While the first day of BottleRock 2019 seemed geared towards the younger top 40 pop rock crowds (and probably their moms) with the likes of Imagine Dragons and OneRepublic, Day 2’s lineup had much more grit for the rock n’ roll fans.
I eased into the day with singer/songwriter Elley Duhe and an acoustic session by Elle King. I’d later see King again at her main stage set. Then it was on to hear some cranked guitar amps and some punk rock by The Regrettes. They have been on tour with Against Me! who also performed at BottleRock Saturday.
From there I caught a little bit of Slothrust, Sir Sly, Gary Clark Jr. and passed by Nathaniel Rateliff performing a solo acoustic set in the VIP Acoustic Lounge. Making a pit stop at the Culinary Stage, I arrived to see Taylor Hawkins using a t-shirt canon to blast candy on the audience. He was grabbing whatever was in the bowls on stage; sprinkles, marshmallows, gummy bears… Sen Dog of Cypress Hill was also throwing gummy worms and Twizzlers into the crowd. They were on stage with pastry chef Duff Goldman making a giant cake I think.
I also attempted to see Madison Beer, but gave up when she hadn’t taken the stage 10 minutes into her timeslot. From what I could see on stage there was no band so technical issues would’ve been less likely, so I’m not sure why the pop singer was late. Sets not starting on time was unfortunately a trend Saturday.
Chevy Metal was up next. The Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters drummer) led band played a set of rock and heavy metal covers that had Napa’s wine country crowd reliving their youth with songs by Van Halen, Queen and Motley Crue. Hawkins split time at the front of the stage and behind the drums.
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats were up next on the main stage. I wish I could have stayed to enjoy their set longer, but there’s quite a bit of artist overlap and I wanted to get photos of as many as I could. I ventured over to see Marian Hill just in time for their song ‘Down’ that basically catapulted their career because of an Apple commercial. Marian Hill singer Samantha Gongol was all smiles on the Bai Stage.
Then I raced over to the FireFox stage for Cypress Hill. If only Jeff Goldblum’s set had been scheduled for Saturday, then I could have made a joke about Cypress Hill stealing Goldblum’s orchestra. Mix Master Mike warmed up the crowd for about 10 minutes showing why he’s still the best on the turntables.
Next up was another stop at the Culinary Stage to see country singer Trisha Yearwood cooking with NFL hall of famer Jerry Rice.
Finally it was time for the two headliners of the day. Neil Young + Promise of The Real were scheduled to start at 8:15pm, but at 8:27 Neil had not taken the stage yet. And with Pharrell Williams starting at 8:30 on the second stage, I ran over there. Pharrell had a dance troupe around him has he went through his library of hit songs.
I returned to the main stage after 15 minutes in time for the start of Neil Young’s third song of his set ‘Alabama’. At one point the band would play two songs back to back jamming for 20 minutes straight with Young performing multiple guitar solos. The man is 73 and still rocking out and playing the guitar with ease. The show ended with an extended version of ‘Rockin’ in The Free World’. The performance went passed the noise curfew and the festival was forced to cut the sound from the main speakers, but the band continued to perform with just the monitor speakers and the crowd belting out the chorus. Young’s set ended up only being 12 songs, but the crowd was still thrilled.
Sunday has Mumford & Sons, Santana, Big Boi, Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, Bishop Briggs and more on the schedule. Rain is in the forecast. Hopefully it’ll be short and light.
Below are quick photo highlights from Day 2 of BottleRock 2019.
