For One Night Only!: Dora Jar curates her dream gig for DIY's back page • Interview • DIY Magazine

Each month, we ask a different Very Special Guest Star to curate their dream gig for our latest print magazine - and for our March 2025 issue, we welcomed Cali cult favourite and eclectic genre-hopper Dora Jar to DIY’s hallowed back page.

Where will it take place?

Shoreline Amphitheatre in Northern California; people are smoking weed and having boogies everywhere, there’s just such a great vibe. I saw my first ever concert there too – I think I was four years old, and that was where I realised that I needed to play guitar. It was a weekend of music raising money for The Bridge School, which is a school my sister went to, so it would be amazing if my concert was a similar kind of thing – like a weekend-long lineup built around raising money for special education, because that’s something that has always been important to me.

Who’s headlining?

Me! I’m gonna headline it. I think Tom Waits will be there as well… he’s opening for me! Let’s get Fleetwood Mac, ABBA, and Mary J Blige in there. I’m so into a range of things, I would never curate a show of similar-sounding artists – this is the full spectrum of everything I love.

Who’s supporting?

The lineup is going to be Kara Jackson, it’s gonna be Oklou, it’s gonna be Alex G, Nourished By Time, MAY, Cameron Winter… Did I say Yo-Yo Ma already? His stuff with the Silk Road Orchestra would be awesome.

Who are you going with?

Me, my crew, and my band, plus anyone else who wants to come. I’d like Mary Poppins to be there, she’s in the front row with her umbrella – she’s getting down to Yo-Yo Ma. Winnie The Pooh is there; the Powerpuff Girls are there.

What are you eating?

Ribs, rice, and peas. And soup – lots of different soups! Warm, hearty things; we’ll eat on big communal tables backstage.

Pre-gig activities?

Nah – it starts at about 1pm, and you’re probably waking up at 12pm, because you stayed up so late talking around a campfire the night before.

Is there an afterparty?

It’s just going to go on all night – it’s all about the music, and it’s all about dancing.

Any additional extras?

Yes! There’s gonna be four square; there’s gonna be a make your own cotton candy station; there’s gonna be a cookie decorating station with every colour frosting and every colour sprinkle. And the rule is that you can’t eat your own cookie – you have to give it to someone. And it’s called Sugar Mountain!

Dora Jar’s latest single ‘Lucky’ is out now.

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