As the sun sets over the west, the cars pour out of the 55th Newport Folk Festival full of leg-weary, over-sunned but ultimately satisfied music lovers making the trek back home. Whether they came to check out their favorite band, to graze to find some new ones, or to catch the headliners, Newport Folk promised and the bands delivered.
The lineup, like all past years, was killer. Jay Sweet curates a glorious mix of trusty faves, the current hot acts, and up-and-coming bands who you’ll kick yourself if you miss when they sell out the next time they roll through your town. With 47 bands plus two showcases on 4 stages (and a family tent), spread over the sprawling Fort Adams State Park, a mere 60 band-hours of music in just over 25 hours, festers couldn’t help but be exhausted physically and aurally.
The three day festival offered a day of light rain, one of perfect sun, one overcast and also served up a full range of folk – from the celebrated traditionalists Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and Michael Hurley to the current folk revivalists The Lumineers and everything in between. Even ex-Fleet Foxes drummer Joshua Tillman (playing as Father John Misty) who denied that he was a folk singer, “just a white guy with a beard who plays some acoustic guitar on my latest album”.
Friday – An Expanded Schedule Begins Newport Folk in the Rain
The world needs no further evidence of the power of the recent folk revival- kicked off last decade by Old Crow Medicine Show, The Decemberists, The Avett Brothers and Levon Helm’s Midnight Rambles and now playing out coast to coast with the Head and the Heart, Low Anthem, and Carolina Chocolate Drops, and paving the way for commercial success by Mumford and Sons and The Lumineers — than the age of the crowd at the 2013 Newport Folk Festival. This was not an older crowd, hanging back in chairs, letting the music come to them. While they were there of course, the 40 plus crowd, and the even older regulars, a highly visible presence was the young people well versed in the assortment of today’s and possibly yesterday’s folk. They were on their feet ready to dance, stomp and clap, singing along with bands, scurrying between stages to catch all acts, and aching to catch the sets of top artists Jim James, The Lumineers and Beck. And without even a lineup announced last January, 3 day passes sold out immediately, with individual Saturday and Sunday tickets gone within 5 weeks. An expanded Friday lineup sold just 600 tickets shy of the 10,000 festivalists-a-day capacity. It was clear that Jay Sweet and the Newport Folk staff were as on top of the current face of folk as our youth is.
For the second year, the Festival expanded to include an abbreviated Friday schedule. Seattle-based Hey Marseilles, a 7-piece folk-pop band, kicked off the Harbor Stage. Kingsley Flood established the Fort Stage, the main stage, with 6 multi-instrumentalists delivering full rock-oriented folk. The Milk Carton Kids, a duo, generated a huge audience response with their twin acoustic guitar-led harmonizing on the Quad stage inviting comparisons to Simon and Garfunkel.
The Last Bison, a 7-member family band, filled the Harbor stage offering atmospheric chamber pop, each song building layers of complexity before resolving simply. A lively show, with lead singer Benjamin Hardesty breaking guitar strings, improvising a solution and roaming the stage to interact with other members, and percussionist Jay Benfante rotating among various things to beat on.
Blake Mills, backed by his former band Dawes, pumped up the crowd with their rootsy sound including the Mills-penned “Hey Lover “that is covered on Dawes newest release Stories Don’t End.
The Festival day closed with Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer playing ukelele and delivering an eclectic set of songs including a Billy Bragg-inspired The World Turned Upside Down by folk singer Leon Rosselson. John McCauley (of Deer Tick) played solo, just him, a guitar, and his little white cardboard box of “John’s Crap” on stage. This box was not well supplied though as he broke a string he quipped “Oh shit, I don’t have a set of strings and don’t have a backup. Well it’s a folk festival, does anyone have an acoustic? ” He claps through a “I Don’t Get Out Much Anymore” as a guitar gets delivered. Another standout was “Main Street” from Deer Tick’s Divine Providence CD. The night’s headliner, Old Crow Medicine Show, closed the Fort Stage to a packed field of dancers.
Later that night Newport Folk Festival sponsored shows of two revered bands –Dawes and Deer Tick – to showcase their music, bringing along their friends for the ride. Like the Festival, they sold out and tickets were hard to come by. The two Dawes shows at the Jane Pickens theatre proved to be the place to be as Dawes was joined by Houndmouth, Jim James and Blake Mills, among others. Deer Tick played the late night (for Newport!) shows in an intimate setting of the Newport Blues Café offering opening slots to Sourpunch, Langhorne Slim and Phosphorescent on Friday and Ravi Shavi, Justin Townes Earle and Jason Isbell on Saturday and playing again Sunday.
Saturday – And Sold Out Means Sold Out
It’s always interesting to see what makes each festival unique, as each summer festival is often just a selection of the 100 or so bands touring that year. Newport Folk is steeped in history, and most performers cited their personal stories of when it entered their consciousness or called shout outs to the original folk revival – Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Leadbelly, even this year’s performer Michael Hurley commented on their revered folk influences. Clearly the picturesque setting based around an old fort overlooking Newport Harbor was noted repeatedly by the performers and couldn’t help be noticed by festival goers including those that had sailed or kayaked over.
And the respect that each artist had for other bands’ music was evident in the camaraderie back stage and the highly visible presence of musicians in the crowd, digging the other bands or making their own musical discoveries. Saturday dawned beautiful as Newport Folk Festival opened its second day. The minimal mud was covered with straw allowing the crowds to move with ease among the stages. The music started off country-influenced with Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers. Up-and-coming New Orleans band, Hurray for the Riff Raff, now recording in Nashville, played a well-received set powered by Alynda Lee Segarra’s voice and tight songwriting. Singer-songwriter Rayland Baxter offered two distinct sounds: first accompanied by two women on violin adding a high counterpart with voice and instrument. Later, supported by Steelism (guitarist Jeremy Fetzer and pedal steel player Spencer McCullum Jr. who played later at the Museum stage) and passing a bottle of whiskey, the sound was a low eerie rumble.
Back on the Fort Stage, Langhorne Slim opened with a number of mellower numbers before promising that the rest would be “ass-shaking numbers” to dance to. Brooklynites The Lone Bellow playing opposite Indiana-based Houndmouth provided the first true scheduling conflict of the festival. The Lone Bellow songs follow a pattern – soaring three-part harmonies building to a frenzy before resolving to acoustic harmonies, but with those voices, precision, solid songwriting, and a genuine love for performing, this pattern can repeat on a listener forever. “Green Eyes and a Heart of Gold” stood out over its CD version with Zach Williams whipping up the audience by jumping all over the stage and Ben Mars on electric bass providing a low rumble that elevates and rocks the song. Kanene Pipkin belted out “You Don’t Love Me Like You Used To” then Kanene, Zach and Brian Elmquist traded verses on the often-covered John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery,” creating a full sound that improves on the usual guitar/voice version.
But Houndmouth was calling when gorgeous keyboardist and co-lead vocalist Katie Toupin was singing about the “gin tucked in her purse” in “Casino (Bad Things)” and the lazy but rocking “Comin’ Round Again” sung by Matt Myers guitarist/co-lead vocalist. The heavy guitar and bawdy joy on stage washed the last of the morning’s country away. Shovels and Rope were up next, and with a lot of well-deserved hype, the tent was packed. This husband and wife team makes a lot of sound for two people, trading off on guitars and drums, and enthralled with the music and each other on stage, they were a joy to see and hear.
Jim James (of My Morning Jacket) was widely anticipated and staged a dramatic entrance and then ran through songs from his recent solo album as he sang, flipped his hair, played guitar, bells and sax, waltzed with a golden bear, and glided around the stage, often with a black towel on his head. The parade of former front men continued with Jason Isbell (Drive-By Truckers) and Colin Meloy (The Decemberists) each providing a new take on their old music as well as dishing up a new sound. Former Fleet Foxes drummer Joshua Tillman performing as Father John Misty in magenta shoes and socks dished up his opinions on un-named folk bands eventually devolving into a bad boy, parading through the crowd and grabbing a women’s cell phone, and throwing mics around on stage, even after promising “it’s been a little preachy so far, but you’ve passed the test so it’s all smooches and cinnamon buns from now on”. However, he slayed on a version of his recent hit “Funtimes in Babylon” that was so unlike the CD version as he strutted around the stage, waving his mic stand, and snarling the lyrics. Live, he delivers something unexpected.
Sunday – The Mind is Willing but the Body Needs a Jump Start!
Berklee Gospel Choir got the crowd started Sunday morning reminding the crowd that folk is the music of protest and social commentary by leading off with a solo, a cappella version of Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit followed by choir members swapping solos on Breaking Rocks, a work song, followed by a spiritual hymn. Choir Mistress Nichelle Mungo explained that in light of the current situation (alluding to Trayvon Martin), they chose to veer outside their usual repetoire. The 10-voice multi-racial choir (and band) then blew out the stage with their usual fare – a full choral sound.
Opening up the other stages were The Wheeler Brothers, waking up the crowd with a rollicking set of rootsy bar-room rock, and Al Spx performing as Cold Specks. Al Spx, clad in a long black dress, belted out her songs providing minimal acoustic guitar accompaniment. By the time she got to her third song, “Blank Maps,” singing “I am, I am, I am, I am a god-damn believer”, this reviewer was a believer too. As the energy of the set waned despite her powerful voice, she screwed up her lyrics for Heavy Hands, got a chuckle from the crowd when she explained it’s an old song, added some percussion with her feet, and got the set back on track.
The rest of the day at the Quad Stage was high energy with the seated crowd on their feet most of the time. Spirit Family Reunion returned to the festival this year delivering an exceptional set. Banjo player Maggie Carson, guitarist Nick Panken and fiddle player Mat Davidson crowded the mic to supply heartfelt harmonies while delivering vigorous instrumentation, with washboard player Stephen Weinheimer sneaking in occasionally as well. Lord Huron kept the level high with their atmospheric but infectious songs. By the time The Felice Brothers took that stage, romping through their hits, the whole quad area back to the beer garden was rocking.
New to the scene, UK-based Michael Kiwanuka provided an update to old-school soul a la Marvin Gaye and recently rediscovered Rodriguez, backed by his own guitar and a full band. Kiwanuka was the lead in, and crowds finally filled the upfront (dancing and) standing area of the main stage for The Lumineers, this year’s addition to roster of young musicians mining the folk tradition. It only took up to the fourth song for them to play their big hit “Ho Hey,” though they broke halfway through to ask the crowd to put away the cameras and cell phones and “experience the music”, thanking the crowd as they complied. Their set combined hits from their album, a shout out to Bob Dylan by playing “Subterranean Homesick Blues” and culminated with a long walk through the adoring crowd. Beck closed the stage tapping his folk side including a few songs from his 1998 CD Mutations and his newest offering, Song Reader, an inventive collection of sheet music and art in lieu of recorded music. This year’s Newport Folk Festival once again mixed the old and new by showcasing some of the more progressive sounds within the indie scene, while never alienating the roots of folk: a job well done by everyone.
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