On BottleRock’s final day, I followed our photographer Amy to the HelloFresh Stage to watch The Paper Kites. Having not heard them before and with her only knowing one song that was apparently not like the rest of the discography, I’d say we were given quite the pleasant surprise.
Lead vocalist/guitarist Sam Bentley, greeted the crowd to “Renegade,” his sultry Ozzy accent flowing over the packed foot of the HelloFresh Stage. Folk instrumentation was fleshed out by David Powys who strummed the guitar and tap tap tapped those bongos, as they went into “Black & Thunder” — the lead singer saying it’s the perfect song to pair with a wine buzz.
The Paper Kites kept the lax country vibes going with a song about a girl who stole a mustang and there was certainly fire in the streets when they busted out “June’s Stolen Car.” Lost in the vocals when Christina Lacy took over protons of the melody on their following number, a psychedelic guitar riff pulled me back in for “Marietta” — a sad story about the million ways to do her wrong. This was by far my favorite song of the set as I closed my eyes, swayed to the subtle hits from the guitar and let the music take control — if this is what song weed feels like, I get why California made it legal.
Bentley introduced their second to last song as a love song, but as I told Amy, “isn’t every song a love song?” A sentiment her facial expression seemed to agree with. The Paper Kites arpeggiated through their number one song “Bloom” and everyone pulled out their phones; something Amy said she would be sick of if she were the one on stage.
“People should just enjoy the song, not take a video of it they’ll only look at twice,” Amy said — and I couldn’t agree more.
And while Amy held out hope to hear the one song she knew by The Paper Kites, it was for not. They instead ended their set with a single off their 2026 Album “If You Go There, I Hope You Find It,” (which I find ironic cause Amy didn’t. With “there” being the HelloFresh Stage and “it” being their song “Woodland“). As “When the Lavender Blooms” washed through the courtyard, Amy and I walked away pleased with the performance, though not the one we, or at least she, expected.
