‘BottleRock Napa Valley 2024’ Featuring The Offspring With Ed Sheeran, Maná, Cold War Kids, All Time Low, Loveless, Plus More – Napa, CA

The first taste of summer came from the valley of wine at nonother than Napa’s annual music festival, BottleRock. This year’s star-studded line up included legendary bands such as The Offspring and Maná, crowd favorites like All Time Low and Cold War Kids, and up-and-comers like Loveless. Other noteworthy performances came from the powerhouse female musicians in the lineup such as the iconic Stevie Nicks, Meg Thee Stallion, and Kali Uchis.

Day 1

Starting off BottleRock’s music filled weekend were headliners Stevie Nicks and Megan Thee Stallion. Prior to the two goddesses taking their stages at the festival, crowd favorite All Time Low played their hearts out at the Verizon Stage. Their set was a compilation of old and new songs, with an interesting break to play a cover of “A Perfect Day” by Hoku that lead singer, Alex Gaskarth, dedicated to Reese Witherspoon. Another moment the band riveted the crowd was with their powerful performance of their hit song “Monsters” – the crowd immediately roared when the sound the first chords blared through the speakers leaving all watching excited to sing along. Internet super stars – Loveless – took the Truly Stage at the festival, playing their unique blend of alt-pop and hard rock for festival goers. Although an up-and-coming band, vocalist Julian Comeau’s stage presence shined as the band played their renowned covers of “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush, and “Unholy” by Sam Smith and Kim Petras. While Stevie twirled about the JaM Cellars Stage playing her rock classics like her “Edge of Seventeen” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide”, Megan Thee Stallion and her faithful fan base – that she so affectionately calls “the hotties” – swarmed the Verizon Stage. Hot Girl Meg commanded the pyrotechnic lit stage as she and her pink sequined covered dancers twerked to her hits. One notable performance was of her single “Cobra” which she collaborated with Spiritbox to create a rock remix of last year. As Megan rapped the lyrics to this song of courage and resilience and the crowd roared with support for the Hot Girl Coach.

All Time Low

Bebe Rexha

Loveless

Nelly

Megan Thee Stallion

Day 2

The second day of the beloved Napa festival donned headliners Pearl Jam and Kali Uchis, who were sure to attract troves of people to the main stages at the end of the day. But before the night begun, there were smaller crowds being drawn to the JaM Pad stage throughout the day to watch acts like the Cold War Kids. Nathan Willett and Matt Maust walked on to the intimate stage, decorated with yellow lanterns and disco balls to perform acoustic version of songs they had previously played on the JaM Cellars Stage earlier that day. They played newer songs such as their 2023 single “Stray” leaving the audience yearning for their older songs. But they did not disappoint as their final song was their beloved 2014 hit song “First”. As soon as the Willett and Maust left the scene, directly across the JaM Pad, Maná began their set on the JaM Cellars Stage. The legendary Mexican pop rock band, hailing from Jalisco, Mexico, took the BottleRock stage for the first time this year and proved to be a set that was not to be missed. Although all their songs are in Spanish, the band drew a diverse crowd of individuals. Lead singer, Fher Olvera’s star power shined through with what he said was “little English” as he prefaced their songs “Labios Compartidos” and “¿Dónde Jugarán Los Niños?” But the audience roared when their 1992 hit “Me Vale” began to sound through the speakers, and drummer, Alex González, belted the lyrics from behind his kit. On the other end of the Latin music spectrum was headliner Kali Uchis, who blessed the Verizon Stage with her ethereal presence. The pop-reggaetón artist thanked the festival for having her, saying “It’s so strange for me to be here because I just had a baby. This is my first show”. But the new mother put on a show as if she never left the scene. Uchis floated across the stage like an unbothered fairy, crooning her songs such as old favorites like her collaboration with Tyler, The Creator “See You Again” and her Spanglish songs “Labios Mordidos” and “Moonlight”.

T-Pain

Cold War Kids

Oliver Tree

Maná

The Kid Laroi

Kali Uchis

Day 3

The final day of BottleRock was closed out by international sensation Ed Sheeran, Queens of The Stone Age, and Stephen Marley on the festival’s big stages. On the Verizon Stage, rock icons, The Offspring, made their BottleRock debut with a bang as they began their set with their punk hit “Come Out and Play” (also known as “Keep ‘Em Separated”). They played their hits with pauses from Dexter Holland and Noodles to give shoutouts to the audience about how much fun they were having at their first BottleRock and how thankful they were for the fans to come out and see them under the hot Napa sun. Noodles especially was astounded at the number of people the festival drew out – a total of 120,000 BottleRockers. But the most surprising part of The Offspring’s performance was when Holland told the audience that a festival headliner confessed to them that he was a huge fan and the first CD he ever bought was their “Conspiracy of One” album released in 2000. The headliner turned out to be nonother than that evening’s must-watch act, Ed Sheeran. Sheeran joined the band on stage wearing The Offspring merch (like a true fan) and proceeded to play his favorite song by them “A Million Miles Away”. The crowd was ecstatic to see Sheeran shred his guitar alongside Holland and Noodles and harmonize with them like they had been rehearsing for days. It was truly one of the most memorable moments of the weekend’s festivities.

Action Bronson

Dominic Fike

The Offspring (Featuring Ed Sheeran)

In its 11th year, BottleRock continues to uphold its stellar reputation as one of the best music and food festivals in the country with its key driver being the world-class musicians and bands they bring to California’s vineyard – Napa. I’m eager to see what diverse lineup of artists is curated for next year’s BottleRock. Until then, I’ll be recovering from all the wine I drank this weekend.

Written by Daisy M. Mendoza
Photography by Miguel Barajas