BottleRock Napa 2022 turns into a Metallica family reunion

BottleRock Napa Valley proved to be a true family affair for the proud papas in Metallica.

Not only did Metallica headline the festival on Day 1, but several of the band members’ children also performed with their bands at the three-day event that ran Friday through Sunday at the Napa Valley Expo in downtown Napa.

Fans got to enjoy one Metallica offspring band per day, with all three acts — Bastardane, Ottto and Taipei Houston — performing 1 p.m. sets on the festival’s Truly Stage.

Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo was grateful for the support festival organizers showed these young acts, including his son Tye’s band Ottto.

“BottleRock has helped my son Tye Trujillo — in his fourth year at BottleRock — and other young bands present the magic of their music and showcase their talent as performers,” Trujillo says. “It’s also been awesome to see Bastardane and Taipei Houston make their debut at BottleRock. Metallica offspring keeping it real in 2022. Let’s help set all young bands up for success.”

Bastardane

First up was Bastardane, which rocked the Truly Stage on Day 1 with a likable mix of thrash and melodic metal .

The hard-rocking trio is based out of Savannah, Georgia, and features drummer Castor Hetfield (son of Metallica frontman James Hetfield), vocalist-bassist Jake Benn and guitarist Ethan Sirotzki.

Bastardane is currently working on its debut album, which the band reportedly hopes to release this winter.

Bastardane is currently on tour with Ottto and performs May 31 at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. The two group also have numerous SoCal dates on the horizon, including June 6 at the Echo in Los Angeles and June 7 at Venice West.

For more information, visit bastardane.com.

Ottto

The Venice Beach-based trio features Bryan Noah Ferretti on guitar and vocals, Patrick “Triko” Chavez on drums and Tye Trujillo on bass.

The band’s website describes the Ottto sound as “loco grooves straight from the PCH,” which translated to a nice afternoon of thrash-funk-metal tunes for music lovers on Day 2 of BottleRock.

Tye Trujillo has a fairly long history with BottleRock, having performed at the last four festivals. He played his first two years there with his former band, the Helmets, and then the most recent two with Ottto.

Ottto’s “first LP comes out soon,” according to the band’s website otttoband.com.

Taipei Houston

Lars Ulrich has always been a bit of an overachiever, so it’s really no surprise to learn that he’s upped the Metallica musical offspring ante by having not just one, but two kids in a band.

Meet Taipei Houston, which features Ulrich’s sons Layne on bass and vocals and Myles on drums.

During the duo’s winning set on Day 3 at BottleRock, Taipei Houston immediately evoked comparisons to both the White Stripes and Black Keys. Yet, that had more to do with the stripped-down duo approach than anything else. Musically, the two Ulrichs have their own thing going on — a deeply rhythmic (especially with the use of bass instead of guitar) and thundering mix of hard rock and metal.

Taipei Houston has some high-profile gigs on the horizon, including a July 28 set at Lollapalooza in Chicago and an Oct. 8 date at the massive Aftershock Festival in Sacramento (aftershockfestival.com).

For more information about the band, visit taipeihouston.com.