BottleRock kicks off in Napa, seeking to upstage past years with amenities

NAPA - In almost any other context, watching Seattle-based rapper Macklemore toss pieces of meat grilled by Martha Stewart from a stage into a crowd of screaming fans would run the risk of being labeled fake news.

But this is BottleRock, where a brash young rap star and an ex-felon septuagenarian food and fashion icon can share the Culinary Stage and it all turns out strangely awesome.

“I’ve never been to a rock concert before,” Stewart, 75, said to Macklemore, 33, and his partner, Ryan Lewis, 29. “Now I know how you feel. You must get high on this.”

Later in the evening, the rap duo took to BottleRock’s main stage, where they had tens of thousands singing and dancing along to “Thrift Shop,” “Can’t Hold Us” and other hits.

Now in its fifth year, BottleRock - which is expected to draw up to ?120,000 spectators to the Napa Valley Exposition through Sunday - continues to push the boundaries of an outdoor musical festival, toeing the line between mass appeal and upscale luxury.

In 2013, Macklemore and Lewis were the main draw on the first night of the inaugural BottleRock, an event that seemed to come out of nowhere. The festival blew into Napa Valley with a top-notch lineup of talent and set up shop at the Exposition, a 26-acre site known mainly as the venue for Napa’s home-style fair.

Latitude 38 Entertainment, comprised of Napa high school buddies, took over the event following financial problems in its first year, and in the interim have turned it into a mainstay of the summer outdoor music festival circuit. In December, Live Nation bought a majority stake in the event, raising the event’s profile even higher.

On Friday evening, Maroon 5 and frontman Adam Levine - also a judge on “The Voice” - closed out the first day. The sold-out event continues today, with rock legend Tom Petty being the main draw.

But music isn’t the only draw, with rich food and beverage options and other amusements.

Ed Chan, an Irvine resident who flew in Friday morning with his wife to attend BottleRock, paid $25 for an injection of B12-vitamins in BottleRock’s new spa.

The shot was both a preventative for what Chan expects will be a weekend of adult-flavored fun and a necessary pick-me-up.

“I’m a dad,” he said. “I take every bit of energy I can get.”

In the main stage area, Marc and Jennifer Greenberg of Petaluma sipped red wine while lounging on a blanket spread over green grass, also new to BottleRock this year. The couple said they appreciated not being covered in dirt.

Another major change this year is the addition of 14 luxury suites - bringing the total to 32, and offering unobstructed views of the main stage, private food and beverage service and air-conditioned bathrooms. The suites cost up to $50,000 a day.

Ian and Andrea Glynn of Cotati upgraded to VIP passes this year after they mistakenly gained access to reserved areas at last year’s event. The shorter lines for food and better bathrooms were to their liking.

Ian brought along a cassette tape of rapper Warren G’s classic “This D.J.,” which Glynn said he purchased for a dollar in 1994 at a Wherehouse music store in Petaluma. Glynn was hoping the rapper, who performed an acoustic set in the VIP Village, would sign the cassette tape.

This year’s BottleRock is happening less than a week after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device outside a rock concert in Manchester, England, killing 22.

But there were no obvious changes in BottleRock security Friday. General admission patrons again were subjected to wands and having their bags checked.

Napa police officers wearing fluorescent jackets patrolled the venue in pairs. Outside the gates, a CHP officer and his canine greeted festivalgoers.

“You can’t live in fear,” Dustin Datoc of Vacaville said after he, his girlfriend and the couple’s 16-month-old daughter came through security.

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 707-521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. ?On Twitter @deadlinederek.