The 2024 Newport Folk Festival came and went, and while it was far from the most history-making incarnation of the storied event, it was an embarrassment of artistic riches that defends its status as a truly transformative, must-see musical experience that every American concertgoer needs to have at least once.
The strongest chunk of the weekend belonged to back-to-back performances by LGTBQ+ artists that challenged our preconceived notions of archetype roles by merit of sheer excellence. Bertha – Grateful Drag drew an overflow crowd to the smallest of the three main stages, and from their first note of “Truckin’,” it was clear they came to play. The group’s “Jerry,” playing an imitation of Garcia’s Tiger Alembic guitar, had the singing and playing down and even mastered that gentle nod the Grateful Dead leader would give to other members to cue up a solo. Their “Bobby” was the star of the show. Taking center stage with the best costumes of the ensemble, not unlike the real Bob Weir in his prime, he put on the fiercest performance out of his bandmates and even the way he leaned away from the microphone or strummed into a deep swing of the arm perfectly emulated the iconic rhythm guitarist.
Following Bertha, Orville Peck put on the performance of the weekend. The Masked Man put on a set of material from throughout his discography, including a song about a gay cowboy he wrote with Willie Nelson, which he joked was on brand for him. Peck’s charisma burst from behind his mask and displayed an unparalleled level of showmanship on his stage that would make Nathaniel Rateliff blush. His image was polished off with a truly glorious Gretsch White Falcon that could instill guitar envy into a drummer, and without question, Peck wore the most fantastically detailed, custom-tailored outfit of the weekend that only got more impressive the closer you looked. But Peck is more than his mask and gear. What makes Orville Peck such an inevitable icon is his voice, a rich, velvety, country baritone that conveys the kind of emotion that makes listeners weak at the knees. Peck is the full package and walked away from his set, a newly baptized member of the Newport Folk Congregation.
Cory Wong put on an acoustic set that demonstrated he doesn’t need to be rocking a Fender Stratocaster to be the nastiest rhythm guitarist around. Ever since Les Paul invented the guitar model that bears his name, guitar playing has been all about lead work and impressive solos. Wong’s rhythmic precision brings to mind players like Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt taking you back to a whole different era in the guitar’s history. His set featured an array of musical guests but the most important had to be Bass Lord Victor Wooten. Wooten is arguably the most technically proficient bassist on the face of the earth. He makes playing like he has four hands look effortless and what’s most impressive in his playing is that he leaves his ego at the door. When he got the nod to solo, he’d go ballistic, but when the moment required stripped-down minimalism, he delivered in spades. Wong made a note of Wooten’s book, The Music Lesson, which introduced Wooten’s philosophies as a music educator and commented on how much of an influence Wooten had been on everyone on the stage during Wong’s set.
Hozier’s Friday evening headline performance was peppered with songs like “Take Me to Church” and “Too Sweet” before breaking Folk Twitter with a Last Waltz-friendly encore of “The Weight,” and “I Shall Be Released” that featured Joan Baez, Nathaniel Rateliff, Mavis Staples, members of The Lumineers and more. The crowd loved him and he waxed poetic about how meaningful this experience was, but he just didn’t feel like “The Guy.” His own material is fine but forgettable, better than mediocre but lacking in intrigue and when you’re headlining a bill alongside Conan O’Brien, you’d better be interesting. Allison Russel is opening for him on this tour, and after she put on a powerhouse multi-instrumental tour de force of her own, you really have to wonder how he’s able to follow her night after night.
Conan’s gig as a headliner built a lot of anticipation over the guests that Team Coco could bring. After 28 years of hosting late-night TV, he’s got a pretty deep bench. And while Conan didn’t disappoint (Jack White, Nick Lowe, John C. Reilly, Mavis Staples, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Brittany Howard), what was truly unexpected was the technical proficiency O’Brien had as a guitarist. Sure, he was hilarious. Every time he spoke, he had the audience in stitches, but his lead guitar work was professional. He demonstrated ease with alternate picking as he moved up and down the fretboard and, in addition to bending his notes just right, displayed comfort using his pinky finger, the weakest, which is the hardest to play with.
Newport Folk Festival puts on an unparalleled event year after year, continuously raising the high water mark they keep topping to the point that even surprise performances from Beck, Jack White, Mavis Staples, and Nathaniel Rateliff feel like old hat. But putting on a great show isn’t the same thing as living up to the dream of its founders, the idea that this land was made for you and me.
An event that takes place both in and outside of a decommissioned naval fort is going to pose challenges to inclusivity efforts that you don’t face putting on a big concert in a field, but the Fort is embedded in the DNA of Newport Folk Festival itself, and relocation is blasphemy. There aren’t many open routes into its interior court from outside its walls, and at present, two of its five stages are in that court, only accessible to attendees by way of a lone, steep, dark, narrow tunnel paved with large slabs strung together with uneven gaps all throughout.
Newport Folk has earned its way into a tough spot. Two years ago, Paul Simon joined Nathaniel Rateliff on stage during his headlining slot, and that wasn’t even the biggest surprise of the weekend. Last year, James Taylor filled in last minute for Noah Kahan, and at this year’s event, Beck filled in a TBD slot with cover songs paying homage to the event’s roots. With the ability to seemingly conjure icons, expectations are always going to be high, which raises expectations even higher for the next year. This year, there were no folk icons returning from being in absentia, and Jack White playing with Conan wasn’t the biggest shock the festival has ever delivered. these headline-grabbing moments may have come to define the event in recent years, but they aren’t what makes it special.
Nathaniel Rateliff was the sit-in MVP this year and he wasn’t even on the bill. He just wanted to be there. The same goes for John C. Reilly, The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, Mavis Staples, and more, and that’s because of the vibe. Ever since Jay Sweet got behind the wheel of this event, he’s cultivated a musical family of artists such as Rateliff, Staples, Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith, and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, who have made this event their musical home and do their best to make it to the Fort as often as they can to take part in the family reunion. That’s what makes the surprise guests possible and that’s why, as Sweet has put it, the final lineup isn’t ever available until the event has concluded. That’s what makes Newport Folk one of the premier experiences a fan can have and truly unlike any other music festival.
