NAPA — The impact was quick, if not immediate. The tension and excitement had been building, people jockeying for position and moving in as close to the stage as they could. With the utterance of a simple phrase, everything changed.

“Did you miss me?” asked Lizzo on a video screen, before repeating it live on mic, “Did you miss me, bitch?”

Lizzo

The answer, pretty plainly, was, “yes.” Lizzo had the audience in the palm of her hand from the get-go. By the first chorus of the first song, “The Sign,” a spontaneous dance party had consumed just about everyone, from the crowd to the security guards, the vendors serving up food (looking at you, Cluck Me Fried Chicken). Lizzo appeared on stage, decked out in a black and green jumpsuit, looking like a superhero.

“My name is Lizzo, and I’ll be your headliner tonight,” she said coyly, as if the amassed thousands hadn’t been waiting for just this moment.

After powering through “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready),” Lizzo laid out the rules for peak enjoyment of the show.

“If you want to dance, then dance; if you want to laugh, then giggle; if you want to scream, then scream,” she said. “This is a safe space to be yourself.”

It was a message the crowd took to heart, jumping and dancing for the duration of the set, returning maximum energy to the pop and soul superstar. When the singer turned her back to the audience mid-song to twerk, the energy reached a fever pitch.

“Let me get my big girls up here,” she said, referencing her back-up dancers.

Only for a fleeting moment was she thrown off her game between songs by an unexpected visitor.

“Oh bitch is that a bee?” she asked, eliciting a laugh from the crowd. “They follow me everywhere.”

Mixing in “Grrrls,” then “Boys,” Lizzo kept things energetic throughout the night. She even brought a flashy handbag with a tiny flashy handbag inside for the lead up to “Phone.”

“I usually do it for the big girls, but for one night I’m doing it for BottleRock,” she announced before launching into “Tempo.”

Lizzo’s backing band was a force, able to set the tone from song to song. Sometimes it was arena rock; other times, it was funk or hip-hop, and the group adeptly kept the pace.

Scanning the crowd, it was impressive how Lizzo was able to truly capture so much diversity in her fanbase. The Lizzo love spanned demographics and generations, with a broad spectrum of fans all collectively dancing and singing along.

 

“It’s getting dark out here, put those lights up,” Lizzo said before moving into “Jerome,” to which the crowd quickly obliged, illuminating the dusk from the front to the back of the JaM Cellars stage.

Lizzo’s banter helped fuel the show. Whether the message was empowerment, motivation or self-assurance, the singer stood tall in her call for individuality and self-confidence.

The setlist was all Lizzo material, save for one selection, a cover of Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing).”

The band members got a moment to show off their chops as Lizzo introduced them to the 40,000 strong in Napa Valley.

Wishing seemingly everyone near the front of the stage an individual happy birthday message, Lizzo moved into the fittingly titled “Birthday Girl.”

Festival headline sets can sometimes be more challenging than one might expect. Simply contending with a crowd that’s been standing in the sun for hours isn’t easy. That was not the case this night. From start to finish, the singer’s energy never wavered. The 75-minute set was marked by big vocals, big energy and plenty of dance moves and grooves.

The song “Everybody’s Gay” carried a little extra weight as dancers held a multicolored Progress Pride flag at the back of the stage. Before the song was through, Lizzo made a declaration, offering up her support for marginalized communities.

“Drag is not a crime!” she proclaimed in the closing moments.

The closing portion of Lizzo’s set was essentially her own greatest hits. There were no surprises in the waning moments, but an opportunity to deliver on the excitement that had been building throughout the day. Beginning with “Truth Hurts” and “Good As Hell,” Lizzo closed out with “Juice” and singalong smash “About Damn Time.”

Duran Duran

Like Lizzo, Duran Duran has played in the Bay Area in recent months. But while the ’80s New Romantics’ set didn’t offer much in the way of surprises from their show at Chase Center last fall, they delivered on the quality, playing hits and deeper cuts alongside each other without letting the momentum suffer.

Simon Le Bon was up front in a white suit, with John Taylor walking circles around while playing bass on the one-two punch of “Wild Boys” and “Hungry Like the Wolf.” Keyboardist Nick Rhodes, who stayed mostly to the back of the stage, looked dapper in a black and white striped suit that made him look a little like Beetlejuice.

“A View to a Kill” was preceded by a recorded version of the “James Bond” theme. Then came “Notorious,” and the diehards in the audience broke out in dance.

It wasn’t clear why, but Le Bon then scraped up a setlist taped to the floor in front of him, tossing it to fans in the front row. He duetted with one of the band’s backup singers on “Come Undone,” and then a stagehand replaced it with another setlist.

The band concluded “Anniversary” with a snippet of INXS’ “Need You Tonight.” “Lonely in Your Nightmare” went directly into Rick James’ “Super Freak,” which delighted the people near the front of the stage. “Friends of Mine” kept chugging along, and “Careless Memories” was an absolute rocker.

As he did at the band’s San Francisco show, Le Bon dedicated “Ordinary World” to the people of Ukraine. That song preceded the most interesting surprise of the performance, a duet with festival performer Tove Lo on “Give It All Up.” Duran Duran saved more hits for the end, including “The Reflex,” “Girls On Film,” “Rio” and “Save a Prayer.”

Lupe Fiasco

Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco had a good ol’ time on the Verizon stage in the early afternoon, mixing playful banter with hard-hitting and soulful hip-hop. Dressed for summer in a T-shirt and cargo shorts, and backed by DJ Smokey, Lupe showed off his vocal and lyrical dexterity while likely educating more than a few people in the process–literally.

“You got geniuses on this stage,” he shouted while talking about his other job of teaching hip-hop at MIT and, soon, Yale.

“This is my job. This is what I do for a living. I’m what they call a professional rapper,” he declared at the outset. Lupe and Smokey opened with the mellow “Kick, Push,” before moving on to the faster-paced “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” and “I Gotcha.”

Afterward he took a breather, because, as he explained a few times, he was more tired than he thought he’d be.

“I talk between records to catch my breath. Lung capacity is a thing!” he said. He also let everyone know that he was saving was saving his biggest hits for the end and gave people an excuse to go on bathroom runs. Hopefully no one left, because they would have missed the rollicking “Go Go Gadget Flow” and Kanye collaboration “Touch the Sky,” during which he positive-peer-pressured fans into raising their hands, singling out one man who didn’t want to play along and having some fun with him.

Lupe continued on with throwback-inspired tune “Out of My Head,” “Paris, Tokyo” (which he delivered as spoken-word poetry) and the soulful “Wild Child.”

Carly Rae Jepsen

Pop singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen drew one of the youngest crowds of the day, and that crowd bounced along with her from song to song. Jepsen understood that festival crowds want the ballads left at home and didn’t disappoint, opening with numerous pop bangers like “Surrender My Heart” and “Joshua Tree” (two new songs), as well as “Run Away With Me.”

“The thing I love about festivals is there’s no such thing is too much,” she said, doing her best Taylor Swift song intro into the song “Too Much,” during which she swayed back and forth.

“Talking to Yourself” and more well-known uptempo tunes followed, including “Emotion” (paired with “Favorite Color”) and “Call Me Maybe.” During the latter, Jepsen hopped into the pit in front of the stage and ran around, giving hi-fives and hugs. Even when Jepsen slowed it down, such as on “Bends,” there was still pep in the songs.

Leon Bridges

Soul sensation Leon Bridges played it cool during his hour-long set on the main stage. He made the slow walk to the microphone as he took the stage with his band. Bridges wore black from head to toe, save for a blue fuzzy bucket hat. The Atlanta native let his stellar voice do the talking, dialing in the smooth soul sounds and mixing in some mid-tempo rhythmic funk along the way.

“It’s an honor to play on this legendary stage,” Bridges said about halfway through, acknowledging the festival’s decade-long run.

Leon Bridges’ balladry had the large crowd slow-dancing and swaying to tracks like “Born Again” and “Texas Sun.”

“How many people here are in love?” Bridges asked before dedicating the moment.

His band added an impressive flair, mixing in brass and backing vocals, elevating the material to another level. Bridges kept the crowd grooving, serving as the perfect appetizer for Lizzo. The singer strapped on an electric guitar for a stripped-down and intense take on “River,” which was heavy on hauntingly beautiful harmonies.

Nile Rodgers and Chic

Nile Rodgers and Chic held court over maybe the best jukebox around, rolling through a who’s-who of greatest hits. It was a set packed with musical joy, a throwback to a prior generation but also a declaration that music is universal.

“You probably know that I write and produce all the music for this band,” Nile Rodgers said. “What you might not know is that I write and produce music for a whole lot of people.”

Rodgers’ song list was a journey through his own songbook, a humblebrag of sorts, as he played hit after massive hit, telling the stories of how the songs came about. Opening with a few of his own, he kicked things off with the crowd-pleasing “Le Freak” before moving on to songs made famous by other artists.

From “I’m Coming Out” to “Upside Down,” and “We Are Family,” he and his band nimbly kept the party going, along with two female vocalists. His keyboardist sang lead on David Bowie’s “Modern Love.”

Rodgers spoke to the pivotal moment of his career in working on Madonna’s Like a Virgin, and making a suggestion the singer was not on board with.

“I was coming off six No. 1 records, and thought I knew everything,” he said. “I suggested we name the album Material Girl and make that the lead single.”

Madonna ultimately went with “Like a Virgin.”

“Luckily, this is my show and I can do what I want, so I’m going to play both of them,” he quipped.

The hits just kept on coming, including songs from Sister Sledge.

“I’m going to take you back to the days of Studio 54,” Rodgers said.

One of the most fun tunes of the set was a funky version of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.”

Dayglow

Sloan Struble, better known as Dayglow, brought a youthful exuberance to his performance, donning a green sweatshirt and baggy jeans. The 23-year-old Texas native kept things simple, focusing on upbeat riff-driven pop. Opening with “Hot Rod” and “Fair Game,” Struble put an indie twist on the Tears for Fears classic “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” which then made a fitting transition into his own track, the bouncy “Run the World!!!” 

While Dayglow is rooted in alt-rock and pop, there was an upbeat funk sensibility to the music that also worked its way into the songs. Struble closed out his set with “Close to You” and “Can I Call You Tonight?”

Paris Jackson

Garage rocker Paris Jackson and her band began the day on the main stage. With her arms tattooed like an abstract painting, a torn Bright Eyes T-shirt and plaid pants, she looked like a punk or ska artist. But her dry vocals sounded more like Liz Phair, and her set was an homage to the ’90s.

She and the band began with “Lighthouse,” with crunchy guitars, before moving on to turbocharged ballad “Sirens” and a new song that highlighted her smooth, textured singing alongside sharp-edged guitar lines.

“This one isn’t even out yet,” she said.

Following another fun tune, “Just You,” “bandaid” had more of a pop-punk vibe with its skittering beat and growling bass. Jackson skipped along on stage to the beat. She then dedicated a song to men over 30 who couldn’t please women in a very certain way.

A highlight for the ’90s kids in the crowd was a revved-up cover of Blind Mellon’s “No Rain,” for which Paris Jackson saved her best dance moves.

“I wish I wrote that song so bad,” she said. Jackson may be Michael’s daughter, but she looks to a different direction for her music.

Danielle Ponder

The set from R&B vocal powerhouse Danielle Ponder was as much a celebration of music as it was the singer’s unorthodox journey..

“Two years ago, I was an attorney, I was working as a public defender,” Ponder said midway during her afternoon performance.

Ponder said she had been interested in music and singing for a long time, but was always concerned that a career as a musician wasn’t a sustainable path. Well, better late than never! Ponder showed her immense talent that ranged from sultry slow jams to belted out upbeat funk.

“I’ve been at this full time for two years and I’m already here at BottleRock,” she said proudly.

Ponder’s band was tight and provided a strong musical foundation on tracks like “Some of Us Are Brave” and “Someone Like You.” In chatting with the crowd, Ponder was casual and conversational, politely asking everyone to spread the word if they liked the music

“I’m 41 years old, you’re not going to see me doing any TikTok dances,” she said. “I’m relying on you!”

Ponder then launched into her latest single “Roll the Credits,” a track she announced was written about psychedelics.

Tove Lo

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the parents at BottleRock were not impressed by Swedish pop artist Tove Lo’s performance. Her characteristically revealing and risqué outfit, made up of little other than fishnet, and her frequent gyrations, elicited groans from the expensive seats. But one look at her massive audience at the Verizon stage, which swelled like ocean waves whenever she asked for people to dance, made it clear they were there for her.

Lo blasted through an hourlong set of synth-pop songs that began to blend into each other, starting with glitchy number “Pineapple Slice,” “Attention Whore,” a nearly five-minute-long “Cool Girl.” Tove Lo swung her formidable braid around on the pinging “2 Die 4,” showed even more of her skin on “Talking Body” and powered through even more electronic bangers like “Disco Tits,” “Call on Me” and “Grapefruit.” Eventually, dance pits opened up in the crowd as she concluded with her first single, “Habits,” and “No One Dies From Love.”

East Forest

Billed as both a concert and a “musical technology” ritual, the performance by ambient electronic artist East Forest eased Saturday morning festival-goers into the day with a low-key set featuring mellow synths and calming chants and nature sounds. If you were nursing a hangover after Friday night’s Post Malone set, this was the place to recover. A few attendees practiced yoga poses or meditated while others seemed content to simply lie on their blankets and let the soothing tones wash over them.