Ahhh, BottleRock. Last year, it was surreal that my tiny hometown had put together such a terrific festival. And then the bottom fell out. While I won’t go into the specifics of why most of the year was a matter of “will they or won’t they?”, I will say that there were more than a few skeptics about the likelihood of a BottleRock 2014. I never lost hope, and was thrilled when it was finally announced that our festival hadn’t died after its first year. This year’s lineup boasted headliners Eric Church, Outkast, and The Cure! Other acts included Heart, Weezer, The Fray, Smashmouth, Third Eye Blind, Matisyahu, Sublime with Rome, and many, many more. On top of that, what (I think) makes this festival cooler than any other is that it’s situated right smack in the middle of Napa’s lovely climate, and offers an overwhelming array of options from our local food and wine lover’s paradise. Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2014 Festival Journal, Day 1”
As most everyone knows, Bradley Nowell passed away in 1996, months before the release of their self-titled record that ended up taking the world by storm. Very few people actually saw Sublime live because of this. Which may have been to the benefit of the band, because Sublime were a terrible live band. Nowell was wasted about 90% of the time, and rarely was able finish a song. The vast majority of the people that are offended by this reformation of the band aren’t aware of this. This version of Sublime is more than just a chance for the original rhythm section to hit the road again, this is a shot a redeeming Brad Nowell’s memory