Sandwiched between Booneville Beer Fest (May 4) and Bay to Breakers (May 19) on our already packed May drinking calendar, BottleRock is a festival that fits music, drinking, being out in the sun all day, and other recipes for dehydration and sun damage into one 4-day package. Tickets are going fast, so it's time to decide whether you're into what BottleRock has tapped. Here's our breakdown of why you might want to make the trip.
Wine. Napa's identity revolves around wine, and they're putting the "bottle" in BottleRock. There'll be over 60 Napa Valley wineries represented at the festival, so if you like glugging wine, you'll feel at home here. Remember: reasonable moderation is the sincerest form of not-getting-too-f'ed-up-to-enjoy-yourself.
Music. There are some hoary chestnuts in the lineup to appeal to the inevitable early retirees in the audience, but we're all in to see The Black Keys, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Alabama Shakes, Cake, The Avett Brothers, Andrew Bird and Sharon Von Etten. Plus, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are playing a special $29 benefit show to support Autism ARC and The City of Napa Parks and Recreation, which should be ... interesting. With over 60 acts onboard, there's sure to be something for everyone.
Food. Napa is where tipsy weekenders go to open their wallets and where restaurant mavens go to make big money. As such, there's a lot of world-class food in town. BottleRock has dozens of Napa restaurants lined up to offer festival food, including Morimoto, Travigne, Azzuro, and a slew of others.
Sun. It's impossible to tell what the weather holds for San Francisco in May. It may be sweltering or, more likely, cloudy with a change of pouring rain or cutting wind. But May in Napa is almost uniformly take-your-clothes-off beautiful without being Coachella-style scorching (and hopefully with fewer feather earrings and neo-tribal fashion statements).
Other goodies. In line with the trend of including comedy in a festival lineup, BottleRock will feature a full comedy lineup (still to be announced), plus blissful promises of micro-breweries on hand to quench your thirst. No word yet on quantity and quality of festival port-o-potty lineup.
BottleRock: grueling march through alcohol-induced dehydration or fun festival with friends? It's up to you to decide.