We’re back at BottleRock Napa Valley for the fifth time.
Unlike previous years, we didn’t drive the 7 hour trek from L.A. to Napa. We flew to Oakland this time around and rented a car from there.
Traffic into Napa was still problematic. It took two hours to drive the 82km (51 miles) between the two cities
The goal was to reach the hotel around 3:30. We arrived at 4:20pm. Sadly that meant having to miss Chris Shifflet’s set and also Cameron Diaz’s appearance on the Culinary Stage.
Thankfully, the weather Friday had moderate temperatures or I probably would have collapsed in my speed-walk/run to the festival grounds to arrive and check-in in time for the 5 o’clock show.
Pop singer-songwriter Bebe Rexha performed on the Jam Cellars main stage just after 5pm. Unlike her Coachella show in April, Rexha did not have bleachers on the stage nor did she have a large dance team. She only had two dancers and her band with her. That was perfectly fine as it allowed the audience to concentrate their attention on Rexha and she was closer to the front of the stage more.
Swedish indie pop band Miike Snow began their set over on the Verizon Stage at the same time as Rexha. The band known for their song ‘Genghis Khan’ performed an hour-long set. I was having an issue with one of my festival wristbands so was only able to catch a brief glimpse of their performance.
It’s been five years since Taylor Hawkins took the stage with Chevy Metal at BottleRock and two years since his untimely death. Now, his 17-year-old son Shane has taken over the drum sticks for the dirt-rock cover band with guitarist Brent Woods and singer Wiley Hodgden. While the elder Hawkins is sorely missed, Shane has filled his father’s shoes well. The band brought Chris Shifflet as a guest guitarist for their performance of Van Halen’s’ ‘Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love’ and later brought a member of The Alive as a guest performer as well.
St. Vincent performed on the Jam Cellars stage next. She’s touring in support of her self-produced seventh album ‘All Born Screaming’. Annie Clark took the stage with just a mic singing ‘Reckless’, but soon after would play her signature Music Man guitar that she designed. The stage had a series of arches surrounding the band that were moved by her stage crew after the first song.
Back over on the Verizon Stage, it was getting hot in here with Nelly bringing some early 2000s hip hop. The VIP area for his set was packed with people as he performed his years of hits.
At the Prudential Stage, Gogol Bordello performed a two-hour set. The Manhattan gypsy-punk band has been around for 25 years. They’re known for their high energy and unpredictable live shows. The wine country crowd definitely was not as rowdy as other Gogol Bordello crowds I’ve seen and there was no band member playing a marching bass drum, so the likelyhood of crowd surfing on a drum seemed low.
I ventured over to the Truly Stage for the first time this year for Brooklyn, New York’s Say She She. The trio of female vocalists were bringing some disco vibes to the early evening as the temperature started to drop to about 10 degrees Celcius.
BottleRock Festival goers had an interesting choice in headliners with two having direct set time conflicts. Do you see a music legend in Stevie Nicks? Or a rap star in Megan Thee Stallion. One stage has decades of hits from Stevie Nicks’ solo work and her years with Fleetwood Mack. The other stage has a spectacle of choreography, pyro, bright colours and twerking.
Stevie Nicks did not approve any media photographers so the obvious choice was to cover Megan Thee Stallion first before running over to the main stage for Nicks. As for who the sold out BottleRock attendees chose? Clearly, the majority were at Stevie Nicks. It’s possible some of the Napa crowd made that choice because Megan The Stallion performed at BottleRock previously in 2021. I just found it interesting that Nelly had a larger crowd than Megan on the Verizon Stage.
Megan began her set stepping up alone on a riser at the back of the stage while fire cannons blasted flames at the front of the stage. Then her all female dance team came out wearing all pink which was fitting considering the subject matter of much of Megan The Stallion’s music. It was a well executed stage show that the audience was loving.
At the Jam Cellar’s main stage, the atmosphere was less intense. I was hoping to make it to hear Stevie Nick’s perform ‘Dreams’, but sadly that was performed very early in her 14-song set. For ‘Leather and Lace’, Nicks brought up her vocal coach Steve Real to perform the duet with her. The encore consisted of two Fleetwood Mac songs, ‘Rhiannon’ and ‘Landslide’. ‘Landslide’ was ruined for me and some near the front of house viewing area by an intoxicated middle aged woman yelling “Guaaarrrd!” repeatedly while walking around the crowd as if trying to get security’s attention for some reason, but there was no emergency as she followed it up by also yelling someone’s name while facing away from the stage and exclaiming “I love you!!!” Thanks for ruining the quietest song of the set lady.
BottleRock 2024 continues Saturday with Duff McKagan’s daughter starting off the day at noon and Pearl Jam headlining with a 2+ hour set. Will they play passed curfew and have the sound cut off on them? Stay tuned.