BottleRock Napa Valley was back for 2024 and brought one of the best festival lineups of the summer. The annual music festival held in Napa Valley, California. This year, like previous years, featured a diverse lineup of musical acts across various genres, including rock, pop, hip-hop, indie, and more. Performers were featured on 7 different stages, as well as the Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage. Festival attendees took part in not only great music but also food, wine, and art, reflecting the cultural richness of the Napa Valley region.
The Festival goes for three days, and started on Friday, May 24. When the doors opened at 11:30am, the first artist we decided to watch was Grace Bowers and her band, The Hodge Podge, on the JaM Cellars Stage. The Bay Area born 17-year-old owned the stage like she’s been a star for years. She rocked out on her maroon colored guitar in a beautiful black flowy dress embellished with gold trim and pearls. You can see she will for sure be a part of keeping the future of blues guitar alive.
Next, at 2pm, we caught folk-rock artist Pete Yorn’s performance. He came out on stage in a laid-back outfit with a black beanie and a worn-down gray t-shirt. Yorn strummed along to a whopping 18 songs during his set including the well-loved songs “Life On A Chain” and “Strange Condition,” new song “Someday, Someday” and a creative cover of Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” He thanked the team at BottleRock for having him back after a 2023 cancellation due to a health issue.
On the Truly Stage, we saw Alexsucks, whose sound is reminiscent of the grunge movement of the 90’s. Frontman Alex Alvarez, who doesn’t actually suck at music, put on a great performance of some of his band’s few released songs as of yet off of their debut 2023 album, The Gutter.
On the VIP Village Stage by Rakuten we saw the 70’s dirt rock cover band Chevy Metal. The band’s late frontman was Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who is now replaced by his 16-year-old son Shane who has definitely lived up to his father’s talent. Lead guitarist Chris Shiflett of Foo Fighters joined the band to sing and play guitar. The lively rock group covered 11 different songs by legendary groups like The Kinks, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and The Rolling Stones, just to name a few.
Chef Aaron May and Patrick Hallahan, drummer of My Morning Jacket, cooked on the William Sonoma Culinary Stage with KCBS’ The Foodie Chap. The pair cooked a juicy Beef Wellington as the USC Marching Band accompanied them with their signature Fleetwood Mac cover song, “Tusk.”
Back on the JaM Cellars Stage, 19-year-old TikTok-found singer Jessie Murph delivered a set of her unique take on country, pop, and rock. The young artist was all smiles as she performed in a colorful Adidas crop top, lime-green sunglasses, and black cargo pants. Her distinct voice has made her a stand out in the pop genre and led to recent collaborations with Jelly Roll and Diplo making waves on the music charts across the country.
The acclaimed pop-punk band All Time Low was a crowd favorite as they played the Verizon Stage. Lead vocalist and guitarist Alex Gaskarth jumped around, full of energy while he sang some of the band’s most popular songs such as “Lost In Stereo,” “Something’s Gotta Give” and “Dear Maria, Count Me In.” Jack Barakat even jumped into the crowd and jammed out on his guitar with some ecstatic fans.
On the Culinary Stage, Cameron Diaz and Katherine Power were joined by Nelly and Tinx to make smash burgers. Once the burgers were made, the quartet all bit into the burgers, with Nelly giving a big thumbs up. Diaz and Power also showed off their organic wine brand, Avaline to pair with the smash burgers. The wine is all organic with no additives or extra sugars.
Lead guitarist Chris Shiflett of Foo Fighters who has embarked on a solo career, played his brand of alt-country on the Prudential Stage at 4pm. Shiflett played 16 of his original songs, covering a lot of his discography and ending with the feel-good tune “West Coast Town.” He looked like a seasoned front man, plucking away on his blue and white Gibson guitar in an all-black outfit.
Just in time for dinner, Chef Shota Nakajima, Former MLB player Hunter Pence, NBA player Domanatas Sabonis, NBA player Kevin Huerter, and radio producer Gary “Bababooey” Dell’Abate all joined together on the Culinary Stage. Chef Nakajima made nori rice and tempura to create a delicious sushi. The group then did a live wine tasting together, then jokingly compared their heights. All of the sports stars and Chef Nakajima lined up on the front of the stage, showcasing their height differences. Chef Nakajima stood on a stool just to be able to reach the height of the all-stars.
Rapper and singer Nelly took to the Verizon Stage and had the crowd jumping. He performed 12 songs including popular 2000’s hits “It’s Hot in Here” and “Ride Wit Me” that had guests singing along. The crowd was packed for this throwback set as Nelly and the audience shared their positive and upbeat energy. Nelly looked cool, as always, with a BottleRock t-shirt and shorts, and diamond jewelry to top off the outfit.
Chef Tyler Florence took over the Williams Sonoma Culinary stage with Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. Chef Florence walked Lee through the steps of open-fire cooking “tommyhawk steaks.” After cooking together, Tyler handed Lee a set of cow bones which he used to play a drum solo on a special drum-kit made of pots and pans for one of those moments that can only happen at BottleRock.
Megan Thee Stallion closed out the Verizon Stage at 8pm with a sexy and very pink performance. The Houston native rapper wore a pink and purple, sparkly studded bodysuit with tassels. All of her amazing back up dancers wore a similar pink outfit and absolutely killed it on stage.
Megan performed 12 songs in her explosive set including her biggest hits like “Body” and “Freak Nasty,” At the end of her set, Megan encouraged all the hotties in the audience to have a hot girl summer. Between pyrotechnics and a lot of twerking, Megan Thee Stallion delivered a magnetic performance, always interacting with the crowd and giving it her all.
Day 1 of BottleRock was full of a lot of memorable and funny moments. We have to say, the overall sound at this festival is the best we have heard all year at any festival yet. Stay tuned for our recap on Day 2 and 3.
Words by Emily Cigan @emily.cigan and Amy Harris @thetraveladdictig