BottleRock Napa Valley kicked off Friday afternoon. Now in it’s 7th year, the music festival brings in upwards of 40,000 each day to Napa’s exposition grounds. Like last year, I arrived after a long drive up form Los Angeles and missed acts scheduled in the early afternoon.
Walking in at just after 4pm the crowds were already bustling. The main walkway was already packed with people trying to weave their way to their next stage or the culinary garden. The first day was sunny, but not overly hot.
I arrived just in time to see Jenny Lewis, lead singer of indie rock band Rilo Kiley, female vocalist of The Postal Service and former child actor in such films as ‘The Wizard.’
From there caught what I could of Neon Trees in the festival’s VIP Acoustic Lounge before bouncing around stages, first heading to the main stage for OneRepublic, then running over to Sylvan Esso on the second stage (Firefox Stage) and The Dandy Warhols at the third stage (Bai Stage).
Other artists I was able to see portions of were Flogging Molly and Logic.
Imagine Dragons headlined day one. with a polished show that included multiple bursts of smoke canons and white confetti throughout the set. Towards the end, the band ventured to a small stage set up behind the soundboard area to perform a few songs acoustic in front of the general admission audience stuck at the back in the sold out crowd.
BottleRock Napa Valley continues for two more days with Neil Young + Promise of The Real headlining Saturday and Mumford & Sons headlining Sunday.
Here’s a quick photo recap of day 1 performances.
