BottleRock Napa Valley 2015 Festival Journal, Day 3

I think Shakespeare might have been seeing into the future of BottleRock when he said “parting is such sweet sorrow.”  True story: on the last day of the inaugural festival in 2013, I remember thinking that I was like a kid at summer camp; I wanted to just keep coming back, but I knew that if I showed up the next day, all my friends would be gone and it would just be a big, sad mess that would leave me emotionally scarred.  Thankfully, though, after an amazing Day One and a lovely Day Two, I still had a whole final day to see, and this time, my bestie had come to join the fun. Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2015 Festival Journal, Day 3”

Photo Set: Highlights from BottleRock Napa, 2015

Robert Plant headlined Saturday night and played some of Led Zeppelin's greatest hits alongside some from his collaborations with Jimmy Page.
Robert Plant headlined Saturday night and played some of Led Zeppelin’s greatest hits alongside some from his collaborations with Jimmy Page.

The third annual BottleRock Napa festival was a blast and went smoothly…well, for the most part. The same elements that made the festival so appealing to attend, to begin with, including a generally laid-back, down-to-earth crowd, top-notch food from local high-end establishments, and reasonable lines, made the three-day event well worth the trip (as if there aren’t enough excuses to head to Napa already).

The biggest crowd pleasers were, unsurprisingly, Robert Plant, Snoop Dogg, and No Doubt who had massive crowds singing along to every word of familiar hits from their expansive catalogues. The unexpected highlight came in the form of Silent Disco, a service that provides wireless headphones that stream a band or DJs music. The silence enhances the energy within the crowd and it created a unique, transcendent experience for the participants. Each night people could be found dancing blissfully to sounds only they could hear.

Enough about my experience, here are the photos you want to see.

Continue reading “Photo Set: Highlights from BottleRock Napa, 2015”

Show Review + Photo Gallery: Aftershock Music Festival – September 13-14, 2014

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF

Across the Midwest and Southeast United States, from the last weekend of April through May 31, were seven Monster Energy Drink sponsored rock music festivals dubbed “The World’s Loudest Month”.  Rock on the Range, Carolina Rebellion, Welcome to Rockville, Fort Rock, RockFest, River City Rockfest, and Rocklahoma collectively entertained hundreds of thousands of hard rock and heavy metal fans in Columbus, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Ft. Myers, Kansas City, San Antonio, and Pryor (OK), respectively.  Music fans most certainly traveled long distances to attend these festivals, with their amazing 1-3 day lineups featuring the likes of Rob Zombie, Korn, Five Finger Death Punch, Guns N Roses, Limp Bizkit, Avenged Sevenfold, Kid Rock, Slayer, Deftones, Twisted Sister, Staind, and Godsmack, just to name a few.

Continue reading “Show Review + Photo Gallery: Aftershock Music Festival — September 13-14, 2014”

Show Review: Live 105’s BFD at Shoreline Amphitheater, 5/19/2013

BFD - Header
BFD is not getting its deposit back.

There are a few things you can learn from going to BFD, Live 105’s annual concert at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View. Among these are that people will wait in huge lines to spin any prize wheel, it can take over an hour to go from the highway exit to a parking space, and there’s no such thing as a “bad lineup” for BFD. It will nearly always sell out, and will always have some surprises. And this year, with the “Surprise Special Guest” appearing on the bill, we knew we were in for at least one. Continue reading “Show Review: Live 105’s BFD at Shoreline Amphitheater, 5/19/2013”