(Hypebot) – “I am still taking in all the heys and miss yous from this festival,” writes indie rapper and marketer extraordinaire Kosha Dillz. “Not only did I gain 3 pounds from hangin’ out with the best chefs in the culinary world at the Williams-Sonoma stage, but I think it is safe to say that I made some of my best strides in the music world being here.
“Could it be the best weekend ever? Yes. Not only did I get to see the best music ever but I got to play the best shows with my team, and we got about as much press as we could to prove it.”
- Shabottlerock happened – Our lovely surprise got in SF Chronicle three times. [Here. 2nd time Here and lastly HERE in best of Bottlerock]. This was a last-second idea from our guy Tom Hoppa, that helped me and my Shabottlerock partner Adam Swig make happen. They saw what we did with Matzahchella at Coachella, but this was the first time we ever got it on an actual stage vs campgrounds or an activation location such as Vans Warped Tour with our “Punk Rock Shabbat.” back in 2018.
- I played 4 sets at a 3-day festival. – I actually played more with after-parties (2 official ones, plus one with Iration and Ron Artis II as Bottlerock Night) I literally played 7 times I think.!! OY! I am pretty sore honestly from that. I don’t think this happens at festivals where you get so many plays, but this helped me increase my social imprint as an opening act on the festival, which only gets to happen for the bigger ones in many other places.
- The VIP Stage – This show was one of the best stages because it was like an attentive Sofar Sounds show, with way more people and a party atmosphere. I caught the best time at 2:30 on day 1 because everyone was ready to get pumped up and they weren’t hung over yet. I think there should be more VIP stages at festivals since this area loves to stay in VIP, which enables them to see a full show. During fests, we bounce around a lot.
- The Outside Lines – I shouted out to everyone in the line outside and the television crew came and covered my show.
Since the Truly stage was so close to the street, I took 10 minutes before stage time to announce outside when the gates opened late. The TV crew ran toward my show and covered it. Promotion works! - Chef Time – We got to hang out with big chefs like Adam Ray, Andrew Zimmern and Adam Sobel and of course Adam Swig of Value Culture. Gotta big up the chef community mixed in with bay-area non-profits.
- Merch swapping – I wore an Iration shirt on stage and the Iration singer Micah wore my pickle socks. It’s a family thing. Nice to live in a world where we wear each other’s band merch yah?
- I saw Pink do a live circus act – She was on stage in the air and did it all while singing every note perfectly.
I never thought I would ever see an act do anything like that. I saw pyro. I saw lasers. But I never saw an act leave the stage and fly into the middle of the festival all while hitting every single note in the song. - So many dope people – I got to meet so many dope artists like Saint JHN and Royal and the Serpent and Tessa Violet and Mother Folk, and also see The Wailers and Ana Tijoux do 1977.
- Mount Westmore aka every single rapper that I grew up listening to too was on the stage at the same time. Ice Cube. Too Short. E 40 Snoop Dogg. A perfect 10. We literally convinced them to let us watch from the VIP baller box elevated above the stage, and while watching the show, I noticed Snoop Dogg was also watching the Boxing match on a Macbook Air.
- The local after-party with Hot Milk – Played an after-party with my crew and the British band Hot Milk randomly came to dance with us in downtown Napa at Be Bubbly. This was one of the highlights of Napa, being that we had an international moment in a local town. I yearn for things like this to happen everywhere in my life, and also I yearn for Hot Milk to become massive.
Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor at the Berklee College Of Music.
