BottleRock Preparations Move Forward: Images

By Al Francis

NAPA - Just east of downtown Napa, up and over the river, is the quiet Napa Town & Country Expo, which will not be so quiet in a few weeks as thousands and thousands of music lovers will converge on the fairgrounds for this year's edition of the sold out BottleRock Napa Valley music, food, wine and beer festival.

In years past there have been motorcycle races, bull riding, Destruction Derbies with old cars crashing into each other.

There were also concerts at the old grandstands - demolished several years ago - that were used for previous musical groups such as Jefferson Airplane, the Beach Boys with their Hawaiian shirts and dozens of hits, and the rock guitar licks of Sammy Hagar, to name a few.

This year's lineup of over 70 bands will include Florence and The Machine, Lenny Kravitz, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stevie Wonder, The Lumineers, Ziggy Marley, and Death Cab for Cutie.

Michael Franti and the Spearheads make a return performance.

Crews were installing the metal bracing for the main stage floor last week which also includes four air conditioning units under the stage to keep the performers comfortable.

Meanwhile, at the Plaza Stage another crew was installing green shade mesh covering for concert goers to sit under at the only shaded viewing area at the venue.

Artificial grass used in the food plaza area was being unloaded from a semi truck.

Also a crew working for AT&T were using a crane to install a cell phone and data tower at the north end of the main spectator field to help transmit the extra massive amounts of photos and videos that will be shared by concert attendees on social media.

The party gets started on May 27th with Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz, Grouplove and Michael Franti among others and continues on Saturday with Florence and The Machine, Death Cab for Cutie, Walk the Moon and Ziggy Marley.

The lineup for Sunday headlines the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Lumineers and Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Tickets can still be found on various ticket outlets however, be prepared to pay premium prices and expect very crowded conditions.

-all images via Al Francis