Fans turned out to see Kate Hudson at BottleRock Napa Valley on Saturday (May 24) not knowing what to expect. Perhaps they were drawn simply by the novelty of hearing a song or two by an actor who has starred in some really likeable films over the years.
What they got was more than they probably could’ve ever predicted, as Hudson — the star of such films as “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” “You, Me and Dupree,” “Fool’s Gold,” “Bride Wars” and, of course, “Almost Famous” — delivered nothing short of one of the finest sets of the entire three-day BottleRock festival.
Making her first-ever Bay Area concert appearance, the actor-turned-singer wowed a BottleRock crowd that kept growing in size as she crooned through cuts from her debut album, last year’s “Glorious.”
Kate Hudson performs on the Verizon Stage during the second day of the BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
Far from being a Bruce Willis/Lindsay Lohan-style vanity project, “Glorious” is an incredibly solid collection of country-blues-rock numbers that should appeal to fans of Bonnie Raitt and Sheryl Crow. And all the material translated incredibly well at BottleRock, further underscoring that Hudson is the real deal on the microphone.
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Hudson was simply radiant as she led her solid band through one “Glorious” tune after another, many of which were co-written by Linda Perry — who was also in attendance on Day 2 of BottleRock to perform the first 4 Non Blondes show in the Bay Area in over 30 years.
The crowd just continued to swell — a sign that the buzz over Hudson’s set was hitting the far reaches of the festival site — and the star of the hour seemed to be having the time of her life.
“It’s such a beautiful day,” Hudson exclaimed. “Thanks for coming out to watch us play. This is my first festival. I am so happy.”
Kate Hudson performs on the Verizon Stage during the second day of the BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
Besides the “Glorious” material, Hudson added a terrific cover of the ’80s classic “Voices Carry” by ‘Til Tuesday,” the new wave/pop troupe led by Aimee Mann that reunited earlier this month to perform at the big Cruel World festival in Pasadena.
Even better was her triumphant rendition of The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony.”
“I love that song,” Hudson said. “We’ve all had experiences to that song. If you haven’t, you should.”
Actually, fans had a very unusual experience to that song on Saturday, given that that particular ’90s classic was covered not just once, but twice — on the same festival stage by two different artists in the course of roughly one single hour.
Lauren Mayberry (of Chvrches fame) would perform a solo set on the Verizon Stage right after Hudson and sheepishly add her own take of “Bittersweet” to the mix. It was a decent take, but it certainly couldn’t match Hudson’s transcendent version. But Mayberry seemed off her game in general during her performance, perhaps bothered by the small turnout and lukewarm response for her set.
Hudson didn’t face either of those challenges as fans roared in approval while the star brought the set to a close with a powerful cover of Filter’s “Take a Picture.”
“I love being here,” Hudson said to the happy crowd. “And now I get to come out there and join all of you – and drink some wine!”