The final day of BottleRock 2024 was a warm one. After my 8 minute walk from the hotel to the venue, I already had to drink a whole can of water. The lemonade stands already had long lines when I arrived at 1:20 in the afternoon.
Kicked off my day of coverage with Austin Texas duo Jane Leo. Jane Ellen Bryant and Daniel Leopold started out as two musicians working together to write music before the pandemic hit. Then they became a couple. Their music is heavily influenced by Devo, Blondie, Iggy Pop, The Stooges and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It’s just the two of them on stage. They started off positioned fairly far apart, but eventually Bryant took her mic off the mic stand to move around the stage and interact with Leopold.
Next up was some Canadian content with The Beaches. The Rocktographers team is no strangers to The Beaches having covered pretty much every appearance they’ve made in Victoria, BC. Seeing them in the early afternoon at the Jam Cellars main stage performing to an American audience gave a glimpse of how far they’ve expanded their fan base in the U.S.
Lead singer Jordan Miller told the audience early on that they came to Napa after performing at Red Rocks the previous night and that they were running on about an hour’s sleep. They didn’t look sleep deprived.
Los Angeles indie-pop band Cannons took to the the Verizon stage just as the outdoor temperature was about to reach its peak and the sunlight was starting to creep onto the stage making things challenging for photographers. This was one of the only performances all weekend that I was able to stay in the area to watch the full set. Their biggest hit ‘Fire For You’ was their final song.
They later performed a second set in the VIP Village. Lead singer Michelle Joy changed her dress to a tiger striped one for the acoustic set.
After Cannons’ main performance, I headed over to the Truly stage where Bully were performing. Bully is the solo project of Nashville Tennesee singer-songwriter Alicia Bognanno. Sadly, I was only able to be there for two songs before having to run to the next act. I was really liking what I was hearing.
Rapper Action Bronson was next on the Verizon Stage. The rapper/chef who an hour earlier was one of the celebrity guests on the Culinary Stage stepped on stage backed by a 4-piece band. It’s not often you see a rap artist perform with a full band and without a DJ. There were a couple points in the first part of the set that felt like a Jazz jam. Bronson also had a tablet with sound effects he toyed with between tracks.
Norah Jones performed at the Jam Cellars stage. During a break between songs, Jones asked the audience, “Can you see me? Or am I like ‘Where’s Waldo’?” referencing how her striped dress matched the the coloured strips on the LED screen behind her. Her set was perfect for lying on the grass and chilling out listening to. The only disappointment for me was that she didn’t perform that Lonely Island track where she raves about Chex Mix. (haha)
The Offspring performed their myriad of hits at the Verizon Stage starting off with ‘Come Out and Play’. Ed Sheeran joined them on stage about eight songs in for ‘Million Miles Away’. It was the first time the band has performed the song in eight years. Lead singer Bryan “Dexter” Holland told the audience that Sheeran told him ‘Conspiracy of One’ was the first CD he ever bought.
The Soul Rebels featuring Talib Kweli were at the Prudential Stage. There seemed to be some technical problems with some of the band members monitor speakers. The New Orleans based brass band still sounded great as they performed originals and brass covers of songs like Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’. Unfortunately I missed Talib Kweli due to him only taking the stage towards the end of the set. I had left for Cannons’ VIP Village set by then.
Ed Sheeran headlined the JaM Cellars main stage. Arriving in the photo pit there was noticabely very little on stage. I could only see a keyboard and three microphones.
Sheeran stepped on to the stage at 8:15 alone. I had no idea he wasn’t touring with a band. His show is just him, his guitar, a keyboard and looping machine. He told the massive audience that everything they heard would be done live without any pre-done backing tracks.
Unfortunately, Sheeran discovered his keyboard wasn’t working at the start of the second song, ‘Shivers’. He asked his team to fix the keyboard then said to the audience, “I’ll play something else. That’s how you know it’s all live.”
The keyboard was functioning again after 6 songs. I wasn’t there for it as I took some time to check watch Queens of The Stone Age for a few minutes. I wasn’t one of the approved photographers for the photo pit so I just watched from the VIP side and took a couple shots from a distance. It was clear that the vast majority of festival goers were packed at Ed Sheeran because there was plenty or room to get a good view of the Josh Homme and the rest of the band on the Verizon Stage.
For the short time I was there it was a solid rock performance. Though at one point Josh Homme told the audience he was on mushrooms.
I then ventured to the Prudential Stage where Stephen Marley closed out the Prudential Stage. The stage set up had a large golden lion statue behind him with his band in a line sitting in chairs. Banners with the portraits of Bob Marley and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie were beside the golden lion. Marley’s show was a more unplugged experience with him sitting in the middle of the stage hitting bongo drums.
Lastly, I ventured over the to the Truly Stage for the last Silent Disco of the weekend that featured Mix Master Mike vs. Trackstar The DJ. When you enter the area of the stage you have the choice of headphones that are lit with green lights or red lights depending on which DJ’s set you wanted to listen to. I chose neither because I was just there to take a few quick photos. It’s one thing to see a crowd of people dancing and reacting to silence during the day, it’s even more bizarre at night. People looked to be having a great time. At one point Mix Master Mike’s team tossed t-shirts into the crowd.
