2022 Newport Folk Festival Surpasses All Expectations (FESTIVAL REVIEW)

The latest incarnation of the Newport Folk Festival was a certifiable accomplishment that not only raised the sky-high bar they’d previously set but thoroughly debunks the widespread industry belief that music festivals need to program toward a Gen-Z audience to stay afloat. 

Brandi Carlile, Sylvan Esso, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Courtney Barnett put on powerful sets that would have been enough to make the weekend memorable in its own right. But as tends to be the case at Newport Folk, it was the names that weren’t on the bill that was most memorable. 

Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon. That’s all that needs to be said about why the 2022 event reigns supreme over other music festivals this summer. Simon is a draw who fills arenas on his own and his spot atop the bill would have been enough to make this a must-see event. Throw in the first full-length performance by Joni Mitchell in over twenty years and you’re no longer comparing the event to other 2022 events. You’re talking about its place in history.

Mitchell had a near-fatal aneurism in 2015 and it’s fair to say that the folks who follow her the closest never thought she’d perform in the live setting again. What we didn’t know was that songsmiths like Brandi Carlile, Taylor Goldsmith, Marcus Mumford, and others were having regular jam sessions in Mitchell’s living room, soaking up the wisdom of a woman who is arguably the greatest female songwriter in history. Even Elton John and Paul McCartney showed up to drop some knowledge on their successors.

After an abbreviated set from Brandi Carlile during the last Fort Stage slot of the weekend, the stage was rearranged to resemble a living room as Carlile told us the history of these “Joni Jams.” Mitchell started things off with “Carey” from her landmark 1971 album, Blue, and a dozen songs later wrapped the entire weekend up with “The Circle Game” off Ladies of the Canyon

Bela Fleck shared the stage with Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas. Courtney Barnett sat in with Dinosaur Jr. Sylvan Esso performed the entirety of a new album that wasn’t known to exist prior to their performance and Paul Simon’s cameo may have set the blogosphere ablaze but it was the “Joni Jam” that will prove to be the singular moment that defines the 2022 event.

On the other end of the pendulum, the Saturday performance by Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers was a grossly overindulgent exhibition by a New Jersey native with a transparent Bruce Springsteen complex whose excessive banter was nothing but a desperately inauthentic attempt to be edgy from a man obsessed with the sound of his own voice. While recent years have seen Antonoff rocket to stardom as the superstar producer for Top 40 Divas such as Lorde, Taylor Swift, and Lana Del Ray, there was a time when his lead guitar bonafides were beyond reproach. For anyone who ever saw him shred his way through “Gypsy Waves” as the frontman/guitarist for Steel Train, his set was a sad display of how far he’s fallen as his star has risen. 

This was far from the first time the event sold out before announcing the lineup, a feat annually paralleled only by Coachella. But unlike every other music festival, Newport Folk doesn’t announce the lineup at once, rather, they gradually drip out names of the performers throughout the year. 

This was the first year Executive Producer Jay Sweet was at the helm without the presence of event founder George Wein, who passed away in September, and longtime attendees were commenting on the disappointing lack of politically charged protest music that was noticeably absent following the Supreme Court’s theocratic plunge in late June. 

The philosophy of Newport Folk is something to watch carefully in coming years but Sweet leaves no doubt about the quality of the product being presented. The trust the audience has in him couldn’t be more obvious and the man who arguably saved the event from mediocrity (2007’s Dunkin Donuts Newport Folk Festival, anyone?) continues to reward their trust year after year by assembling a thoughtfully curated lineup accompanied jaw-dropping guest appearances that fosters the spontaneously collaborative atmosphere that fans and performers alike look forward to all year long. 

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