I spent three wonderful days at the 65th Annual Newport Folk Festival and here’s what went down.
Day 1
William Prince opened the festival at The Harbor Stage. His voice is so rich and calming that it lowers my blood pressure. He sang “Goldie Hawn”, a gorgeous tune for his fiancée, and He also gave a heartfelt shoutout to his women-led team. Starting the festival with his set was the right choice.
Sir Woman, especially Spice on backing vocals, got everyone on their feet in the early (for the festival) hours of the day, the perfect marriage of modern soul and pop music.
Going into the fest, I was a Glitterfox fan. Leaving the fest, I am a radicalized groupie who wants to follow Glitterfox to the ends of the earth and preach their good word. Lead singer, Solange Igoa is a dynamo.
I don’t know if Weird Al loves Steve Poltz but he definitely would. Also, watching Steve Poltz dancing during the Dropkick Murphys on Sunday gave me such joy.
Dragonfly infestation during Beck’s (amazing surprise guest spot) Folk 101 Education.
Surprise guests don’t always move me but Petey brought out Miya Folick and I yelped like a puppy. They deserve as much of a meteoric rise as Chappell Roan so if you haven’t, you should, ROACH is out now! Petey was excellent and funny as was expected. I’ll take more emo at the fest any year. Not sorry.
I received one thousand texts about MUNA’s performance and every one was warranted. MUNA for the people. MUNA for the universe. Queer representation and indie pop for the win. Always.
A more perfect voice doesn’t exist. Adrianne Lenker ended the day for me with a bunch of new songs and a lot of life stuff to consider.
Day 2
The Harbor Stage was unreal. I try to bounce from stage to stage as much as possible but I firmly planted on Saturday. No regrets.
Oliver Hazard’s years-long campaign to play the festival paid off. Damn, their harmonies are crisp.
When Reyna Tropical was announced for the festival, they had just a couple of EPs to their name. As far as artists go, I’d say they were more under the radar than some but we got caught up quickly. Fabi Reyna and Nay Mapalo brought folk, energy, afro-indigenous rhythms, sex, and big gay energy to a festival that could always benefit from more.
Chaparelle has literally one (official) song to their name but frontwoman, Zella Day. has been putting out music since 2012 while her partner in life and song, Jesse Woods has been chopping it up since 2010. I don’t even know what a perfect performance is, but if I had to guess, it looks a lot like what we saw on Saturday. We’re talking Gram Parson’s inspired denim jumpsuits, we’re talking sex (again), we’re talking dreamy, creamy vocals and a far-off gaze, we’re talking Whitney Houston at a folk-fest. When’s the album drop?
Bertha said they played two shows before Newport Folk Festival hit them up for a lineup slot and I have to say that this was a truly inspired decision. Bertha accomplished two very major feats: bringing fans of the Grateful Dead to a drag show and fans of drag to a Grateful Dead show. I’m not too sure this intersection occurs often, but I’m so happy it did. I can’t wait to see them on tour where I get to express my love and appreciation for them in a review that has no word count.
Killer Mike promised to take everyone to church and he did. Hip-hop music is folk music.
Day 3
Lucky me I saw all the breakout acts this year. LA LOM, an instrumental trio out of Los Angeles that channels the romantic boleros of my heart, has opened for Vampire Weekend and now Sunday at Newport Folk has not released their debut album yet but left us all eagerly anticipating it. Their cover of Los Sabanales by Los Corraleros de Majagual was exquisite.
I was worried about Friko at the Folk Fest. I didn’t know how we’d take it. They received standing ovations from every section of the audience after each song.
Tinariwen (which translates as “open spaces”) is a collective of Grammy-winning musicians who brought grassroots rebellion from the Sahara Desert to Newport, RI, and man, it was powerful. Artists can’t always get the seated tents up on their feet but Tinariwen managed that for the entirety of their set. Hopefully you were there.
Thao was easily one of my favorite sets of the day and yet I’m at a loss for how to describe it. I’ll try. When I was 12, I skipped school to go to Prudence Island with a friend and her family. It was a lot of fun but one day we spent too much time in the sun and forgot to drink any water. We were crawling-through-the-desert thirsty and almost drank from a trickle of water coming from a random rock wall next to the beach. Eventually, we found a convenience store and got root beers. The feeling I had drinking that root beer and then peacefully taking a post-dehydration nap in the car afterward…
watching Thao felt like that.
De La Soul was the wellness check we all needed. No notes except, more, please.
Robert Smigel is a comedy legend and having Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at Newport Folk is exactly why this weird festival rules. Can we keep having fun, even when it takes all of our will?
