Concert Recap and Photos: Cowboy Junkies bring warm vibes to Newport on a chilly winter evening

Newport’s Jane Pickens Theatre welcomed legendary Canadian alt-country rockers The Cowboy Junkies to town for a sold-out concert on Friday, February 23. The band warmed hearts and souls with a two-and-a-half-hour show before a friendly audience of long-time fans alongside a few newbies.

The opening set featured mainly songs from the band’s critically acclaimed 2023 album, Such Ferocious Beauty. Songs like “Hard to Build. Easy to Break,” “Circe and Penelope,” and “Hell Is Real” are worthy additions to the Junkies songbook, lyrically formidable, with layered sounds and building crescendos, a trademark of the band.

The band has typically tracked a little under the radar: an indie band with phenomenal original material and brilliant covers, but a little hard to fit into a neatly marketed genre. Are they rock, blues, a little county, Americana? Maybe a “family band,” with siblings Margo, Michael, and Peter Timmins (along with founding members Alan Anton and Jeff Bird) at the core? Who cares – at this point, the band sure doesn’t. They’re just a great band, that sets a vibe that has since been replicated by dozens of moody indie artists, many leading the charge today.

The Junkies builds songs around the voice of lead singer Margo Timmins, whose sincere, passionate, sultry delivery is as strong as ever. She was in command as frontwoman throughout the show, excelling on favorites like “A Common Disaster,” “Misguided Angel,” and the Velvet Underground classic “Sweet Jane,” which was the band’s first hit, reaching near the top of the “Modern Rock” chart in 1989. Another highlight was “Townes Blues,” a tribute to the legendary singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt, who once opened for the band on an early tour. Show encore’s “Walking After Midnight,” and “Blue Moon Revisted,” served to further recognize those who came before.

Next up at Pickens, Raul Malo of The Mavericks on March 23. Meanwhile, check out some photos of the evening below from WUN contributor Rick Farrell.