Bottle Rock Napa Valley 2013

[Ardentbiscuit]

Lots of people there were just there to be there, some guy said to me, did you know Brandi Carlise was in the GoGo's. Sigh.

And for the most part everyone was super chill and nice. I met a lot of cool people.

One of the Napa locals told me they gave free VIP passes to people who lived close enough for it to be annoying.

Also, one of the locals told me that at the screening of Sound City David Grohl promised he would play next year if the festival happened. We shall see.

Also, I would have loved to get a hold of the one of those Platinum Reserve passes, they gave unlimited food and booze! Even though someone told me some of the vendors refused to take it and others claimed they never heard of it, for the most part it worked great.

[menikmati]

Well the lineup for next year is supposedly already set...the promoters said they would be announcing it shortly. If Dave Grohl really said he would play next year, that'd be cool...I would imagine it would have to be a return of the Foo Fighters, given I don't think Dave just plays solo shows. I could see headliners next year being something like DMB, Foo Fighters, and the Killers (or Muse) or something like that.

[canexplain]

Did you guys take your usual great pics? ..... cr****

[thefrush]

And the shuttle ride did have a bit of the feel of being back in school ("I was so high during Edward Sharpe" was heard at one point).

I was so high during Edward Sharpe... at Coachella in 2010.

[menikmati]

Edward Sharpe was one of the best shows all weekend. I was right next to him when he came out in the crowd for "Home" and was asking the fans if they had any stories to tell. I would have raised my hand (and he probably would have given me the mic) if I could have thought of a story to tell, but I froze up.

[Listening]

Well the lineup for next year is supposedly already set...the promoters said they would be announcing it shortly. If Dave Grohl really said he would play next year, that'd be cool...I would imagine it would have to be a return of the Foo Fighters, given I don't think Dave just plays solo shows. I could see headliners next year being something like DMB, Foo Fighters, and the Killers (or Muse) or something like that.

If that's true, they don't waste any time at all. Perhaps this gives them an advantage when competing for acts with Outside Lands and other festivals/venues.

I'm curious what they do with the lineup next year. They had a pretty eclectic group this year...seemed like they tried to have something for everyone. Not sure how much that was by design, and whether they'll do it again next year.

I like that they've apparently reduced next year's to just three days...they were stretching it with four days with the lineup they had this year.

[Listening]

I was so high during Edward Sharpe... at Coachella in 2010.

It must've been fun telling everybody about it.

[Listening]

Edward Sharpe was one of the best shows all weekend. I was right next to him when he came out in the crowd for "Home" and was asking the fans if they had any stories to tell. I would have raised my hand (and he probably would have given me the mic) if I could have thought of a story to tell, but I froze up.

I'm not knocking Edward Sharpe, I saw them at Outside Lands.

Just saying, a shuttle ride with a group of high school girls talking about, among other things, how high they were during a performance, was, in fact, very high school.

[Y0UNGBL00D]

I was close to the stage on Friday, and it was a young crowd there...talked through the entire Shins set about the fact that they were going to see The Black Keys!!!!

And the shuttle ride did have a bit of the feel of being back in school ("I was so high during Edward Sharpe" was heard at one point).

Whatever though. If you go to enough festivals you get used to people acting like they've never been before...and if they're not drinking age yet, maybe they haven't.

if ANYONE were talking behind me during the Shins, especially regarding the subject matter in question, there would be blood.

[Y0UNGBL00D]

Well the lineup for next year is supposedly already set...the promoters said they would be announcing it shortly. If Dave Grohl really said he would play next year, that'd be cool...I would imagine it would have to be a return of the Foo Fighters, given I don't think Dave just plays solo shows. I could see headliners next year being something like DMB, Foo Fighters, and the Killers (or Muse) or something like that.

how would this be possible?

[Ardentbiscuit]

I did enjoy this cover, also, I'm not the one who recorded this..

[Monsterface]

What sort of setlist did Cake play? trying to make the decision to see them or not at Sasquatch.

[McFearless]

Definitely don't plan on going again next year unless there is someone I absolutely must see. The festival was a fucking mess. They had horrible access, relied on volunteers to do so much work, when they should be paying people who know how to do the job (security, vip and ADA areas). The sound from the front barricade was fucking horrendous.

The worst part of it all was the overall vibe. I encountered so many snarky locals and it was just a sea of white people. One women was screaming for people to hurry up and finish using the bathroom. She and I had an exchange of words. She then said "Well, when you pay $125 for a ticket you'll want people to hurry up." I told her "I paid twice that." Then the white boy who kept telling me to "chill". I also paid $10 for a taco bell sized (and tasted like it too) "gourmet" burrito.

Definitely agree that people kept talking throughout bands sets and were overall not really aware of concert etiquette.

[greghead]

Mostly everyone was very nice, there were definitely some really bizarre white trash people there, not sure where they came from.

Dude, that's North Bay. Nevermind the fact you're in a largely rural, agricultural area, look at your proximity to Vallejo, Fairfield, Novato, Vacaville, Santa Rosa etc. I'm shocked we haven't heard more about trashy white bros.

[knotted_donuts]

Oh man, that stupid token system for the Whole Foods concession area... For those uninitiated, you had to buy "chips" ($5 ea) and exchange those for food. The inherent problem with this is that plates that should've been priced between 5 and 10 dollars had to be priced one way or the other, and the merchant certainly wasn't about to eat the cost, so most options cost me $2-3 over comparable festival prices.

Overall, the festival was better than I'd expected it to be; the sound was good at the sets I watched, the crowd sizes were very manageable, and the security and staff were there to help when needed. There were a lot of VERY drunk people, moreso than other festivals, but it didn't bother me... well, except that a lot of beverage options ran out too early (most craft beer options were gone by midday Sunday).

I'd do BottleRock again. It'll have to wait til 2015, though, since I already have plans the weekend of next year's fest.

[xuclarockerx]

They did the token thing at Pacific Festival last year. blech.

[canexplain]

They always do that here at those "Taste of xxxx" things like that. Yea you get like 20 tics and things cost 12 so it screws everything up. I always walk out and hand someone a couple of tokens or tics .... cr****

[Ardentbiscuit]

The tokens were a 1 for 1 exchange and it was only for the whole foods pavilion, everything else was cash. I was talking to one of the organizers and they said they probably would not do that again next year, it was just an experiment for the whole foods area that featured local restaurants from Napa. And the people who sold tokens and all the other vendors for the most part took credit cards too.

I would go again, especially since it will only be 3 days. Going 5 days was grueling.

And now that I know Napa better I am going to book a hotel closer to the action.

The organizer specially told me that it's a rock fest and they will not have any electronic music ever at this festival. I forgot to mention that earlier.

[paulb]

So, how were the Violent Femmes and Bad Religion?

[menikmati]

Bad Religion were good. There was a huge ass pit for them near the front.

[menikmati]

Definitely don't plan on going again next year unless there is someone I absolutely must see. The festival was a fucking mess. They had horrible access, relied on volunteers to do so much work, when they should be paying people who know how to do the job (security, vip and ADA areas). The sound from the front barricade was fucking horrendous.

The worst part of it all was the overall vibe. I encountered so many snarky locals and it was just a sea of white people. One women was screaming for people to hurry up and finish using the bathroom. She and I had an exchange of words. She then said "Well, when you pay $125 for a ticket you'll want people to hurry up." I told her "I paid twice that." Then the white boy who kept telling me to "chill". I also paid $10 for a taco bell sized (and tasted like it too) "gourmet" burrito.

Definitely agree that people kept talking throughout bands sets and were overall not really aware of concert etiquette.

What the hell did you expect? It's an expensive festival in fucking Napa, of course its just gonna be white people.

[menikmati]

I did enjoy this cover, also, I'm not the one who recorded this..

There were a lot of covers over the weekend....Girls and Boys covered the Pixies, a few bands covered Zeppelin, a few covered Sublime, etc....

[seyrnon]

So, how were the Violent Femmes and Bad Religion?

Femmes were incredible. I was blown away at how much more love there seemed to be for them there than there was at coachella. felt like much more of a party and they seemed to feel a lot more comfortable onstage. I only went thursday and friday but it was definitely my favorite show of those 2 days

[McFearless]

What the hell did you expect? It's an expensive festival in fucking Napa, of course its just gonna be white people.

I expect white people... I've been to Coachella and OSL. I know what to expect. The irritating part was the conceit and lack of basic fucking concert etiquette. I ain't giving them a pass because it's their first fest. People I encountered we're genuinely rude. I'm letting people know the vibe of the fest was shit. What's your deal? LOL. You make it sound like I should let people be rude. Naw...

[Listening]

Definitely don't plan on going again next year unless there is someone I absolutely must see. The festival was a fucking mess. They had horrible access, relied on volunteers to do so much work, when they should be paying people who know how to do the job (security, vip and ADA areas). The sound from the front barricade was fucking horrendous.

The worst part of it all was the overall vibe. I encountered so many snarky locals and it was just a sea of white people. One women was screaming for people to hurry up and finish using the bathroom. She and I had an exchange of words. She then said "Well, when you pay $125 for a ticket you'll want people to hurry up." I told her "I paid twice that." Then the white boy who kept telling me to "chill". I also paid $10 for a taco bell sized (and tasted like it too) "gourmet" burrito.

Definitely agree that people kept talking throughout bands sets and were overall not really aware of concert etiquette.

You seem to have your own issues with white people...nice of you to bring hem to Napa and now here.

I really feel for you.

[Ardentbiscuit]

Those damn honkeys!!! Just kidding...

As for the Femmes, yes they were incredible and I loved the stage they were on, that stage was just great.

I also enjoyed Bad Religion too!

Edward Sharpe really didn't do much for me, I know lots of people love them, they just leave me flat.

That band Rndm was interesting with Pearl Jam's bassist...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNDM

[menikmati]

RNDM was cool, and I recorded them too. I'll try to get working on my bootlegs from that weekend very soon and get links up.