What’s great about BottleRock lineup? (Hint: It’s not really the headliners.)
The lineup for the 2020 Bottle Rock Napa Valley has been released and it’s certainly rich in talent, including such bigname acts as Stevie Nicks, Dave Matthews Band, Khalid and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Here are the 12 acts I’m most excited to see at the festival, which runs May 22-24 at the Napa Valley Expo in downtown Napa. For festival passes and other information, go to bottlerocknapavalley.com.
MILEY CYRUS >> All of the festival’s other five headliners — Dave Matthews Band, Steve Nicks, Anderson .Paak & the Free Nationals, Khalid and Red Hot Chili Peppers — should deliver great sets for their many fans. Yet, I expect Cyrus to top them all with her headlining set and deliver a high-energy pop music spectacle that will leave festivalgoers talking well into summer. Indeed, this could turn out out to be secondmost fun set of the entire weekend, trailing only behind …
VILLAGE PEOPLE >> Yeah, this should be a blast, with a crowd split between people who are old enough to remember the band during its original late-’70s heyday and young hipsters whose parents might not have been born when “Macho Man” first hit the charts. Better start practicing your “Y.M.C.A.” dance now, Bottle Rockers.
MAREN MORRIS >> Her 2016 debut, “Hero,” was one of the best albums of the decade, featuring such great tunes as “80s Mercedes” and “I Could Use a Love Song.” The follow-up, last year’s “Girl,” was another winner, highlighted by the hit title track and the omnipresent single “The Bones.”
BLONDIE >> This Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band has more truly great songs than any other act on the bill. The shortlist would include such late-’70s/early-’80s classics as “Hanging on the Telephone,” “Heart of Glass,” “One Way
or Another,” “The Tide Is High” and, of course, “Call Me.” Expect one of the loudest singalongs of the festival to occur when Debbie Harry launches into the rap portion of “Rapture.”
THE HADEN TRIPLETS >> The three musicians, the daughters of the late, great jazz bassist Charlie Haden, specialize in old-school country/bluegrass/Americana music. The group’s eponymous debut was produced by the legendary Ry Cooder and released on
Jack White’s Third Man Records label in 2014.
REIGNWOLF >> Don’t just take my word that this rock act is worth seeing in concert. The group has been endorsed by the Pixies, The Who and — the heaviest of the heavy — Black Sabbath, all of which have toured with Reignwolf.
DIGABLE PLANETS >> Be “Cool Like Dat” and catch Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, Mariana “Ladybug Mecca” Vieira and Craig “Doodlebug”
Irving in concert. The Planets skyrocketed to fame in the early ’90s with their distinctive brand of alt-hip-hop, which drew heavily from jazz, and delivered two well-regarded studio albums — “Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space)” and “Blowout Comb.”
ERIC B. & RAKIM >> Yes, I’m going mighty retro here with my recommendations. So what? You’ll thank me later — probably about the time you’re singing along to “Paid in Full.”
Simply put, this talented twosome, featuring Eric B. on the turntables and Rakim on the microphone, is one of the greatest duos in hip-hop history.
MUNA >> The SoCal trio, consisting of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson, make really intriguing electropop tunes. Having opened for Harry Styles on his 2017 tour, Muna is currently supporting its sophomore release, last year’s “Saves the World.”
JANELLE MONÁE >> There’s a unsubstantiated rumor going around that she’s not very good at rock climbing. But, other than possibly that, is there anything that this multitalented performer/recording artist/actress can’t do well? We certainly know that she can deliver the goods in concert. Indeed, people are still talking about her performance at the 2018 Outside Lands festival in San Francisco.
JIMMY EAT WORLD >> “The Middle” is the best poppunk single of the 21st century. It’s not even close. And I am even willing to take it one massive step further and say that this Jimmy Eat World nugget is the best pop-punk song to have been recorded by any band not named the Mr. T Experience or the Buzzcocks.
BRANDI CARLILE >> She’s one of the best singer-songwriters on the planet. And she just keeps right on proving it, album after album. Just grab a copy of any of her six studio solo outings — including the most recent release, 2018’s “By the Way, I Forgive You” — and you’ll hear what I mean.