A day where soul, rock, and folk collided!
Saturday at Ohana Fest 2025 unfolded like a perfectly balanced playlist: unpredictable but seamless, shifting from hazy folk to unshakable soul, from roots-rock swagger to kaleidoscopic indie fever. Set against Dana Point’s Doheny State Beach, the festival field was alive with contrasts — sun and clouds trading shifts, ocean air brushing the crowd with a chilly kiss, and a sea of fans blending laid-back surf town vibes with big-festival energy.
Day two’s lineup leaned into variety. Margo Price opened with a twangy defiance that cracked the day wide open, setting the tone with grit and heart. Royel Otis brought a dreamy haze of jangly indie-pop, the kind of music that felt like salt spray hitting skin. The Tedeschi Trucks Band elevated things into pure musicianship, layering blues and jam-rock into something cosmic. Then came Rainbow Kitten Surprise, delivering their shapeshifting, genre-bending set with explosive charisma, igniting the field in dance.
As the sun dipped, Leon Bridges strolled onto the stage like a velvet wave, his voice smooth enough to quiet even the rowdiest corners of the crowd. And closing it all, Hozier summoned a set that felt elemental, a sermon of sound beneath a darkening California sky. Day two was a journey, and every turn mattered.
MARGO PRICE
Margo Price kicked off the afternoon with a set that felt like both a celebration and a declaration. Armed with a sharp voice and sharper wit, she tore through songs that carried equal parts Nashville polish and outlaw bite. Tracks like “I Just Don’t Give A Damn” and “Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down” rang out like open-road anthems, while her storytelling on stage gave the crowd a glimpse into her rebel soul.
The Doheny breeze seemed to sync with her rhythms — gusts rising as guitars howled, calming during her softer moments. What made Price’s set click was her unflinching balance of vulnerability and swagger; she could command a field of strangers yet make it feel like a back-porch singalong. By the time she wrapped her performance with Bob Dylan’s cover “Maggie’s Farm”, the crowd was warmed up in every sense, bodies swaying, sunglasses tipped toward the stage. She didn’t just open Day 2 for us — she anchored it with a voice that refuses to fade.
ROYEL OTIS
Sydney’s Royel Otis duo with Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic, transformed Doheny Beach into a sun-bleached daydream. Their jangly guitars and buoyant melodies radiated a blissful haze, perfect for the patchwork skies above. “Adored” and “Heading For The Door” shimmered with carefree nostalgia, each chord dripping with the same salty sweetness as the Pacific itself. While their music floats in a delicate indie-pop ether, their stage presence kept things grounded — grins, easy banter, and a rhythm that tugged the crowd closer like a tide pulling at the shore.
What stood out was how effortlessly their sound meshed with the California setting; it felt less like a performance and more like the natural score of the afternoon. With the last track on their setlist, “Oysters In My Pocket,” fans danced in little pockets across the field, some with eyes closed, some with hands high. By the end, Royel Otis had left behind an atmosphere as refreshing as a first dive into cold ocean water.
TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND
When the Tedeschi Trucks Band takes a stage, they don’t just play songs — they build worlds. Their Ohana Fest set unfurled like a massive tapestry of blues, soul, and improvisational fire, with Derek Trucks’s guitar practically singing its own language and Susan Tedeschi’s voice grounding it all in earth-shaking soul. Tracks like “Midnight in Harlem,” “Made Up Mind,” and The Who’s cover “The Seeker” with Eddie Vedder on stage, stretched long and luscious, morphing into jams that felt both spontaneous and eternal. The 12-piece ensemble filled the stage with a gravitational pull, every instrument carving its own voice yet never straying from the collective groove.
The crowd, wrapped in jackets against the cold breeze, was visibly locked in — some swaying, some head-nodding, some simply staring in awe at the sheer mastery unfolding. Their set was a reminder that musicianship on this level is a rare, living thing. In a day stacked with variety, Tedeschi Trucks delivered the most intricate, jaw-dropping performance. They finished their incredible performance with The Beatles’ cover “With A Little Help From My Friends.”
RAINBOW KITTEN SURPRISE
Rainbow Kitten Surprise arrived like a shot of technicolor lightning, jolting Ohana’s mellow afternoon into euphoric chaos. From the first surge of “When It Lands” to the catchy tones of “Cocaine Jesus,” their set was an unrelenting wave of movement and catharsis. Frontperson Ela Melo commanded the stage with electric energy — leaping, spinning, and urging the crowd into something close to collective transcendence. Their ability to flip from gut-punch vulnerability to all-out anthems kept fans on edge in the best way possible. The sound was tight yet unhinged, bending genres without ever losing coherence.
The festival field turned into a sea of hands and voices, everyone feeding off the kinetic unpredictability. Against the shifting skies, RKS’s set felt like a storm breaking — chaotic, cleansing, and impossible to ignore. By the end, with “It’s Called: Freefall,” the crowd wasn’t just entertained; they were exhilarated, pulsing with a shared sense of release.
LEON BRIDGES
There’s a certain alchemy to Leon Bridges — his voice doesn’t just carry notes, it carries eras. At Ohana Fest, his set flowed like velvet smoke, wrapping the crowd in a time-traveling blend of classic soul and contemporary smoothness. With an incredible presence on stage, he immediately hushed the chatter, turning thousands into listeners leaning forward. Bridges’ stage presence is understated but magnetic; every step, every gesture feels intentional, almost ritualistic.
Songs like “Better Man,” “Mariella,” and “Texas Sun” unfurled like confessions set to rhythm, while his newer material slipped seamlessly into the mix, proof of his evolution without erasing his roots. The cool breeze across Doheny only added to the atmosphere, his voice cutting through like warmth against chill. When he closed with “Beyond,” it was less a finale and more a benediction — an embrace from an artist who knows exactly how to bridge nostalgia and now.
HOZIER
Hozier closed Day 2 with a performance that felt elemental, as if the ocean air, shifting clouds, and gathering night were conspiring with him. With “Jackie And Wilson” and “From Eden” casting their spell early, his voice rose like a storm swell — vast, unpredictable, and deeply human. His band created a cathedral of sound, violins soaring over pounding drums, while the crowd stood rapt, hands pressed to hearts or reaching skyward.
The emotional peak came with songs “Too Sweet” and “Take Me To Church”, a moment that transcended the song’s ubiquity, transforming into a communal hymn sung by thousands under darkening skies. Yet it wasn’t just about the hits: deeper cuts and newer material showcased his fearless storytelling, drenched in myth and marrow. By the time he closed with “Nina Cried Power,” the festival field felt both exhausted and renewed. Hozier didn’t just headline — he conjured a spiritual ending to the day’s odyssey.
Day two of Ohana Fest 2025 wasn’t just a lineup — it was a living narrative, one that moved from dusty roots to soul-stirring crescendos, from technicolor chaos to elemental closings. Each artist left behind their own imprint, stitched together by the coastal air, the shifting weather, and the palpable camaraderie of the crowd. What tied it all together was a sense of balance: big-name legends and rising voices, introspective whispers and roaring anthems, sunshine highs and cloudy chills.
Standing in that field, the Pacific just beyond the trees, you could feel the gravity of music pulling strangers into communion. It was proof of why festivals like this matter — not just for the star power, but for the unexpected magic of live music in the right place, at the right time. By the end of the night, Day 2 had given Dana Point more than a concert. It gave it a memory.
