BottleRock Napa Valley 2023 Festival Journal, Day 3

(You’re reading Day 3. Be sure to catch up on Day 1 and Day 2!)

Day 3 of BottleRock Napa Valley is always bittersweet because it’s the last day, and I want to see more phenomenal artists, but my feet hurt, and I’m ready to get back to my real life, too. While I’ve been off to the races the past two days, seeing bands right away in the first hour of the day, today I opted for a slower, easier start. I stopped to catch a bit of Half Alive, where I enjoyed the trio’s energy and especially “Still Feel.”

Over on the JaM Cellars stage, I absolutely adored UK rock band The Struts. As soon as lead singer Luke Spiller started singing, I remembered how much I always thought I can hear Queen as one of his big influences – he even sounds a bit like Freddie Mercury. (Queen is my all-time favorite band, so this is meant as a compliment.) Right away, they started playing the fun songs I know, like “Kiss This” and “Body Talks,” as well as “Could Have Been Me” at the close of their set. Man, this was definitely a band I thoroughly enjoyed. I’ll be looking for my next chance to catch them headlining!

Up next was the brilliant and beautiful Sheryl Crow, who I loved immediately. While this was the first time I’ve gotten to catch Crow live, I’ve been a fan since “All I Wanna Do,” which I was happy to hear within the first few songs of her set. Her voice is perfect live, and she has really great energy. She also showed concern for the well-being of the crowd, making sure to pause to ask if everyone was going to be drinking lots of wine (and/or beer) and smoking weed. In other words, “Are you gonna have a good time?” It was such a treat to hear flawless live versions of so many of Crow’s songs I’ve enjoyed for so long. Highlights included “If It Makes You Happy,” “A Change Would Do You Good,” “The First Cut is the Deepest,” and “Strong Enough.”

I’ve been looking forward to seeing Caamp since I first heard “Peach Fuzz” back in 2019. I’ve been hooked on Taylor Meier’s raspy voice from the jump, so it was great to get to check them out live finally. They were a perfect band for the middle of the afternoon at the JaM Cellars stage, and while there was a little sprinkling happening off and on, it was nothing worth worrying about! I particularly enjoyed “Officer of Love,” “The Otter,” “By and By,” and “No Sleep.”

In the early evening, I returned to the JaM Cellars stage for The National, which turned out to be a great set for the late afternoon/early evening of a chilly Sunday. I enjoyed their current single, “Tropic Morning News,” as well as “Eucalyptus” and “I Need My Girl.”

To end a long, busy weekend full of amazing music, I had to choose between Lil Nas X and the iconic Red Hot Chili Peppers. While I’m much more into rock than hip-hop, I enjoy both, and I had to consider the performance value of Lil Nas X, since he’s known for being deliciously over-the-top and rockin’ some amazingly outrageous outfits, too. Still, I ended up heading back to the JaM Cellars stage for RHCP, promising myself I’d catch Lil Nas X another time.

As it turns out, I absolutely made the right choice (with zero disrespect intended to Lil Nas X). The Chilis were just fantastic, making a perfect end to a great music weekend. Wow, what a career these guys have had – forty years together! And to think of all the hits they’ve given us along the way… it’s pretty awe-inspiring if you stop to consider! Their energy was great, they sounded great, they were clearly having fun (which I always find increases my level of enjoyment as well), and I probably could have stayed for another hour if they’d have kept playing (but of course, Napa is quite strict about sound curfews, so that wouldn’t have been an option).

Highlights from the RHCP set included “Snow ((Hey Oh)),” “Soul to Squeeze,” “Californication,” and especially John’s wonderful cover of Loggins & Messina’s “Danny’s Song,” which took me right back to happy childhood moments. They concluded their set with a two-song encore (“Under the Bridge” and “Give it Away”), leaving me feeling sad that the end had arrived but also relieved that I’d made it through the weekend!

Before I could get home and to my bed, I had one more set to catch: local Napa cover band Drive – The Band was playing a BottleRock after-show in Downtown Napa. I think it’s really important to support live music, and I wanted to check them out, so I managed to find one of only two comfy chairs in the entire (tiny) eyewear shop that had been turned into a decent afterparty space and settled in for the first of their two sets. 

While I know that some members of Drive have been together for years, I also know that they have two fairly new members (Rob Monaghan on bass and Ron Macler on drums), so I was prepared for the possibility that they might not yet have a tight sound. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed most of their cover tunes. In particular I loved their cover of The Black Keys’ “Gold on the Ceiling,” as well as Modern English classic “I Melt With You,” Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” and Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker.” It was such a fun way to end my BottleRock weekend, and I’m looking forward to seeing more from these local boys soon!

That’s it for me this year. If you’re like me and you’re already thinking about next year’s BottleRock Napa Valley, you can get your tix here. See you there!