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| Goose @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Thousands descended upon the Napa Valley Fairgrounds over Memorial Day Weekend for the return of BottleRock 2025. Featuring some of the world’s biggest acts and tastiest food, the festival once again provided a packed lineup with something for everyone on the bill. A few observations of the weekend
BottleRock is the ”nicest” of the big festivals.
When you are walking around with credentials and two big cameras on your shoulders, audience members stop you to ask you questions (anything from “Who should we see?” to “Where’s the bathroom?”) and share their thoughts on the concert. I lost count over the weekend of how many people stopped me to let me know how friendly everyone was at the festival and how nice it was. Sunday – embedded for most of the day with the Bella Rayne team – I heard the same from multiple artists and crew members backstage as well.
Prices are high for food and drinks – just like they are at any event.
BottleRock presented a huge amount of upscale food options on site with many local restaurants getting to spotlight their specialties and demonstrate their culinary prowess. There was virtually no traditional bland stadium food – and the world was a better place for it. Same goes for much of the beverage offerings which were mostly elevated offerings. Though I overheard quite a few people reading off the prices with sarcasm, they were far from the outrageous or gauging that I have seen at other events. And when there was time to grab a bit, everything I tried was delicious, memorable and served by super friendly people.
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| Robbie Krieger of The Doors @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Rock is NOT dead – It’s just mostly on a smaller stage.
BottleRock presented a crazy wide variety of musical genres. There were some great rock acts on the main stages, but the Prudential and White Claw Stages seemed to be the places to discover the best rock acts. Artists like Robbie Krieger of The Doors, Anders Osborne, Bob Schneider, The Saint Cecilia, Balthvs, The National Parks – along with Northern California’s very popular Bella Rayne and Moonalice – rocked those two stages with some of the best sets of the weekend.
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| Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Here's a look at some of the daily highlights:
Opening Day – Friday
Green Day lived up to their Hall of Fame distinction.
Exactly when this beloved East Bay band made the transition from angry upstarts with a massive chip on their shoulder to serving as the wise elders of the punk universe is hard to figure out. But Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt serve that role well having inspired multiple generations of musicians at this point. Their headlining set was exciting (pyro, pyro and more pyro), fun and a demonstration of their abundant energy and catalog depth. Soooooo many memorable songs and they played them all well and with gusto.
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| Green Day @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Billie Joe Armstrong called out virtually every city and area of the Bay Area at one point in the set and the band made it clear that this was a special homecoming show for them. They sprinted off the starting line and ran all the way through the finish of a twenty-song set that was full of hits and fun comments by Billie Joe.
Sublime filled the big stage before Green Day and had a huge crowd as Jakob Nowell – son of founding singer Bradley Nowell – led the ska punk band through a tour of their hits that was very well received.
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| Balthvs @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Balthvs kept it sexy.
This band refers to themselves as a “psychedelic funk trio” and the Columbians gave the sexiest performance of their weekend. The interaction and chemistry between bassist Johanna Mercuriana and guitarist Balthazar Aguirre was so spellbinding that at the end of the allotted three songs I realized I had completely ignored drummer Santiago Lizcano. I will make up for it next time as I will make sure to catch this band on future visits to Northern California.
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| The Alive @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The Alive and Ultra Q batted leadoff and both delivered.
The Alive took the festival’s first slot on the big stage with lead singer Bastian Evans announcing, “It’s the start of BottleRock and it’s a little sleepy, but we’re the right choice to get this going.” The East Bay’s Ultra Q (featuring Billie Joe Armstrong’s son Jakob Armstrong brought confidence and terrific energy to the second slot as the crowd filled in heavily – drawn by the familiar sound of East Bay punk in the same vein as the headliner would be six hours later.
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| E-40 @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
It doesn’t get much more Bay Area than E-40.
Friday was dominated by Bay Area artists and Vallejo’s E-40 took to the main stage to the calls of “Bay Area” and received the hometown hero’s welcome he certainly has earned in his long career. The only asterisk on his performance was that for a set slotted only for 1 hour, he showed up 30 minutes late to the stage – leaving his DJ hanging for a very extended intro and the audience standing and waiting in the hottest sun of the day. There were no reasons given, but confusion was palpable. Since sets end promptly on time at BottleRock, fans received a half-hour of E-40.
Shortly after his set ended E-40 joined Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav on the Williams-Sonoma Culinary Stage to talk about his wine while Flav prepared his chicken wings with celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez.
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| Chuck D & Flavor Flav @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Public Enemy got political about not being political.
After preparing his wings, Flavor Flav made his way to the Verizon stage to join up with Chuck D and run through a great set of Public Enemy favorites. Flav talked about why he didn’t do politics “Democrats and Republicans are both always right. And Democrats and Republicans are both always wrong. Somebody’s gotta’ be right and somebody’s gotta’ be wrong.” He dedicated to the performance to the two victims of the senseless shooting outside of New York’s Jewish Museum a few days earlier.
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| Miya Folick @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Miya Folick asked the right question.
Giving a great set in support of her most recent album “Erotica Veronica”, Folick paused the music and asked the crowd: “Are you taking a breath so you can really take this in and enjoy this? We got here and had to go here with our stuff and then here to get our wristbands and then over here. Before we played, I found a nice quiet spot so I could just be here.”
Day Two – Saturday
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| Justin Timberlake @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
JT brought it to the big stage.
The biggest buzz all weekend seemed to be around Justin Timberlake’s coming performance, and he did not disappoint. He gave the crowd the hits they craved and had his able dancing and crooning on full display throughout the performance. Saturday’s set demonstrated how a confident performer can lean into likeability over arrogance to connect with a crowd full of many unfamiliar fans.
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| Kate Hudson @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Kate Hudson is the real deal.
A lifelong singer with musicians in her blood, Hollywood actress Kate Hudson came out of Covid with a decision to finally pursue professional singing. Her first-ever festival appearance brought out a giant early day crowd at the massive Verizon stage that seemed to be larger than any others on the day.
Hudson performed a mix of originals and covers – projecting the smile and spirit she inherited from her mom, the beloved Goldie Hawn. By the end of her set, she had converted the many curious to fans and left people talking the rest of the weekend about how she was “really good.”
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| Ava Maybee @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
There is nothing maybe about Ava Maybee.
Maybee, the daughter of Red Hot Chili Pepper Chad Smith, started off the day bringing a bottle of wine to center stage (while apologizing to her mother for it) and took the audience on an introspective trip of her life through song. Her engaging stage demeanor connected with the crowd and both her songs and perspective seemed a perfect fit for many of the challenges of modern life. She had all the goods needed for someone just about to start off her first headlining tour.
Anders Osborne and Bob Schneider rocked the weekend.
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| Anders Osborne & Dan "Lebo" Lebowitz @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Anders Osborne and his band were joined by Bay Area favorite Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz (ALO) for perhaps the most rocking set of the entire weekend. Osborne dealt with a few equipment issues just prior to the set, but he launched it like he kicked a motorcycle into gear, and we were off and hauling ass down a freeway at well over the speed limit.
Osborne provided several extended and impressive guitar solos with a power behind them that seemed to shake the trees that backed the stage. Having played a set the night before at Hopmonk Novato together, Osborne and Lebo presented a terrific pairing of diverse guitar sounds with Lebo showing off his ability to bring seemingly impossible tone out of an acoustic guitar.
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| Bob Schneider @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The appearance on the same stage earlier by Bob Schneider was well-attended and demonstrated the longtime artist’s pull of a devoted audience. I met a couple later in the day from Austin who told me they had only come to BottleRock because it gave them the chance to see Bob Schneider two days in a row (Schneider played at Hopmonk Novato the next night). It is always interesting how no matter how “huge” an artist is, you will meet fans at a festival that are deeply devoted to them, which leads me to…
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| Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Lauren Mayberry brought an army of fans.
The frontwoman of CHVRCHES – known for her interesting solo performances – brought out quite a crowd at the Verizon stage. While she couldn’t compete with Kate Hudson’s audience quantity, she rivalled the headliners with the devotion of her audience. I spent time during the intermission speaking with a dozen people from throughout the world who meet up and reunite at both CHVRCHES and Mayberry concerts. The number of concerts they had attended and their passion around Mayberry solo shows specifically was Deadhead like. Sporting a “Save the dolls” t-shirt, she gave the audience the type of quirky, very interesting performance she is known for.
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| 4 Non-Blondes @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
4 Non-Blondes were re-born.
Linda Perry has made a much bigger name for herself as a co-writer with and producer of many of the biggest acts in recent musical history (including Gwen Stefani, P!nk and Christina Aguilera). But before she brought so many chart-toppers to life from the back room, she was out front for the Bay Area’s 4 Non-Blondes whose one and only 1994 album “Bigger, Better, Faster, More!” spent over a year on the Billboard chart and spawned the generational hit “What’s up?”
Taking the JaM Cellars stage with a colossal crowd on hand for the reunion with drummer Dawn Richardson, guitarist Roger Rocha and bassist Christa Hillhouse, Perry and the band seemed like they hadn’t lost a thing in the thirty years since. Perry rightfully pointed out many times how the themes of their songs were perhaps even more relevant today and took obvious joy in throwing a curveball at the setlist to go to “What’s up?” earlier than planned. “Some people say when you have such a big song, you don’t like it and that’s not true. I fu@#ing love every single song I’ve ever written.”
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| Benson Boone @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Benson Boone has been cleared for takeoff.
“God, he really knows what he is doing, doesn’t he,” said a man standing next to me in the biggest audience of the entire weekend as Benson Boone wowed the crowd again and again. It was a MAMMOTH crowd that was crowning the prince of 2025 and he more than lived up to the pressure of coronation.
Starting the concert from well above the stage, he immediately set the tone by launching himself up in the air, twisting and turning with acrobatic ease before sticking the landing on the stage. It was an impressive athletic feat that he quickly followed up with a second flip a few moments later as he opened with “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” hit the audience with fifteen more songs that cemented his headliner status (indeed it was announced that he will headline Chase Center in on October 1.
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| Benson Boone @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Day Three – Sunday
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| Bella Rayne @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Embedded with Bella Rayne
One of the most exciting things for a music photographer to be able to do is to cover an artist at a big festival completely from backstage, on the stage and out in the audience. On Sunday, I was lucky enough to cover Bella Rayne – the 18-year-old Mendocino guitarist who has been on a rocket ship for the last 18 months.
Rayne opened the Prudential stage and led an all-star band of bassist Angeline Saris, organist, keyboardist and guitarist Alex Jordan, drummer Danny Luehring, singer Emerson Rose, percussionist Daria Johnson and saxophonist Chris Hoog with a mixture of Dead and Dylan covers as she wailed on guitar. With the stage positioned near the entrance of the festival, Rayne’s sound quickly sent many festivalgoers veering to their left to check out the set. By the end of the first few songs, the crowd had packed in, and the set was met with tremendous applause.
After a short break to the artist compound for light food and a golf cart ride across the outside of the festival to the JaMPad stage, Rayne and her group once again performed in front of an even larger crowd at the stage coming right on the heels of fellow teen guitar prodigy Grace Bowers set on the JaM Cellars Stage.
Rayne was interviewed by the stage host Jana Sutter of iHeartRadio and shared her plans for the next chapter of her career where she will be writing and recording original music and singing. The large, sunbaked crowd was then treated to a performance on the best designed stage of BottleRock and able to witness the end of Chapter 1 in this exciting young guitarist’s career.
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| Goose @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Goose brings the JaM.
A daylight spot on the JaM Cellar Stage left Goose without the usual lighting theatrics they have become so well known for in their live performances. Instead, the band and fans were focused on the music of the band that is a frontrunner to become the leading jam band in the scene, Guitarist Rick Mitarotonda, keyboardist Peter Anspach, bassist Trevor Weekz and drummer Cotter Ellis made their case to an audience that was dominated by first-time Goose watchers and the band delivered with nothing but their musical talent and songcraft.
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| The National Parks @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The National Parks were my surprise of the weekend
The National Parks brought an energy and bounce reminiscent of a more-caffeinated version of The Head and The Heart. The Utah indie folk band has been together for over a decade, but I must confess ignorance until BottleRock. Well, I’m ignorant no longer. Their performance wowed a big crowd on all levels. Lead singer and guitarist Brady Parks and his fiddler wife Megan Taylor Parks projected an infectiously fun and happy vibe with keyboardist Sydney Macfarlane and drummer Cam Brannelly.
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| Cage the Elephant @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Start with Noah Kahan or Cage the Elephant?
The Sunday headliners presented the toughest choice of the weekend as both started their sets at 8:15. In the end, I chose to start with Cage the Elephant and was rewarded with outstanding pyro on stage both from fire and from lead singer Matt Schultz who was a blur up, down and across the stage from the outset.
Cage brought the first real rock power to the Verizon Stage all weekend and the audience was more than ready for it. They bashed through a twenty-two-song set (literally as guitarist Brad Schultz bashed his guitar during “Sabretooth Tiger”). Coming out to “Broken Boy” and “Cry Baby” the band played with a ferocity and energy that helped reinvigorate the crowd at the tail-end of the long weekend.
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| Noah Kahan @ BottleRock Napa Valley (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Meanwhile, Noah Kahan was across the festival grounds on the JaM Cellar Stage and conducting a bit of open-air transparency as the advocate for mental health delivered both his hits and experiences to the crowd. Kahan’s honesty and self-humility were on full display and showed why he has raised millions of dollars for The Busyhead Project. In what was the final performance of his US tour, the indie-folk star stood small on the b-stage underneath a giant version of himself on the screen – singing only with his acoustic guitar. A fitting vision to end a wonderful, diverse festival weekend.
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