‘This is the magic': BottleRock Napa kicks off in legendary fashion
This is shaping up to be one of the greatest BottleRock Napa Valley festivals on record.
The lineup is absolutely loaded - with headlining crop that includes top pop-star Lorde, alt-rock heroes Foo Fighters, hip-hop legend Lil Wayne, fantastic “boy band” Backstreet Boys and famed rapper Ludacris - overall showcasing such a wonderfully appealing and diverse mix of old and new artists.
There’s something worth seeing basically every hour of every day of this festival, from the moment the music kicks off at noon until the headliner closes the event each night right before the 10 p.m. curfew.
And, often, there’s almost too much worth seeing across BottleRock Napa Valley’s half-dozen or so stages, resulting in the kind of scheduling conflicts that truly perplex/delight music viewers. That was exemplified on BottleRock Day One (May 22) when Lorde, Lil Wayne and ’80s faves Men at Work — three of the most enticing acts on the overall festival bill — were all on at the same time.
Other Day One conflicts included Teddy Swims vs. Papa Roach vs. Treach of Naughty By Nature and Tash Sultana vs. Chevy Metal vs. Chaka Khan. And that’s not even counting all of the fabulous foodie fun taking place on the Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage, where chefs, rockers, sports figures and other celebs deliver cooking demonstrations and more. You could pretty much camp out in front of that stage all day if you wanted — which, of course, further complicates the personal scheduling issues.
Sure, those are problems. But they are really good problems, resulting in a festival with nary a dull moment.
Also, the festivalgoers just seemed so overjoyed and radiant to be back at this annual Memorial Day weekend event, which runs through May 24 at the Napa Valley Expo in downtown Napa.
Despite all the headlines screaming out about a weakening economy, job losses and inflation woes, BottleRock posted one of the fastest sell-outs in its 14-year history - with some 40,000-45,000 fans expected to stroll through the gates each day. And demand for tickets post-sell-out, I’m being told, has never been higher.
Plus, the merch booths and food and drink vendors seem to be as busy as ever.
Our country may be heading into tougher economic times, but these music lovers plan to face them with brand new BottleRock hats on their heads, glasses of merlot in their hands and earfuls of the Backstreet Boys and Slightly Stoopid.
Those are two of the acts set to close out the festival on Sunday. Others that will join them include Sombr, Mt. Joy, Kool and the Gang, Larkin Poe and Ludacris. See bottlerocknapavalley.com for more information.
One of the coolest storylines from Day 1 is that Indy, a rising pop star (and massive New York Knicks fan) out of New Zealand, was making her festival debut as the opening act on the biggie Prudential Stage - where, some eight hours later, her sister Lorde would conduct her own headlining set.
This younger Yelich-O'Connor sister made good use of the opportunity, delighting the typically small - but steadily growing - early Day 1 crowd with a hourlong set that nicely showcased her indie-dance-pop tunes. She proved that talent definitely runs in the family as she waltzed through tunes from the 2025 EP “Fame Is a Bedroom” and other material. It was definitely a strong showing for this festival rookie.
A few hours later on that same stage, Chaka Khan delivered one of the top sets of the day as she rolled through the legendary likes of “I’m Every Woman” and “I Feel for You.” “The Queen of Funk” - who, after way too many years of unsuccessful nominations, finally made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023 - sounded strong on the microphone as she had folks dancing and singing along to one memorable tune after another.
Georgia R&B/soul/pop man Teddy Swims was clearly one of the most anticipated acts of the day, as he drew a huge crowd to the Prudential Stage for his performance, which consisted of such hits as “The Door” and “Bad Dreams.”
After completing his own set, Swims then raced over to take the T-Mobile Stage to join Papa Roach on the Vacaville band’s famed nu-metal power ballad “Scars.”
Then it was time for Lorde. And time for one last performance of the star’s highly successful Ultrasound tour in support of the artist’s fourth full-length, “Virgin,” a work that topped our list of the best albums of 2025.
“God, this is beautiful. I am star-struck” Lorde remarked as she looked out upon the setting and the tens of thousands of fans gathered in front of her. “This is the very last time we will do this show. We are building a new show that we will take us all over the world.”
With that in mind, Lorde instructed us to live in the moment - to try not to think about tomorrow, at least not yet - and to enjoy this last final Ultrasound Tour performance. She wanted us to be present, to there for each other, and to have fun.
“Take this in,” she instructed. “This is the magic. This is what we will remember.”
Lorde was absolutely stellar throughout her 90-minute set, powerfully swinging the “Hammer” - one of a half-dozen memorable “Virgin” tracks performed on this night” - and then following up with the deliriously good “Royals” that first transformed a 16-year-old New Zealander into a global pop star seemingly overnight.
Lorde brought the show to the close - like she’s been doing at each of the Ultrasound Tour stops — out on a small stage temporarily erected by the soundboard.
From that perch, and surrounded by fans who were going absolutely out of their minds to be suddenly in such close proximity to the famed vocalist, Lorde delivered one more lasting moment from Day 1 of BottleRock Napa Valley as she poured herself into a powerful take on the fan favorite “Ribs.”
Lorde setlist:
1) “Hammer”
2) “Royals”
3) “Broken Glass”
4) “Buzzcut Season”
5) “Favourite Daughter”
6) “Perfect Places”
7) “Shapeshifter”
8) “Current Affairs”
9) “Supercut”
10) “Man of the Year”
11) “Team”
12) “Green Light”
13) “A World Alone”
14) “Ribs”
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This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 10:40 AM.