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BottleRock Napa Valley 2021 Preview

It’s been nearly a year since the original lineup announcement for BottleRock Napa Valley 2020. It was only January, and we hardly knew anything yet about what would become of the world as we know it, especially for us live music lovers.

Fast forward to mid-May 2021, and most of us are starved for live events we might have once taken for granted. Fortunately, there’s finally a light appearing at the end of a very long and difficult tunnel.

I haven’t seen a show since January 2020. If you know me at all, you know that festivals are my favorite – especially one I can walk to from home. And finally, finally, finally, it seems like it’s about that time again. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…

Bottle Rock Napa Valley 2021’s lineup! I’m happy to see that quite a few of those originally slated for last year’s BRNV will be playing this Labor Day when vaccinated music-lovers can convene to enjoy! This includes original headliner Stevie Nicks, plus Guns N’ Roses (!!) and returning headliners Foo Fighters. In addition to those three, I’m also looking forward to several smaller acts! Personally, I can’t wait to catch Finneas, the freaking Village People (!!), Absofacto, Atlas Genius, Miley Cyrus, Megan Thee Stallion, Brandi Carlile, Cage the Elephant, Portugal. The Man, Young the Giant, Maren Morris, Black Pumas, Jon Batiste, Digable Planets, Matt Nathanson, Mondo Cozmo, Meg Myers, among many others. Who are you most excited to see this year?

Here’s my preview playlist featuring some of my faves. Enjoy, get vaccinated, and I’ll see you in my hometown this Labor Day weekend at BottleRock Napa Valley!

BottleRock ticket info: On sale 5/20 at 10 am PST. Get yours here!

BottleRock Napa Valley 2020 Preview

It’s January, and that means: festival announcement time, ladies and gents! This year, Napa Valley’s favorite festival (that’s Bottle Rock Napa Valley, if you didn’t already know) welcomes back headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers (yessss!), as well as BRNV-first-timers Stevie Nicks and Dave Matthews Band. In addition to those three huge acts, I’ll be trying to squeeze every drop of live music fun as possible into my weekend; I have so many other sets I want to try to catch! Personally, I’m most looking forward to seeing Maggie Rogers, Of Monsters and Men, Foals, Local Natives, Finneas, Caamp, The Band CAMINO, the freaking Village People (!!), Absofacto, Atlas Genius, Eliza & the Delusionals, and always brilliant and fantastically talented The Alive, among still many others. Who are you most excited to see this year?

Here’s my preview playlist featuring aforementioned faves. Enjoy and I’ll see you in my hometown this Memorial Day weekend at BottleRock Napa Valley!

Listen to BRNV2020 Playlist!

BottleRock ticket info: 3-Day Tickets are sold out, but single day passes go on sale tomorrow (1/9/20) at 10am PST).

BottleRock Napa Valley 2019: A Preview

The powers-that-be behind BottleRock Napa Valley never fail to impress me. This year’s festival lineup was announced this morning, boasting so many exciting artists it made my head swim a little: Imagine Dragons. Logic. OneRepublic. Sylvan Esso. Jenny Lewis. AJR. Anderson East. The Dandy Warhols. Neon Trees. Just Loud. Shannon Shaw. Flora Cash. And that’s just day one!

Days two and three add to the excitement, with Neil Young + Promise of the Real, Pharrell Williams, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Gary Clark Jr, Cypress Hill, Elle King, Sir Sly, Mumford & Sons, Santana, Bishop Briggs, Skylar Grey, Houses, and so many more. Also, anyone who watches Top Chef may have noticed that this year’s winner will have a slot on the culinary stage, which is always a fun place to check out between sets.

It’s hard not to look at this list and know you’ve got to be there. I think the hardest part will be, as usual, determining how to get from point A to point B in such a way that you catch at least parts of all the acts you don’t want to miss! Until BRNV releases an actual schedule, however, there’s not much to do but listen to these bands and look forward to May in eager anticipation. To help you do that, I made a little playlist: I’ve included some of my favorites from the artists that are generating the highest levels of impatience. Let’s hope these next 4 ½ months fly by, and I’ll see you this summer in Napa!

BottleRock Napa Valley 2019 preview playlist

BottleRock ticket info: 3-Day Tickets On Sale 1/8/19 at 10am. Single day passes on sale 1/10/19.

BottleRock Napa Valley 2017 Festival Journal, Day 3

The Foo Fighters intended to play until they could play no more (Photo credit: BottleRock Napa Valley / Latitude 38 Entertainment)

Where had the time gone? Somehow it was already Sunday, and Day 1 and Day 2 were already behind us!

Sunday promised to have the best weather of all, as well as some acts I’d been really looking forward to. Because I’d missed The Helmets last year – but heard them from my house and was impressed enough to text a friend who was already there, asking who they were – I knew in advance that I had to make it there early this year to see them in action. Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2017 Festival Journal, Day 3”

BottleRock Napa Valley 2017 Festival Journal, Day 2

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers headline Saturday at BottleRock Napa Valley 2017 (Photo credit: BottleRock Napa Valley / Latitude 38 Entertainment)

This year’s Saturday at BottleRock Napa Valley promised to be a beautiful warm and breezy 75 degrees, the perfect weather for a festival full of good music, great food and all the beer, wine, and cocktails you can handle! Once again, there were more acts scheduled than was possible to see all at once, so I had to pick and choose pieces of sets from the bands I most wanted to see to make it all work. (For example, who wants to decide between House of Pain and Bishop Briggs? I wanted to “jump around” and jam out with Ms. Briggs… Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2017 Festival Journal, Day 2”

BottleRock Napa Valley 2017 Festival Journal, Day 1

Maroon 5 headlines Friday night at BottleRock Napa Valley 2017 (Photo credit: BottleRock Napa Valley / Latitude 38 Entertainment)

Last weekend marked the return of my hometown’s beloved music, food and drink festival, BottleRock Napa Valley, which turned five this Memorial Day weekend. In addition to boasting phenomenal music lineups year after year, BRNV offers a wine garden, a “beer bend,” a silent disco, a beer and bourbon garden, displays of art throughout the festival grounds, and of course, the culinary delights that have come to be associated with this valley that is so much more than wine. Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2017 Festival Journal, Day 1”

Festival Preview: BottleRock Napa Valley, 2017

What a fantastic weekend to look forward to!

Like anyone else who’s devoted to her favorite festival, I have been waiting for this morning for quite some time. Why? Because that’s when BottleRock Napa Valley was set to announce this year’s lineup — and announce it they did. I knew that Dave Grohl had said back in 2013 that if the festival made it another year, the Foo Fighters would play it, so it’s exciting to see that they’re making good on that promise. In addition, I’m looking forward to catching Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers again (whom I saw a few years ago at Outside Lands), as well as Maroon 5, who I haven’t seen live since the Songs About Jane era. And those are just the headliners.

Continue reading “Festival Preview: BottleRock Napa Valley, 2017”

BottleRock Napa Valley 2016 Festival Journal, Day 3

Need a break from the amazing wine? No problem: grab a cocktail instead! (Photo credit: BottleRock Napa Valley / Latitude 38 Entertainment)

You’re reading Day 3. Have you checked out Day 1 and Day 2 as well?

Tye Trujillo follows in dad Robert's (of Metallica) footsteps. (Photo credit: BottleRock Napa Valley / Latitude 38 Entertainment) — Tye Trujillo follows in dad Robert’s (of Metallica) footsteps. (Photo credit: BottleRock Napa Valley / Latitude 38 Entertainment)

I don’t know why, but Day 3 always seems to be the day all my friends attend BottleRock. This year was no exception. Two friends came up from the South Bay, not wanting to miss a moment. While I waited for my bestie and her boyfriend to arrive, I heard the festival begin through my bedroom window. Before we left the house, I realized that the band on the main stage (the one I can hear) was killing a cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” so I texted one of my friends to find out who they were. She didn’t know, except to say that they were kids, and they were crushing it. I made a mental note to find out who they were and check them out. It turned out they were The Helmets, a band that includes Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo’s son Tye and three other kids, all currently aged 12 or under. I’m disappointed to have missed them, because from what I heard (literally from afar, as well as from those who were already present), they are an excellent band, kids or not! Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2016 Festival Journal, Day 3”

BottleRock Napa Valley 2016 Festival Journal, Day 2

BottleRock Napa Valley 2016: a not-to-be-missed love-fest! (Photo credit: BottleRock Napa Valley / Latitude 38 Entertainment)

You’re reading this year’s Day 2. Don’t forget to check out Day 1 too!

Wine isn't the only thing we enjoy drinking here! (Photo credit: BottleRock Napa Valley / Latitude 38 Entertainment) — Wine isn’t the only thing we enjoy drinking here! (Photo credit: BottleRock Napa Valley / Latitude 38 Entertainment)

Day 2 got a bit of a late start, but once inside, I wasted no time at all stopping by Lagunitas for a cold Aunt Sally, which is easily my favorite beer they make, since it’s the least hop-driven! I went directly to the JaM Cellars stage to catch Walk the Moon who were due to begin momentarily. I admit, I only know the band from a friend who loves them and their gigantic smash “Shut Up and Dance” that’s so popular even my two-year-old niece asks for it by name. As I expected, they put on a fun, energetic set, particularly with “Different Colors” (which frontman Nicholas Petricca said was about the “beauty of being different), “Tiger Teeth,” “I Can Lift a Car,” and past single “Anna Sun.” As many had taken to doing over the festival, Petricca reminded the crowd to take time to vote: “Figure it out, and then go vote. Go fucking vote! It’s up to us to figure out the future!” He went on to say that the performance marked the very last one of the band’s tour in support of their Talking is Hard record. As expected, “Shut Up and Dance” was a fun, wild ride with the entire crowd dancing and singing along. Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2016 Festival Journal, Day 2”

BottleRock Napa Valley 2016 Festival Journal, Day 1

The first taste of summer: BottleRock Napa Valley, the 2016 edition. (Photo credit: BottleRock Napa Valley / Latitude 38 Entertainment)

Before I get into all the details of the gloriousness that was this year’s BottleRock Napa Valley, please allow me a moment, not just to digress but to explain why this festival is so important to me. I was born in Napa. As many Napa kids do, I moved away in my early 20s seeking something more exciting (hard to imagine now, but at the time Napa was still a relatively small town without a lot to do). I had some oats to sow, and was gone for 5-6 years, but returned about a decade ago to go back to school. Since then, I often say that “this town and I grew up together,” as we’ve both evolved into something more worth enjoying. While once I was a kid from a small town most had never heard of (and because of which I often claimed SF or the Bay Area to those unfamiliar), I have since become a “townie,” and that’s okay with me. This place is something special, and I can’t imagine ever leaving. True, it was once far quieter (and okay, far more dull), but these days it’s really something to behold, and has earned its reputation as a world-famous, world-class destination on bucket lists the world over. So, add to that a phenomenal music festival that showcases not just the mind-blowing wines and taste-bud-tantalizing food for which we’re known, but consistently impressive musical lineups that offer something for everyone, year after year? How could I not love BottleRock? I’m happy to say that I’ve been BottleRocking since the very beginning, and I can’t imagine what it might take to keep me away. As you can imagine, I’m already looking forward to next year’s festival!

Okay, onward…this year, BottleRock was scheduled to fall on Memorial Day weekend. While I personally heard the frustration of local business owners (for many of whom the beloved festival pulls away business all weekend long), I didn’t have any reason to lament spending a long, beautiful-weathered weekend wandering the Napa Valley Expo grounds last weekend more or less than any other.

Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2016 Festival Journal, Day 1”