BottleRock Napa Valley shifts into second day with big-name acts

Fans on Saturday said they were looking forward to seeing Michael Franti, Billy Idol, Snoop Dogg and The Killers.|

With 40,000 fans packing the BottleRock music festival every night so far this year, it was possible to close out the second day in Napa with two mobbed shows on different stages at the same time.

Rapper Snoop Dogg finished Saturday in big way, drawing a crowd so large to the festival’s Midway stage that even standing still in the milling throng was a challenge.

Showmanship was the theme of the night. While Snoop Dogg was backed by pole dancers, over on the JaM Cellar stage, The Killers, a rock band with polish and style, put on a laser show. Decked out in a three-piece suit, the band’s front man, Brandon Flowers, was backed on vocals by several women in glittery gowns.

Earlier, Snoop Dogg clowned on the festival’s culinary stage with chef Michael Voltaggio, as they blackened chicken with a blow torch and attempted a world record for largest Paradise Cocktail, with more than 500 liters of gin and juice.

As the sun came out for the second day of the BottleRock Napa Valley festival Saturday, music fans with passes for all three days shifted into marathon mode, seeking shade and bottled water, conserving energy for the long haul.

“I wasn’t sure last night that we were gonna make it,” Karine Ress, 51, of Roseville said Saturday. “But this morning, we had a new burst of energy.”

Ress and her friend, Diane Conway, 56, Petaluma, said they were looking forward to seeing Michael Franti, Billy Idol, Snoop Dogg and The Killers later in the day.

Franti, playing in the mid-afternoon, immediately got his delighted fans waving their arms and jumping up and down in time to his infectious blend of reggae, funk, folk, jazz and rock. Before long, he had come down from the stage to move among the crowd - one of his trademarks. His message, as always, was peace and love, and the smiling crowd was into it.

English punk rocker Billy Idol followed Franti on the festival’s big JaM Cellars stage by asking the folks in the crowd, “Do you want to scream?” They did, and proceeded to scream as Idol roared through a set that included “Scream,” “Shock to the System” and other hits.

Among the less famous performers during the day, there were some gems: feel-good, perky, London-based Oh Wonder (Anthony West and Josephine Vander Gucht); Australian blues rocker Hamish Anderson; Martin Johnson (aka The Night Game), a singer with a dramatic delivery and rugged movie-star good looks; and intense singer-songwriter Matt Maeson.

Of course, BottleRock is known for its food and drink as much as its music, but those weren’t the only commodities offered at the festival, with goods on sale ranging from sunglasses and shoes to new Toyotas.

Not everyone had to spend more money to have fun. Passers-by kicked a big beach ball back and forth on the main paths between the festival’s four music stages, and there were some avid air guitar players in the crowd.

Sold out since January, the sixth annual BottleRock Napa Valley at the expo grounds in downtown Napa continues Sunday, closing with headliner Bruno Mars. Total attendance is projected to reach 120,000 for the three-day run.

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