In recent years, sales Newport Folk Festival has built its lineup in a slow, six-month march of hype; announcing two to three artists a week. For this year’s activities, which took place last weekend at Fort Adams State Park, it took less than two days to sell out of three-day passes before a single name was announced.
You don’t even need that six month rollout for Newport to be an unmitigated success. Call it hype, call it legacy, call it whatever you want: a lot of people love this festival, and there are many good reasons why.
There’s an authenticity at the heart of this festival that isn’t found in many other places. Even more, there’s a mutual admiration and respect between festival organizers, the musicians tapped to play it and the fans.
Taking a walk around the grounds finds every age of person, each doing the festival their own way. Walk into the beer garden, and see people partaking in lawn games. Walk by the Harbor stage, and note the person lounging and reading the newspaper while taking in a set by Andy Shauf.
At the main Fort stage, where your group of friends’ blanket has been strategically placed (on the walkway for an optimal view of the stage), banter about unfounded ’65 Revisited rumors with a couple whose found a spot near your blanket (Bob Dylan is definitely back stage, Bono’s boat is definitely parked out there, and, oh, so is Eric Clapton). You can do what you please at Newport and people will pretty much leave you and your personal property and space to yourself (Just keep moving on the walkway to the Fort stage, you can’t stand there).
But it all would fall apart if Newport’s lineup of music didn’t outclass others. Sure, The Lone Bellow, The Decemberists, Hozier, are standbys on the festival circuit (and have even played Newport in recent years), but for every repeat offender, there’s unique sets.
Sets like Roger Waters’ stunning collaboration with My Morning Jacket (with additional vocals from Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius, who seemed to appear at just about every set on Friday and Saturday). The excitement was at its fever pitch when My Morning Jacket (who had just wrapped up a surprise set) introduced him, and the mix of Pink Floyd songs, a new song and covers that followed were well received. It all transpired as a brief burst of rain hit the area, but the sun eventually emerged and Waters ended day one with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young.”
Friday also featured Angel Olsen performing solo at the smaller Harbor stage. Her rendition “White Fire,” a song off of her most recent record, sealed her performance as among one of the weekend’s best. Leon Bridges, a rising star, drew a large crowd to the Quad stage with ‘60s-era soul.
Friday’s close with Roger Waters definitely left an energized folk audience. There was no sign of hangover the following day. With an early bird set at 11:10, Spirit Family Reunion got the crowd dancing. Later in the day, Madisen Ward & the Mama Bear, a mother-son duo was so highly anticipated, it created a logjam of fans in the walkway outside the Harbor stage so large that there had to be crowd control.
As the sun beat down, Courtney Barnett’s set at the Quad Stage was incredible. Performing songs from her latest album Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, Barnett punctuated songs with her trademark wit.
At the end of Saturday, Sufjan Stevens had a rare festival performance. Opening with “Should’ve Known Better,” arguably one of Stevens’ saddest, had an undeniable groove to it. And the set that followed had an almost uplifting feel, in spite of its lyrical content.
That was not before James Taylor had returned to finish unfinished business — his set in 1969 got cut short due to the Moon landing. While you can definitely fake moon landings, you can’t fake the reception Taylor received. What a tough act for Sufjan to follow, which Stevens acknowledged himself.
The Decemberists’ returned to the Fort Stage to headline Saturday. It had all of the trappings of a Decembrists set — though it veered deeper into the discography, rather than relying on songs from the lukewarm What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World. No “O Valencia!” but an 11-minute rendition of “The Island.” Was there a single Hazards of Love song? I can’t recall — I was a little seasick from swaying during “16 Military Wives.”
The Decemberists closed with a rousing cover of “This Land Is Your Land,” with a bevy of guest performers. What a great moment. Still, one can’t help but feel a little shorted of other performers — Sufjan or Jason Isbell, perhaps — that should have gotten the nod. Both are at positions in their career. where they could have gotten the nod. Both Isbell’s set in 2013 was among my favorite sets I’ve ever seen in any setting, and Stevens’ pinnacle album released earlier this year, felt more worthy to me.
Sundays at Newport have tended to be a sleepier build, but that wasn’t the case at the outset. Christopher Paul Stelling’s set brought the fire and fury, as well as two heartwarming moments. On stage, Stelling goes from a quiet rumble to a well-worn roar. He brought a few of his friends out to honor the late David Lamb of Brownbird. And at the end of his set, he proposed to his girlfriend, Julia Christgau, whom he performed a duet with.
The rest of the day was peppered with sets that couldn’t quite break through the building and building anticipation for ’65 Revisited. Laura Marling’s set was soaring, and a payoff for a lot of fans who wanted her there. Lord Huron came back to play songs from Strange Trails.
Hozier, on the strength of just an album alone — and for better and for worse — came back just a year after his Newport debut to play just before the ’65 Revisited tribute set. The moment “Take Me To Church” started, a sea of cell phones raised to the sky — a sight so rarely seen at Newport I thought I was at Boston Calling for a second (you can see Hozier at Boston Calling this fall).
For his part, Hozier was humbled, noting that his whirlwind career thus far was validated by playing the Harbor Stage just a year before.
The Dylan tribute set ’65 Revisited had no Dylan, no Bono and no Clapton, as rumors spread throughout the weekend. It was very easy to get swept up in the rumors, but it was also very easy to get swept up in the emotions of the moment. Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith played Dylan’s guitar from 50 years ago. There was the requisite “Like a Rolling Stone” and a rotating cast helped build an unforgettable set.
At the same time, one can’t help but wish that ‘65 Revisited went another way. One of the things that made it such a triumph was that it was Dylan, doing something that no one liked. And if the set was honoring the moment, why not push the envelope like he did. If ‘65 pushed folk forward, the pristine take on it 50 years later did little else but reflect.
At this point, the 10,000 people who pass through Fort Adams’ gates to take in three days of music don’t need to be told who’ll be there. Newport is on a really hot streak in recent years and this year continued it.
There’s ways the streak could end. The festival could forsake the surprise for routine by having repeat headliners. It could stop bending the definition of the term of “folk music” and not invite the likes of Courtney Barnett, Leon Bridges and Benjamin Booker.
But these things happening seem so far out of the realm of possibility, so why even entertain it? Because, for fans, it’s a solid reminder that what we’ve got is pretty damn good.
