By Mike Rosati & Norm de Veyra //
BottleRock Napa Valley //
Napa Valley Expo – Napa, CA
May 27th-29th, 2016 //
BottleRock Napa Valley once again returned to downtown Napa over Memorial Day weekend for its fourth edition, boasting an improved fan experience and an eclectic bill of music over a three-day stretch.
Serving as this year’s headliners were Stevie Wonder, Florence & the Machine and Red Hot Chili Peppers, while other notable acts included The Lumineers, Death Cab for Cutie, Lenny Kravitz, Walk the Moon, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Ziggy Marley, Grouplove and more.
But some of the best performances of the weekend came from artists playing on the festival’s smaller stages, from Long Beach’s Cold War Kids to Welsh alt-rockers The Joy Formidable. The Suffers, a 10-piece soul band from Texas, made one of the biggest impressions on the final day of BottleRock, along with San Francisco indie-pop outfit Dangermaker and singer-songwriter Langhorne Slim.
Florence & the Machine
Among all of the music being played, one of the highlights was undoubtedly the festival’s Williams-Sonoma Culinary Stage, which welcomed appearances by classic stoner-comedy duo Cheech & Chong (who kicked things off with a special show at The Uptown Theater in Napa the night before BottleRock) and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. Even “American Pie” actor Thomas Ian Nicholas joined in on the fun during a set dedicated to the 1999 film.
Showbams was on hand for all three days of BottleRock, noting an upgraded layout, more food/beverage options and better VIP accommodations than in past years. And though the festival still has room to grow, it has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time.
