Newport Folk Festival needs no introduction. Created by George Wein in 1959, it quickly became one of the premier music events held anywhere, and the inaugural event was notable for helping to launch a then-unknown talent by the name of Joan Baez. A fifteen fest veteran, she hadn’t appeared since 2009 until this year, when she gave a couple of short poetry readings and also popped up along with a myriad of other special guests during Hozier’s set, on Friday’s closing reading of the gospel/folk classic “We Shall Overcome,” first popularized by legend Pete Seeger. The circle does indeed remain unbroken.
If you were to pick a spiritual leader of Newport, odds are the names Seeger and Odetta would be the first off most people’s lips. And while Jay Sweet has been guiding the ship directly into non-folk genres over the last few years (I’m sure that 2022 set by Dinosaur Jr. still rankles some old timers out there), the core principles of what the festival stands for remains firm. Inclusion, freedom of expression, openness, and an unwavering commitment to fight for these ideals.
It wasn’t a coincidence that Hozier had a progress pride flag draped over a mic stand during the latter part of his set, and throughout the weekend there were plenty of examples both in the crowd and on the stage that this wasn’t your grandfather’s folk festival. Artists such as Brittany Howard, Muna, Reyna Tropical, Orville Peck, Bertha (the drag queen Grateful Dead cover band), Adrienne Lenker, New Dangerfield, Number One Babe, etc – all bands with members that identify with the various colors of that flag.
Even cis white males like Billy Bragg took notice and played songs that leaned hard into the direction. Opening with “Sexuality,” he deftly swapped “misery” with “Morrissey” to very humorous effect. Your laws do not apply to me was the call of the weekend. Bragg is also noted for his tireless work and support of labor unions and mentioned he’d spent the previous day up in New Hampshire with Bernie Sanders, before playing his twist on “Rich Men North of Richmond” entitled “Rich Men Earning North Of A Million,” a song Woody Guthrie could be proud of. And of course Bragg couldn’t ignore the work that he and Wilco did, fusing their music to Guthrie’s unused lyrics via the Mermaid Avenue records, with “She Came Along To Me” a clear call for all women’s rights.
Over the last few years it’s kind of been an unofficial requirement for the last set of the festival to uncork some real surprises. The crown jewel was the entirely unexpected return of Joni Mitchell a few years back, and this year the unlikely closing act was Conan O’Brien. Yes, the comedian, not as he sarcastically put it, the folk legend Conan O’Brien. In between riffing on real and fake names of Rhode Island towns, he played some competent guitar while backed by his longtime music director Jimmy Vivino and Dawes. Nathaniel Rateliff seems to have taken on Brandi Carlile’s role of special unannounced guest and this was one of several that he sat in for, and while no Muppets were seen, Triumph The Insult Dog was there to poop on all of us. The biggest guest came towards the end when 2014 NFF alum Jack White came out for a couple of songs, trading licks on the song Conan uses for his podcast. Once again on the grounds of the Fort, White’s prophecy was fulfilled – we were all friends.
And now a rundown on random notes from the festival:
When “Take Me To Church” came out, it was undeniably a catchy song but I figured that Hozier might be a one hit wonder. Well, put that one in the WRONG column. It’s still his most-streamed song according to Spotify but he has a handful with more than 100 million streams. That’s a lot of ears! The Irishman has a friendly stage demeanor, a unique way of flicking at his guitar strings rather than using a plectrum, and keeps his female-majority fanbase locked in enthrall mode.
Medicine Singers played last year (as Eastern Medicine Singers and there were some new faces in the group) and it was a bit surprising but fully appreciated that the ensemble was back on the Fort Stage. And it’s really the ideal setting for them, overlooking the grounds and the harbor as the drum circle builds in intensity, members in full regalia. Music director Yonatan Gat has enlisted noted noise aficionados Lee Renaldo and Chris Pravdica and the group slowly built a staggeringly intense sound that threatened to crumble the old fort.
Black Pumas was a band I’d heard of but mistakenly thought they were a hip-hop act. Nope, wrong again! Led by singer Eric Burton and guitarist Adrian Quesada, the band pumped out an infectious blend of neo-soul and funk, Burton getting down (and down into the crowd) right away. Top notch show to prepare the crowd for Hozier’s closing set.
Wednesday are likely no strangers to the average Big Takeover reader, and this brash and discordant rock band from Asheville drove a few softer types from their chairs at the Quad Stage. It’s hard to pinpoint their sound, indie guitar rock moves with screamo vocals? Trad rock via a Drive-By Truckers cover? In fact a couple of years ago it was via the Trucker’s fan board that I first heard of the band, since they released a bunch of covers. It’s hard to make a lot of sense of a band who covers DBTs, Chris Bell, solo Greg Sage, Roger Miller, Medicine and Smashing Pumpkins but that’s the beauty of the band, pulling disparate threads from different spools to make their own fabric. “Quarry” had a melody line that had me wracking my brain until I made the Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset” connection. Bonus points to MJ Lenderman for wearing a Dead C shirt; file that in things I never thought I’d see at Newport Folk.
Hermanos Gutierrez are a pair of brothers with Swiss/Ecuadorian heritage, and their music is decidedly steeped in the South American side of things. Evocative of dusty roads and wide vistas, their instrumentals captured the essence of their personas quite well. Highly recommended for fans of Calexico et al.
The festival has a strong track record of inviting performers back, and Allison Russell, Rhiannon Giddens and Brittany Howard should be issued lifetime passes. Russell and Giddens spearheaded the incredible Our Native Daughters collaboration set from back in 2019, and this time did their own sets. Russell seamlessly blends gospel, folk and rock and delivers it with a palpable passion and appreciation for both the music and the fans’ reception.
Giddens’ set was plagued by early sound problems, leading her in search of a working microphone but alas even her violin mic came up empty. The band rallied for an acoustic version of Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz” while the stage crew figured out the issue. Gotta have plan B when you’re in this game.
With as many solo records out as Alabama Shakes managed (two!) Howard has her sights focused solely straight ahead. Her music is a sweeping statement, a bit more gospel and soul than the more rock-oriented Shakes sound, and she remains an incredible vocalist.
Three years ago Illiterate Light started up a stage powered solely by sunlight and humans pedaling bikes, and it’s been cool to see who randomly pops up here. Last year SG Goodman was an unannounced guest, and this year the big names were Baez who read a few poems, and Katie Gavin from Muna who teased some songs from her first solo record that’s dropping in October. And of course the Light boys got the energy draw pegged to the maximum as they cooked up some fine southern rock.
Raury was possibly the first hip-hop band to play Newport in 2016 and The Roots got a great reception in 2022; was the crowd ready for Killer Mike? Hell yeah. Decked out all in white, he and his group went back to the southern gospel roots to make a joyous noise. The other hip-hop band of note was De La Soul (just a duo in the untimely passing of Trugoy The Dove), a late fill-in for The Breeders. All the folding chairs were cleared at the Quad stage and the energy level amped up in response. Great set.
The next Quad set was also high energy; “Thanks for inviting our scrappy little band from Boston, it’ll probably be our last time here” cracked leader Ken Casey as Dropkick Murphys rampaged around and off the stage during their slot. Steeped in Celtic rock tradition, they also trotted out a couple of Guthrie covers and got Bragg to sing along to “Worker’s Song.” Can’t say that I am a huge fan but they definitely won the crowd over and it wasn’t a lock going into their set.
The fest has been sold out for the last several years but for whatever reason, the lines getting through security were pretty brutal on Friday and Saturday, and the blazing sun compounded the issue. People would line up en masse alongside the harbor edge, finally getting to a checkpoint where they were released to an area in front of the bag checkers and metal detectors. It took a full 30 min to travel about 40 feet, but for whatever reason Sunday was far quicker, despite getting to the grounds around the same time and even parking very close to where we had the previous day. Not sure what the fix was but the festival needs to ensure that’s in place going forward.
There are always tons of things to see at the Fort and everyone’s experience is different, depending on how much time they invest in any particular spot. As I was on the go constantly, seeing full sets was a luxury I couldn’t afford and I’m sure I missed a ton of great moments, like Beck’s surprise pop up show on Friday afternoon. FOMO is real and there is no getting around it, unless a cloning machine is involved. C’est la vie!
More photos from the weekend:
