The Cure performs at BottleRock Napa Valley on May 30, 2014.

There were fewer acts and the names did not shine as brightly as last year. Fewer food venders took the risk to take part. But all things considered, it was a miracle that BottleRock Napa Valley — the independent music festival started last year by a group of industry newbies — even had a chance to take an encore bow.

After the festival’s founders ran into massive financial trouble — many venders and employees didn’t get paid — and were forced to file for bankruptcy, BottleRock’s future was very much in doubt. Enter a new group of local entrepreneurs, who aimed to right the ship. And despite the aforementioned negatives, they seem to have stabilized the festival for a third go-around next year. Nearly 20,000 tickets were sold for Friday, when the Cure and Sublime with Rome headlined, and 30,000 paid to see the Outkast reunion and Weezer Saturday and country superstar Eric Church, as well as hip-hop pioneer LL Cool J on Sunday.

Fewer attendees meant that it was easier to move from stage to stage, and those arriving at 7:15pm could still grab great spots close to the main stage for the Cure at 7:30. Shuttle buses ran early and often, and lines weren’t nearly as long as last year. The undercard acts proved their mettle after all, with acts like Nashville’s Moon Taxi—who were parts rock and prog—and pop country band Delta Rae making their time count.

Outkast was in fine form for headlining set Saturday night, drawing the largest crowd of the festival. John Popper of Blues Traveler made his bid for hardest working performer at the festival, playing not only with his band Saturday night but sticking around Sunday to guest during a few songs on both Spin Doctors’ and Barenaked Ladies’ sets.

Now that BottleRock’s operators seem to be on the right track, look for next year’s go-around to shine brighter, with a full year to book a lineup instead of the few months they had this year, and with the trust of the local business community regained.

Check out an eight-song video playlist and photos from the first day of BottleRock, including The Cure and Gin Blossoms, below.

Follow Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.