Bottlerocking in '2025
- Cheryl Alterman | The Music Soup Editor
- Jun 1
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 1
Another successful music festival weekend in beautiful Napa Valley!
Every May since 2013 there has been a music festival in the beautiful wine country of Napa. The first Bottlerock in '13 was a five day experience, since then it has been whittled down to a three day music extravaganza at the Napa Valley Expo during Memorial Day weekend. I've been fortunate enough to have attended and photographed most of them thus far. Every year for me Bottlerock has been a totally different adventure. Last year (2024) probably being one of my favorite years due to meeting and photographing alongside one of my all time favorite music photographers, Danny Clinch.
Danny is the main Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen photographer and I've followed him and his work for more than a decade. I stopped him when I saw him in the crowd walking from one stage to another and we got to chat then and proceeded to see him all weekend. We even shot Pearl Jam together.... One of my favorite moments. That made my whole weekend so incredibly special. As a music photographer, meeting other music photographers and being able to discuss this passion, our gear, and music, makes me a happy girl! I never got to meet Jim Marshall but have been in the right place at the right time to meet Neal Preston, Danny Clinch and, as you will read in The Music Soup again soon, my recent experiences and interview with the legendary Henry Diltz. I'm so grateful for these wonderful experiences meeting amazing photographers.
Bottlerock 2025 brought some cool music such as one of my all time favorite bands, Green Day. Last year was Pearl Jam and the year before was Foo Fighters. For me, these three bands are in my top five (or ten.) And Bottlerock booked them! Bottlerock also gives time to the lesser known artists on smaller stages throughout the weekend. This year the headliners were Green Day (Friday), Justin Timberlake (Saturday), and Noah Kahan (Sunday). I usually catch all the headliners but this year I chose to see Cage the Elephant and Robby Krieger instead of Kahan. It doesn't usually happen but this year Kahan and Cage were due to go on at the same time. The acts are usally staggered more, but not so this year.
Throughout the weekend, I managed to see and photograph Green Day, Justin Timberlake, Benson Boone, Sublime, Kaleo, Remi Wolfe, Bob Schneider, Chaparelle, Eggy, G. Love and Donovan Frankenreiter, Goose, Public Enemy, 4 Non Blondes, and Ice Cube. Did I miss some artists that I wanted to see? Oh yes...That happens every year. But Bottlerock does give the opportunity for us music lovers to see bands we may not get to see otherwise, but no one can be at all the stages, so one has to pick and chose. One of the acts that I meant to see and missed was Kate Hudson. I later heard in the media building that she was amazing, along with several others I missed, but all in all, I enjoyed the entire weekend.
For those who are in Media and attend Bottlerock, they provide a media building. It allows the media to upload photos to their outlets live as it's happening and it also provides a safe place to decompress and leave our gear. Every year it's a wonderful reunion for those that have been attending for years as media.
We get to see each other and hang out all weekend so that's another lovely part of it for me. The media building and the people that gather in it, is one of the places I look forward to at Bottlerock. And I also get to see my pals that I've worked with in the radio biz....
Bottlerock 2025 Day 1 for me was filled with the reunions as well as looking forward to seeing Green Day at the end of the night. And as it was Day 1, I decided to take it all in and see the acts that I chose. They were Remi Wolfe, Sublime, Public Enemy and Green Day. I'd never seen Remi Wolfe, Sublime or Public Enemy and they were all good. I especially liked Sublime. For me this day was all about Green Day. This is one band I never tire of seeing live. I've seen them many times and they have never dissappointed, EVER! This performance was on par with their usual excellence. The members of Green Day are all from the Bay Area and are as follows, Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar and lead vox), Mike Dirnt (bass), Jason White (guitar) and Tre cool (drums). GD started out with two childhood pals, Billie Joe and Mike Dirnt at age 15 and have evolved to be one of the best and most influential bands coming out of Northern California in the past couple of decades, in my opinion.
Green Day appeals to those of all ages as well. Whilst watching their set I was standing near other fans that ranged from ten to 70 years old. And that's a beautiful thing to see in music! During their set I noticed a blimp flying above that said "Bad Year" in a Green Day-like typeface...It was probably a statement directly from Green Day as the band is known for their political commentary, especially to the current political climate and their disapproval of those in charge at this time. Some of the Green Day lyrics have been changed to say, "not a part of the MAGA agenda," and they also mention "Elon" in one song. To be honest, I was waiting for a 'Springsteen like' speech from Billie Joe, but that never came. Maybe the blimp was his way of showing the bands' dissatisfaction for the horrible human and administration in the White House.
I have posted a Green Day video on my You Tube channel of their finale for "Good Riddance" and at the very end, Flavor Flav joined the band onstage. I will be posting more on You Tube from their set in the near future. Please subscribe and check it out: youtube.com/@TheMusicSoupVideo?sub_confirmation=1
©Cheryl Alterman Photography 2025
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