Artist-curated festivals usually operate on the personal taste of the musicians who assemble them, and Eddie Vedder has built Ohana Festival around that exact spirit. When Pixies took the main stage at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, California, on Sunday, September 27, the setting made an unexpected appearance feel entirely natural. The Boston group presented a stripped-back performance, eventually bringing out Vedder to share the microphone on one of their definitive tracks.
The centerpiece of the collaboration came when frontman Frank Black introduced Wave Of Mutilation, from their 1989 album Doolittle. Looking out across the water, Black announced the track as a little nautical song that seemed appropriate for an audience standing right on the sand. He then called Vedder out as the host with the most, turning the song into a joint vocal performance against the backdrop of the Pacific shore.
That appearance arrived within a sixteen-song set where Pixies used a leaner presentation to emphasize their signature contrast between strange melodies and abrasive hooks. Alongside setlist staples such as Debaser, Gouge Away, Here Comes Your Man, and Where Is My Mind?, the band worked in two notable covers. They played Head On by The Jesus And Mary Chain, and they turned to In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song), originally written by Peter Ivers and David Lynch, nodding directly to their idiosyncratic artistic roots.
Vedder joining the group was rooted in a genuine, long-standing admiration. In 2022, the Pearl Jam singer ranked the band's 1988 debut, Surfer Rosa, among his favorite albums of all time. Speaking about the record, Vedder praised the uninhibited nature of Black Francis as a vocalist, describing how he simply let his throat loose until strange noises emerged. Vedder noted the singular ability to yell nonsense syllables while still projecting real emotional depth, comparing the trait to David Byrne while pointing out how few singers can ever access that kind of vocal freedom.
The history between both camps extends back to the early nineties, when Pearl Jam was still finding its footing. During that period, Vedder sought guidance from the Pixies circle. Drummer David Lovering and his wife, who worked as a publicist for Epic Records, met with the young singer to offer encouragement during an uncertain transitional phase. Lovering later admitted he walked away from that meeting assuming Pearl Jam was simply another ambitious group, only to watch them achieve massive, rapid success almost immediately afterward.
Pearl Jam's own set at Ohana came during a significant transitional moment for the lineup. Following the release of their 2024 studio album, Dark Matter, longtime drummer Matt Cameron left the group after twenty-seven years of service. For their festival appearance at Doheny State Beach, the band tapped Abe Laboriel Jr., known for his extensive work with Paul McCartney, to step behind the drums.
Pixies have spent recent months acknowledging their enduring impression on other musicians. During an appearance at Mad Cool 2026 earlier in the summer, the group responded to Dave Grohl after he publicly called Surfer Rosa the perfect record. Seeing Vedder step up beside Frank Black on the beach offered another glimpse of how deeply that original catalog remains embedded among the artists who followed them.
