NAPA — Anaheim’s No Doubt triumphantly closed the 2015 installment of BottleRock Napa Valley, leading a swath of Southern California invaders who dominated the NorCal festival’s third and final day.
Gwen Stefani is the kind of front woman every group dreams of having. She's not just a magnetic stage presence, but a warm one as well, posing for selfies and reaching out to fans who came to Napa from South America to see Sunday’s show.
“You guys and your energy are feeding me so much,” Stefani said. “You’re like my medicine.”
Playing to the largest single-day crowd in BottleRock history, Stefani carefully negotiated her role as entertainer by drawing in the audience as well as demonstrating the interplay between members that helped make No Doubt's live show renowned.
The group rattled off its biggest hits Sunday, opening with “Hella Good” and closing with a stretch that included “Sunday Morning,” “Don’t Speak,” “Just a Girl” and “Spiderwebs.”
One reason for those crowds was Long Beach’s Snoop Dogg. His Culinary Stage appearance with Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto choked traffic between stages, so much that some fans decided to turn away. One fan said Morimoto and Snoop rolled sushi, with the hip-hop legend joking about adding “special herbs.”
Later came Snoop’s main-stage tilt, pumping up the crowd prior to No Doubt. He ran through two decades of hits, including singing along to some that weren’t his own such as “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll," House of Pain’s “Jump Around” and The Notorious B.I.G.'s “Hypnotize.” Still, Snoop needed the full 70 minutes to draw in the standing-room-only crowd.
When a breeze came through Napa after “Who Am I? (What’s My Name?),” Snoop joked that “even the trees” were dancing to his set.
Los Angeles’ Awolnation did its part to help SoCal reign supreme on day three, delivering a torrid “Kill Your Heroes.” Similar to No Doubt, Awolnation’s attack was bolstered by a lead singer with an entrancing stage presence, Aaron Bruno, who roamed the stage and let his energy draw in a large crowd.
Although not from SoCal, blues barnstormers JJ Grey and Mofro (left) supplied one of the day’s strongest sets, highlighted by “The Sun Is Shining Down.” Grey delivered confidently, both in his vocals and his guitar work. The group added a southern flavor to their blues.
Los Angeles hip-hop duo People Under the Stairs delivered a solid set early in the day on the main stage, bringing good energy and clear sound with a sense of humor. “You are rocking with the ethnic Beastie Boys,” said MC Thes One. The duo included its own material alongside a feature with AC/DC’s “Back in Black” that changed quickly from a sample into a cover.
Duluth, Minnesota, bluegrass sextet Trampled by Turtles displayed technical proficiency during its turn on the Jam Cellars Stage. Among its best songs Sunday was a hard-charging “Western World,” which showed off the group’s acumen. Later, one of its instrumentals played out slow and sweet before going into double time for an impressive finish.
Toluca Lake’s Echosmith brought playful, positive pop. The quartet also sang “Happy Birthday” to super fan Natalie, who lead singer Sydney Sierota said was seeing her 29th Echosmith show. In addition to latest single “Bright,” the group closed with its biggest hit, “Cool Kids.”
Austin, Texas’ Emily Wolfe showed dexterity in her 45-minute set on the Miner Family Winery Stage. “White Collar Whiskey” was a standout, drawing to a rumbling finish. Wolfe also the ability to play small as well as loud, but tired feet left her with a mostly seated crowd.
The City Winery Stage started the day with Colorado-born singer/songwriter Matthew Moon, who treated the Napa crowd to his gentle stylings of pop rock.
Before the show concluded Sunday night, BottleRock organizers announced May 27, 28, and 29, 2016, as the dates for a fourth installment of the festival.
Setlists
No Doubt
01. Hella Good
02. It's My Life
03. Underneath it All
04. Settle Down
05. Ex-Girlfriend
06. Hey Baby
07. Sparkle
08. New
09. Simple Kind of Life
10. Magic's in the Makeup
11. Excuse Me Mr.
12. Sunday Morning
13. Bathwater
14. Happy Now?
15. Don't Speak
16. Just a Girl
Encore
17. Push and Shove
18. Spiderwebs
Snoop Dogg
01. I Wanna Rock
02. Tha Shiznit
03. P.I.M.P. freestyle
04. Wiggle
05. Ups and Downs
06. Peaches N Cream
07. Let's Get High
08. We Can Freak It
09. The Next Episode
10. Nuthin' but a "G" Thang
11. B**** Please
12. Pump Pump
13. You and Your Friends
14. Gin and Juice
15. I Wanna F*** You
16. California Gurls
17. Lodi Dodi
18. Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)
19. I Love Rock 'n' Roll
20. Hypnotize
21. 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted
22. Beautiful
23. Jump Around
24. Drop it Like it's Hot
25. Who Am I? (What’s My Name?)
26. Young, Wild and Free
27. Jammin'
(NSFW) Snoop Dogg performs “Gin and Juice”
Snoop plays House of Pain's "Jump Around"
No Doubt covers Talk Talk's "It's My Life"
JJ Grey and Mofro play "Hide & Seek"
Echosmith playing "Tell Her You Love Her"
People Under the Stairs perform "Trippin at the Disco"
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