sets for audience medical attention so far.
Australia’s Courtney Barnett was the first artist I was able to cover. The fog machines were on full blast at the front of the Tiki Stage for her set as she bounded around with her guitar.
Punk rock legends Bad Religion were next on the Ohana Main Stage. Eddie Vedder joined them on stage for ‘American Jesus’, a track that Vedder originally provided backup vocals for in 1993.
At 70 years old, Billy Idol can still rock. His voice is as strong as ever. His guitarist, Steve Stevens, can also still shred a solid guitar solo.
Co-headlining the night were Mexican rock legends MANA. Eddie Vedder introduced the band saying that MANA own the record of most sold out arena shows in Los Angeles. MANA’s high-energy set featured some of their biggest hits including ‘Oye Mi Amor’, ‘Clavado enun Bar’ and ‘Rayando El Sol’. They also mixed in a little Bob Marley into the show. The Ohana audience was receptive to the performance, but probably weren’t as loud as MANA are used to with their own shows with not as many Latin Americans in the crowd.
