Ecca Vandal Brings Explosive Energy to Ohana Festival
Ecca Vandal doesn't do subtle, and her Ohana Festival set at the Ohana Stage was exactly the jolt of raw, genre-smashing energy the afternoon needed. Playing in support of her album Looking For People To Unfollow, the Melbourne-via-LA artist delivered a tight, eight-song set that fused punk aggression, hip-hop cadence, and industrial-leaning production into something that felt like nothing else on the bill.
Opening with "Eyes Shut," Vandal immediately commanded the stage with the kind of ferocity that's become her trademark, her vocal delivery snapping between melodic hooks and full-throated shouting within the same breath. "Came Here for the Loot" and "Molly" kept that intensity climbing, each song built on hard-hitting rhythms and distorted guitar textures that made the whole performance feel like a controlled explosion. "Bleed But Never Die" showed off the more anthemic side of her songwriting, a track built for exactly the kind of outdoor festival crowd that was in front of her.
The set's back half leaned even further into that genre-blurring identity. "Vertical Worlds" and "Dance In Debt" pushed into darker, more electronic territory without losing any of the physical urgency that defines her live show, while "Cruising to Self Soothe" offered a brief moment to catch a breath before closer "Sorry! Crash!" sent the whole thing out with maximum force. Pulling the entire set from a single album is a bold move for a festival slot, but Vandal made the case that Looking For People To Unfollow works as a complete, cohesive statement live, not just a collection of singles.
What stood out most was just how much Vandal commits physically to every second onstage, pacing, snarling, and fully inhabiting songs that demand that kind of total investment to land correctly. It's the kind of performance that wins over a crowd that may not have known her name walking in, purely on the strength of sheer presence and conviction. By the time the set wrapped, it was clear plenty of new fans had been made.
Ecca Vandal is exactly the kind of artist festivals like Ohana exist to introduce to wider audiences, someone genuinely doing something different and doing it with total commitment. If you get the chance to catch her live, go in ready for a full-body experience.
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