BottleRock Napa Valley...

Last weekend marked the return of my hometown’s beloved music, food and drink festival, BottleRock Napa Valley, which turned five this Memorial Day weekend. In addition to boasting phenomenal music lineups year after year, BRNV offers a wine garden, a “beer bend,” a silent disco, a beer and bourbon garden, displays of art throughout the [&hellip

The JV Club...

I’ve always liked Janet Varney, who I knew almost exclusively from her work with Thrilling Adventure Hour, but once someone made the connection for me (last year or the year before, I think) that she was one of the co-founders of SF Sketchfest, my admiration for her ratcheted up quite a few notches. So she’s super [&hellip

Rock Solid with...

Show 2 of my 3 at this year’s SF Sketchfest was last weekend at Swedish American Hall on a chilly grey Saturday afternoon. What better way to spend such a day than laughing with Pat Francis taping a live Rock Solid podcast with Kyle Dodson and special guest “Weird Al” Yankovic? I couldn’t think of anything [&hellip

Kirsten Vangsness MESS...

It’s that time of year again: SF Sketchfest 2017 is in town, and as always, brings with it the promise of some great talent and good times. It also marks yet another anniversary for me with Spinning Platters (my 6th), which also always makes me smile. Anyway, this year is no exception in terms of [&hellip

Festival Preview: BottleRock...

Ohhhh. Emmm. Geeeee, you guys. Seriously. Like anyone else who’s devoted to her favorite festival, I have been waiting for this morning for quite some time. (Perhaps since last June?) Why? Because that’s when BottleRock Napa Valley was set to announce this year’s lineup. And announce it they did. I knew that Dave Grohl had [&hellip

BottleRock Napa Valley...

You’re reading Day 3. Have you checked out Day 1 and Day 2 as well? I don’t know why, but Day 3 always seems to be the day all my friends attend BottleRock. This year was no exception. Two friends came up from the South Bay, not wanting to miss a moment. While I waited [&hellip

BottleRock Napa Valley...

You’re reading this year’s Day 2. Don’t forget to check out Day 1 too! Day 2 got a bit of a late start, but once inside, I wasted no time at all stopping by Lagunitas for a cold Aunt Sally, which is easily my favorite beer they make, since it’s the least hop-driven! I went [&hellip

BottleRock Napa Valley...

Before I get into all the details of the gloriousness that was this year’s BottleRock Napa Valley, please allow me a moment, not just to digress but to explain why this festival is so important to me. I was born in Napa. As many Napa kids do, I moved away in my early 20s seeking [&hellip

Mortified (Extra Dirty...

That Mortified has been selling out shows for the past decade shouldn’t surprise me. What should is that this year was my first time getting to find out why. It was Sketchfest 2016’s final weekend (Saturday, 1/23, to be exact), and while I had booked myself back-to-back shows for the evening, I wasn’t concerned since [&hellip