The final day opened with the scrappy energy of Skating Polly and Lambrini Girls and the smoldering punk of The Chats. As with Saturday, this was a very different type of crowd. Green Day is a legacy act for sure, but there were punks of all ages on the beach.

High Vis brought more high-octane urgency to the Ohana Stage at 2:40. Their set was ferocious and lean, like another energy drink for the Sunday crowd. Inherently, punk is political, and they made their own observations about the insane state of the world right now. Both their performance and politics were a terrific tone setter for the day.

After this, on the Tiki Stage, Eddie Vedder resurfaced as his tongue-in-cheek pseudonym Amanda Reckonwith. Sound that one out. The alter ego allowed Vedder to let loose with humor, camp, and lots of storytelling. It created one of the weekend’s most intimate moments and gave his biggest fans one last memory of him to leave the weekend with.

James followed at 4:25 and was easily one of the highlights of the weekend. I had only known their massive hit “Laid” (of American Pie-trailer fame) but was absolutely blown away by their chemistry and performance. Tim Booth, the lead singer, made trips out into the crowd to dance and experience the afternoon together. Their decades of experience together really showed as they played off one another and made these beautiful pop songs epic. At one point Booth even said “We just kinda come up here and improvise. We don’t know what the fuck we’re doing”. A modest POV from someone who clearly does know what they’re doing.

Later, Wet Leg packed the Tiki Stage at 5:20, delivering sardonic wit and punchy riffs. Wet Leg were an impossibly buzzy band a few years ago and somehow did the impossible this year – release an equally impressive sophomore album. Their set list was filled with songs from this second record along with the hits from the first. Songs like “Chaise Longue” turned into massive singalongs, while their cheeky banter between songs kept things loose and fun. My personal highlights were new album standout “mangetout” and first album closer “Too Late Now”.

By early evening, Cage the Elephant hit the Ohana Stage at 6:25 with Matt Shultz’s unpredictable energy turning the set into a chaotic, unhinged spectacle. Shultz spent much of the set jumping and writhing around on stage like he was singing his hits for the first time, blurring the line between performer and fan of his own work. Songs like “Spiderhead” absolutely erupted off stage. It also helped that there was lots of fire. Towards the end of the set, there was a Starlink ship that went across the sky as the sun set. Shultz remarked “I think I just saw a UFO”. I think the alien was actually on stage.

Finally, Green Day took the stage at 8:05 to close the festival with a triumphant, career-spanning set. Billie Joe Armstrong’s absolutely relentless sincerity and call and responses were exactly what you would want and expect from a Green Day performance. The band tore through decades of hits: “Basket Case”, “American Idiot”, “Wake Me Up When September Ends”, “When I Come Around”, “Welcome to Paradise”, “21 Guns”… the list goes on and on. They were as sharp as ever, and the audience responded in kind, singing every word at the top of their lungs. It was a fitting send-off, a reminder that while the weekend celebrated new voices, it was the enduring legends who left the deepest mark.

Review & Photos by: Andrew Ameter

Like what you read? Follow our social media and playlist for the latest in independent music: