Article and Photos by: Gary Flink

The Napa Valley in Northern California, 43 thousand acres of gorgeous rolling hills, breathtaking vistas and endless rows of immaculately manicured grape vineyards, is nestled 60 minutes north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Considered one of the premiere wine making areas in the world due to the makeup of its soil and dry arid climate, it is home to more then 400 wineries, numerous celebrities and top international chefs.  Over Memorial Day weekend however, it was also home to 40,000 hard-rocking, music-loving fans who descended on the pristine and normally tranquil valley for the annual 3-day BottleRock Napa music festival.

In its 4th year, BottleRock Napa is as much an event for amazing music as it is an experience for great food and drink with many vineyards hosting on-site booths for wine tasting and many local hot spot restaurants serving up their cuisine. Originally held in 2013, the inaugural event received rave reviews from the attendees, but left many of the vendors unpaid and owed more then $2 million for wages and services, and the producers of the event filing for bankruptcy. New ownership stepped in afterwards though and, like a fine wine getting better with age, transformed it into a must-not-miss music festival success story. Fest300 even recently named BottleRock as one of the world’s best festivals.

Set at the Napa Valley Expo Center this year’s event featured an incredible musical line-up of more then 75 acts playing on four stages, and one culinary stage where many renowned chefs were able to showcase and discuss their craft. Although overlapping set times always frustrate festival goers the organizers put noticeable thought into schedules each day with artists of similar genre’s and popularity levels spread out throughout the day.  And because the venue is not overly big, and the stages positioned well and with good flow and access to each other, there was usually no more then a 5min walk to get from one stage to the next.

The festival kicked off on Friday with Kaleo, Houndmouth, Cold War Kids, Michael Franti, Lenny Kravitz and Stevie Wonder as some of the day’s most notable acts. The music kept rolling into Day 2 with The Struts, The Joy Formidable, Walk The Moon, Death Cab For Cutie, Ziggy Marley and Florence + The Machine as the day’s main attractions.

The final day featured Misterwives, Jamestown Revival, Shovels & Rope, Rodrigo y Gabriella, Langhorne Slim, X Ambassadors, The Lumineers and maybe the most surprising act of the entire weekend… The Helmets. An alternative rock band formed in California in 2013, The Helmets are comprised of Tye Trujillo on bass guitar, Bastian Evans on lead guitar, Kai Neukermans on drums and Bryan Ferretti on rhythm guitar and lead vocals.  With their musical influences strongly rooted in the classic rock of  Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Nirvana, they took to the festival’s main Jam Cellar’s stage and delivered a powerful hour-long set to the delight and cheers of the crowd.  Oh, one other thing…they’re all 11yrs old… except for Ferretti who is… wait for it… 12.  While their young age may be part of their appeal, along with the fact that Tye Trujillo is the son of Metallica’s bass player, Rob Trujillo, make no mistake about it… this band rocks.  Along with each members great musicianship, and Ferretti’s serious chops, look for them to make a serious splash in the music industry in years to come.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers, the main headliner for the entire 3-day event, took the stage to the roar of the crowd at 8:15p on Sunday night to close out the memorable weekend. Rumors had been swirling for 2 weeks following the sudden, but brief hospitalization of The RHCP’s lead singer, Anthony Kiedis, that the Peppers may be cancelling their BottleRock performance and may even postpone their summer tour in support of their soon to be released 11th studio album, The Getaway. As the Chili Peppers broke into their traditional show opening jam, “Can’t Stop”, there was a collective sigh of relief from the crowd of 40,000 fans that Kiedis was healthy and on stage joined by his bandmates Flea, Chad Smith and Josh Klinghoffer.  They then jammed their way through the next 1 ½ hours with their high energy, Chili Peppers brand of funk-charged rock n’ roll and a setlist which included many of their best known tunes including, “Dani California,” “Otherside,” “Under The Bridge,” “Californication,” “Around The World,” and their traditional show closer, “Give It Away”.  Their set also featured the live debut of “The Getaway,” the title track from the upcoming album.

Soon after the Chili Peppers left the stage the festival’s organizers announced that BottleRock would be back once again next year over Memorial Day weekend. I’d strongly suggest penciling it in on your 2017 calendars!