Miley Cyrus performs at BottleRock Napa on Sept. 4, 2021. Photos: Adam Pardee/STAFF unless otherwise noted.

NAPA — Miley Cyrus has rebelled against the constructs that limited her for many years now, and that didn’t change at her co-headlining slot at BottleRock Napa Valley on Saturday. She used the 90 minutes to reinforce her message that she’s always been her own woman and not subject to the family friendly box from which she’s clearly broken out.

In her second concert of the summer (she also played Lollapalooza in July), she didn’t leave any weapons in her arsenal unspent, breaking out the hits, pyrotechnics, some fun covers and her biggest asset of all—her unique personality.

Miley Cyrus walked onto the stage through a cloud of fog, singing “We Can’t Stop,” to which she also added a snippet of the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” The packed field was ready to sing along and marvel at the flares shot off from the bottom of the stage at the end. Her set largely followed what she played at Lollapalooza, though without the guest appearances from that festival.

She and her five-member backing band performed “WTF Do I Know” for just the second time. During
“Plastic Hearts,” she made the rounds to some of her musicians and posed with her guitarist. A cover of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” wasn’t unexpected but was still a highlight. The stage lit up like a disco for “SMS (Bangerz)” as she strutted around like a model.

Noise pop/rap banger “Love Money Party” featured a pre-recorded rapped vocal track rather than an appearance by G Herbo, while more sparklers and flares went off during “23.”

“The time we can spend together, connecting like this in seas of people… I see bodies and smiling faces,” Cyrus said during one of several extended addresses to the crowd. She didn’t exactly complete the thought, but the message was understood.

Miley Cyrus explained how the song “Malibu” was about a pivotal time of loss in her life. A bit later into the show, she explained in much more detail how she lost her home in the Southern California wildfires three years ago, and is just now learning to live with it.

The speech preceded a cover of Janis Joplin’s “Maybe,” to which Cyrus said she could relate after living through loss of several types. Her raspy voice suited the song well. During “Malibu,” however, the video screens showed skeletons in various types of coital acts, often on motorcycles. After several women flashed their breasts at her, Cyrus encouraged everyone comfortable to do so, too. Suddenly, there were numerous people with their shirts off. While “Hannah Montana” was family friendly, this Miley Cyrus show was not.

Following a cover of Mark Ronson’s “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart,” Cyrus and co. launched into “7 Things,” which was a ballad but with pop-punk choruses. A snippet of “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” led into “See You Again.” Cyrus then spoke about creating her own narrative and not letting anyone else do it for her. Her music is her stories delivered directly from her mouth to her fans, she said.

“I don’t belong to anyone,” she sang on the following “Midnight Sky.”

Thousands of arms stretched out and up toward the sky on ballad “The Climb” before Cyrus finished strong with galloping rocker “Can’t Be Tamed,” an intriguing hybrid of “Wrecking Ball” with “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “Party in the U.S.A.”

Guns N’ Roses

Guns N’ Roses hit the stage at a somewhat surprisingly prompt 7:30 p.m. start, as they were scheduled. Axl Rose and crew wasted little time getting down to business delivering the hits at a breakneck pace. The one-two punch of “It’s So Easy” into “Mr. Brownstone” set the tone right away. Some of the more casual fans in the sprawling crowd wondered what an older and wiser Guns N’ Roses would sound like now, and it turns out they sound pretty darn good.

Slash, Duff McKagan and company rolled through the first portion of the 23-song set with precision and energy. Slash certainly still reigns as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and that was on full display Saturday night. Few guitarists can elicit a roar of the crowd quite like Slash simply bending a string or blazing through a lightspeed solo.

Axl deserves every bit of credit for his performance; for a man nearly entering his sixth decade, he gave the performance everything he had and more. Rose ran from side to side on the stage, shimmied, shared and played maestro as the band rolled through its catalog of hits. GnR even mixed in Velvet Revolver track “Slither” early in the set—a song the band plays regularly now, in part as a tribute to Scott Weiland.

Following some extended jamming, the band built up the legendary “Welcome to the Jungle,” the opening notes of the intro riff innately bringing the crowd to life. While Axl Rose has lost a bit of speed on his fastball vocals over the years, he still shines through, especially in a situation like this. He kept the high notes in his back pocket, waiting for the right time to unleash, to stir the crowd into an even bigger frenzy.

The band rolled through tracks like “Live and Let Die,” “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and “November Rain,” even mixing in a few covers like Bob Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door,” as well as “Wichita Lineman.” Despite a few treats along the way, the true payoff for GnR fans came at the close of the show. The encore included P!nk on a rendition of “Patience.” That wouldn’t be the only surprise of the evening—Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters joined in on “Paradise City” with a bit of a twist.

In what’s become a bit of an unspoken BottleRock tradition, Guns N’ Roses played beyond (and quite a bit beyond) the 10 p.m. curfew allotted by the festival. But heck, that didn’t stop the crowd leading the much-less audible band at the end of “Paradise City.”

Run The Jewels

Killer Mike and El-P hadn’t played a show in three years, and their excitement for hitting the stage again was palpable. Along with DJ Trackstar, the duo went blisteringly hot for its entire set with a mix of songs from RTJ4 (RIFF’s 2020 best album of the year), as well as older material.

The performance wasn’t just top-notch; it was extremely fun and optimistic. Early on, Run The Jewels threw in danceable cuts like “Out of Sight” and “holy calamafuck.”

“We back, bitch!” Killer Mike yelled. “I’m so glad we’re fucking alive and here with you.” The entire performance was aggressive and fast, with tracks like “Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1,” “Oh My Darling Don’t Cry,” “Legend Has It” and “Walking In Snow.”

Killer Mike was animated the entire show and gave an impassioned speech about finding value as human beings and not as part of a corporate machine. Pain happens “because people are greedy and corporations want money,” he said. “You are worth more than a dollar. … The bullshit stressing you is just money.” That preceded an absolutely fantastic song, and one also fantastic live, in “JU$T.” Killer Mike and El-P paced the stage with an extra spring in their step, as if they were dancing.

Later highlights included “Close Your Eyes,” “Stay Gold” and the constantly building, “a few words for the firing squad (radiation).”

Dominic Fike

The younger attendees loved Floridian singer-songwriter Dominic Fike. He drew one of the youngest crowds of the day. Strapping on an acoustic guitar, Fike dedicated a cover of Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why” to everyone in the crowd who “isn’t 16.”

But first, he casually walked onto the stage, about 10 minutes late, and played a couple of 90-second songs, starting with “Come Here,” with searing guitar riffs. On the second, Fike—wearing a white T-shirt with the words “GUITAR PICKER”—started rapping all of a sudden.

Fike sings with a gruff, gravelly voice, and he acknowledged it was more gravelly than usual because he’d recently played another show, and it was shot. Following “Phone Numbers,” during which he jumped into the pit in front of fans, he talked about the difficulty he had making it to BottleRock when his flight was nearly canceled.

Dominic Fike was recently one of the featured guest artists on McCartney III Imagined, a remix album of the Beatles’ 18th studio album, III. At BottleRock, he busted out his contribution to that album, his version of “The Kiss of Venus.” It was the most poppy of the early songs in the set.

After a song that consisted mostly of some blues rock noodling, he halted and switched gears into “Westcoast Collective,” screaming through the chorus over phase-shifted guitar jamming. There was also a rapid-fire take on Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So” and an unreleased song called “Maniac” that he dedicated to a “very special girl.” On that one, his voice sounded more natural and the melody less harsh.

Hobo Johnson & The Lovemakers

The self-effacing artist and his band meandered onto the stage and burst into “Typical Story.” Using his unique blend of hip-hop and spoken-word poetry—and some stand-up comedy skills—Hobo Johnson screamed through parts of the song and his set, but kept the audience on its toes by speaking, sometimes in rhyme, to fans.

He broke character numerous times, including during “Romeo & Juliet,” when he noticed how big he looked on the Verizon Stage’s huge perpendicular screens. It was a topic to which he returned again later, asking fans to thank the production crews that put it up.

The set included “Subaru Crosstrek XV,” “Jordans House” (loosely about one of his band members) and “I Want to See the World.” He preceded the latter with a story about how thoughtful his girlfriend is and how the perspectives of other nations aren’t taught in the U.S. The song was both comedic and poignant, which describes more of Hobo Johnson’s music.

Each song got an intro story that provided more color than context, and that made the performance more like theater than a traditional concert. At one point he poured a can of water over his head (this happened ahead of “My Therapist,” about all his failed ideas). He also kept working on unbuttoning his flannel shirt (it was about 90 degrees by then) and also took off his shoes, which he threw to the crowd.

Milky Chance

One of the more buzzed-about sets of the day came from German alt-rockers Milky Chance. While not necessarily the riff-based rock of some of the other acts, the group brought a lot of energy and good vibes as the searing midday heat roasted the main stage.

“Where we come from, nothing like this is allowed right now,” singer Clemens Rehbein said. “I feel like a time-traveler.”

That was the feeling for so many acts of the weekend because it’s simply true. Musicians are grateful for the opportunity to play on festival stages in front of large crowds. Milky Chance’s anthemic rock fused soaring harmonies with well-constructed songs. At one point Rehbein even sat at a keyboard for an extended synth jam with the band. The rock and roll sound with a pop sheen kept the well-populated main stage lawn off their blankets and on their feet, dancing for the duration.

Meg Myers

It would be easy to pan alt-rock singer-songwriter Meg Myers’ delay-ridden set, but that won’t happen here. It seemed that everything that could go wrong did go wrong at some point. To her credit, Myers stayed cool and collected as the sound issues delayed the start. Once the band finally locked in, Myers channeled that anxious frustration into a captivating performance.

Her voice has always been strong, but it now sounds better than ever. Myers was flanked by a drummer and guitarist, and her sparkly costume made her stand out. She tore through tracks like “The Underground,” “Sorry” and “Desire.” Myers debuted a handful of tracks from her yet-to-be-released third album, as well as leaving it up to the fans to decide what the final track would be (fans picked a cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.”)

Reignwolf

Seattle artist Reignwolf brought a set of no-nonsense rock inspired by the very city he’s from. Jordan Cook and his band donned all black and delivered a set filled with grunge- and-garage-rock-inspired sounds. Cook had an unassuming presence on stage, but delivered razor-sharp vocals. At one point he traded his guitar for a mini Fender guitar that was a fraction the size, but still managed to get as much tone and expression out of it as a larger model. The band cranked on an enjoyable and diverse set.

JJ Wilde

Raspy rocker JJ Wilde channeled Courtney Love and Lzzy Hale as she led her band through a high-powered whirlwind of a set that kicked off with “Knees” and barely slowed on its way through a grungy take on Stevie Nicks’ and Tom Petty’s “Stop Dragging My Heart Around,” breakthrough hit “The Rush” and more. She skipped around the stage, whipping her hair and maneuvering around her mic cord.

“Off the Rails” was highlighted by a swoon-like guitar part created by detuning a string. JJ Wild continued with a simmering and heavy “Mercy,” a groove-laden “Bushweed” (an ode to cheap weed) and an unreleased cut that was reminiscent of ’90s-era Hole.

Olivia O’Brien

Despite being a Napa native, Olivia O’Brien didn’t come prepared for the heat; she took the stage wearing a furry top. The pop singer-songwriter took every chance she could get to take a breather and towel off in a shaded part at the back of the sweltering Verizon Stage. It was clear that she was trying to get through her set in a timely manner and find some AC, but that actually worked to her advantage, as the flow from song to song was nearly seamless.

O’Brien opened with pop banger “Tequilawine” before transitioning to “Keep It Movin’,” the R&B-tinged “Fuck Feelings” and the funky “NOW.” Even in the heat, it was impossible not to sway to this one. She also covered Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated.” The faithful rendition was probably the most family-friendly song of the performance, as Olivia O’Brien dropped many F-bombs the rest of the time and between tracks—most of them directed at the sun.

Ottto

While Guns N’ Roses supplied some memorable riffs later in the evening, Ottto brought some of the heaviest sounds. The band was locked in, with heavy and aggressive riffs mixed with dynamic percussion and songwriting. They’ve studied and learned from the best, mixing elements from some of the greatest heavy rock bands of all time. It’s also tough to overlook the impressive contributions of bassist Tye Trujillo.

Not only did Ottto go big by closing out its set by covering Slayer, the band also demanded a circle pit, which it received! The band absolutely broke open the doors of Saturday afternoon, providing an instant energy. Trujillo is his own musician, but it was hard not to smile watching the beaming expression of a rock and roll father, Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, as he filmed his son’s performance.

Molly Moore

Moore introduced “Bathwater” as her homage to No Doubt, and her unique sound rang true to the inspiration. With a funky trumpet and blaring guitar, it blended the feeling of youthful pop, not unlike that of Melanie Martinez. “Identity Crisis,” another pop-funk song had attendees dancing, then dropped into a heartfelt section where she held hands with a fan and sang into his eyes.

She than encouraged fans to push up toward the stage and brought the energy up for “I Love You But I Don’t Like You” with hard-hitting and grooving bass lines that built until Moore was screaming. She invited artist NoMBe up onstage for her upcoming single “Marco Polo.” The song had a Latin drumbeat that created a sexy tension and a fast, fun chorus.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald. Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter. Follow photographer Adam Pardee at Instagram.com/adampardeephoto and adampardee.com.