Napa, California was the setting last week for the first, and hopefully annual, Bottle Rock Napa Valley music festival.

Held at the twenty-six acre Napa Valley Expo close to downtown, the event had just about something for everyone. From Hip Hop to classic rock, sushi to BBQ and Chardonnay to Merlot, the WillPower Entertainment production team of Gabe Meyers and Bob Vogt had all the musical, food and wine bases covered.

Bottle Rock was held on May 9-12 and hosted over sixty top bands from all musical corners. Food booths were staffed by local Napa eateries and featured samplings of some of the finest cuisine found in the Napa valley. And of course there was plenty of wine to go around as many of best local vineyards were represented.

Given that the festival had over sixty bands it was necessary to spread them out over three stages.

The WillPower stage was the largest of the three, and was the venue to be at if you wanted to see acts like The Zac Brown Band, The Black Keys, Kings of Leon, Alabama Shakes, Bad Religion or the Black Crows.

The CITI Bank stage was the place to be if you wanted to see Joan Jett, Dwight Yoakum, X, Primus, The Flaming Lips or The Wallflowers.

The third and probably the most comfortable stage simply because it was semi-shaded, was called the Miner Family Winery stage. Here the fans were treated to the likes of Richard Thompson, Jackson Browne, Blues Traveler, Mavis Staples and Justin Townes Earle.

This event was so large it was not possible to cover every single performer as many shows were going on simultaneously. I found that the best thing to do was to check the schedule and head to the stage that most interested me at the time.

I was able to take in quite a bit and cannot say one performance was better than the other but a few did stand out for me.
Mavis Staples was one example of someone who must be seen to be believed. This lady’s stage presence and vocal delivery makes you want to stop and testify on the spot.

I have wanted to catch Richard Thompson’s performance for years and must say it has been worth the wait. Richard Thompson’s music has smart lyrics and his guitar playing is precise. If I had to pick a favorite from the show, Thompson would have to be in the running.

Jackson Browne showed up with a full band and really packed the Miner Family Winery venue. Of special note, Browne had long time session guitarist Val McCallum in-tow and he really augmented Jackson Browne’s greatest hits set.

Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite had the CITI Bank stage percolating with their style of new blues. Musslewhite actually played a couple of more times throughout the extended weekend. This blues veteran always delivers the goods.

I have been following the Black Keys for quite some time and can remember seeing them in a small club in Houston only a few years ago. This multiple Grammy winning power rock and blues duo has really come a long way in a short time. To see them pack about 20,000 people around the WillPower stage was nothing short of amazing.

The last time I saw Joan Jett she was about 16 years old and performing with her first band, The Runaways. It was good to see Jett still rockin’ the fans some thirty plus years later.

The Flaming Lips are about the quirkiest band I’ve seen in a long time. Perched high above the stage on a pile of chrome balls wrapped in white tubing, vocalist Wayne Coyne guided the Lips though a musical maze of neo-psychedelic rock. With stage lights and smoke galore, The Flaming Lips set was one of the festivals most visual performances.

Alabama Shakes lead singer Brittany Howard commanded the crowd’s attention with her soulful singing and guitar playing. Alabama Shakes have been getting a lot of attention over the past year and it was easy to see why with their performance on the WillPower stage.

From what I observed during this four-day musical extravaganza I would say that Napa has a winning event on its hands. The massive influx of fans on a daily basis seemed well behaved and civil. I’m sure the promoters will review the lessons learned from the long weekend and fine tune whatever they decide needs it to ensure that the next Bottle Rock festival will be that much better and I look forward to covering bands that I may have missed this time.

The second annual Bottle Rock Napa Valley festival is already tentatively scheduled for May 9-11, 2014. I’ll see you there!