BottleRock Napa Valley marks 10th anniversary opening day

An overcast sky in the early hours of opening day Friday at the 10th anniversary BottleRock Napa Valley music, wine and food festival did nothing to diminish anticipation for the warmer afternoon and an evening of hot music.

Among the fans, hanging out at a picnic table not far from booths selling wood-fired pizzas, Asian rice bowls, beer, wine and nonalcoholic mocktails were two first-timers at the festival, a married couple named Matt and Morgan, both 30, of Sacramento. (In all the hubbub, their last name was lost to history.)

“We’re so excited,” Morgan said.

“There are a couple of bands we want to see,” Matt added. “We saw Bastille in San Diego, and we’re excited to see them again.”

Bastille, a British pop band that played Friday afternoon, was one of 70 bands scheduled to perform on five stages during the three days of the sold-out BottleRock festival, which is expected to draw 40,000 fans each day through Sunday at the Napa Valley Expo fairgrounds in downtown Napa.

Later in the day, the air turned warmer, the sky was washed with blue and a few cotton-ball clouds popped up here and there. Two young women skipped, grinning and singing, along a wide row of beach blankets, where festival fans waited patiently for the bands they came to see.

Energy built throughout the afternoon, escalating to closing performances Friday night by headliners including Post Malone and The Smashing Pumpkins, to be followed Saturday by Lizzo and Duran Duran. Sunday’s finale will feature the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lil Nas X and Los Lobos.

Early visitors Friday were entertained by local and regional bands, including The Band High Noon from Napa, which closed its first set with “Wheels Down in Arizona” before lead singer Ryan Neergard turned and coached the crowd on how to be their fans on social media.

“You’ve all got a phone, right?” he asked. “Now, point it towards yourself and ‘Like’ us.”

Many of the festivalgoers Friday were back for return visits.

“We’re regulars,” said Wendy Brown, 54, of Rohnert Park, attending with several friends. When one of them replied, “It’s a tradition,” Brown added, “We’re like kids in a candy store, middle-aged women going wild.”

For two young friends, Isabel and Abigail (no last names given), both 22 and both originally from Sebastopol, BottleRock has become an annual reunion over the last three years.

“We live in very different cities now,” Abigail explained. “I live in New York and she lives in New Orleans.”

‘’We don’t see other so much now, but we both love music, so we try to get together at BottleRock every year,” Isabel added.

They weren’t the youngest fans at the festival. By the look of the little girl dancing in a pink dress between her parents to the music of the Delhi-based band Peter Cat Recording Company, she may still have kindergarten in her future.

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On Twitter @danarts.