I’ve been putting off writing about the Newport Folk Festival, which I attended on both Saturday, July 27, and Sunday, July 28, 2019 partially because I felt like I couldn’t adequately express in words the experiences that occurred over the two days that I attended. The other reason is that so many official news outlets have already covered the best parts of the event. I’m pushing on though, to describe my personal experience along with the musical performances I saw. You can read this like it is a diary entry, rather than a review. I’m breaking the experience into two parts, one for each day.
When I decided in June to take a vacation to the East Coast, I noticed that the Newport Folk Festival coincided with my travel dates. I knew that I wanted to get tickets. I immediately got on the Newport Folk Festival ticket waiting list for a 2 day pass, but my wait number was in the 600s. That didn’t look good. I have since realized that I should have put myself down for all of the different types of tickets available. I might have had an easier time getting a couple single day tickets. I never did get tickets through their system, despite them sending an email out saying that in the past 97% of people on the waitlist get a ticket. Not me! How lucky to be a three percenter!
I intensely dislike that people buy tickets for events and then sell them for a (oftentimes hefty) profit. I don’t mind resellers who are fans that can’t attend and sell at face value or maybe a tiny bit extra to make up for website fees. I kept my eye on Stubhub just in case, but tickets never were available at face value. They came close a few days before the festival weekend, when someone was offering a 2-day pass for $245. I almost bought that one and maybe I should have done so in order to save myself the hassle of regularly checking prices over the remaining days of waiting and the effort I put in to actually get tickets.
With the gates opening for the festival at 10am that Saturday, I boarded the Newport Harbor Shuttle at Perroti Park around 9:30am. It was a bright and sunny morning and perfect for taking a boat ride through the harbor. It is kind of cool to catch a boat to go to a concert! Already I could feel a sense of anticipation in the air as festival-goers were attired in hats and sunglasses, carrying blankets and folding chairs, and chatting with their friends.
Once dropped off at the festival location at Fort Adams, I began walking up and down the line to get in to the event, holding my sign that read, “I’m looking to buy 1 ticket or 1 2-day pass” and calling out, “Does anyone have a spare ticket?” After no luck prior to gates open, I decided to check with the box office. I asked if they had any day-of tickets going on sale (which they didn’t) or if people turned tickets back into the box office. They confirmed that the later sometimes happened and just as I was talking, a woman approached the box office because she had to leave town and couldn’t use the second part of her 2 day pass (for Sunday). Right away, I said I would buy it from her. We exchanged numbers, because she would need the pass to get into the venue, and so we arranged to message each other later for me to buy the ticket from her if I could get in.
I walked up and down the line for another half an hour trying to get a Saturday ticket. Many, many people went into the venue while I waited. Eventually a young woman stopped me. She was there with her immediate family (her parents with their adult children and partners), who have made it a tradition in the last few years to attend together. Unfortunately her brother was sick and couldn’t come that day. I joined the group. She didn’t want me to pay for the ticket but I insisted I give her something. We had a nice time chatting about the festival and what we were planning to see. I was glad to hear they were Dawes fans too. I made it through the gate with the family on their ticket and then we wished each other well and headed our own ways. I was in!
This being my first journey to the Newport Folk Festival I took some time getting my bearings, walking around to find the four different stages: Fort, Harbor, Quad, and Museum. The temperature was already rising significantly, so I stopped to get an iced lemonade. This happened to be right next to a tent offering massages, so I took advantage of the location and spent a lovely 20 minutes having the shoulder tightness from traveling rubbed away.
Jade Bird
I stayed in the vicinity of the Fort Stage, and as it was getting close to lunch time, I decided to patronize the grilled cheese truck before the lines started getting long. Meanwhile, young singer Jade Bird began her easy breezy set on the Fort Stage, and so I sat eating my sandwich and gazing out at the harbor while listening to her music and let the atmosphere of the festival soak into me with the sunshine. Jade released her self-titled debut album of smart folk/country/rock laced songs earlier this year. After her set I was gladly able to buy my Sunday ticket from the lady I had met earlier in the day.
Lankum
Following lunch, I sat indoors at the Museum Stage during the “For Pete’s Sake” session to hear the Dublin-based band, Lankum. This 5-piece band played and sang Irish folk music, beginning with the song “Rocky Road to Dublin.” Next they performed a song written in a concentration camp in the 1930s, called “Peat Bog Soldiers,” noting how this song, though written way back then, still maintains relevancy today. A version of the song can be found on their album Between the Earth and Sky. Another tune they played was titled “Cold Old Fire,” with an opening line that waves the banner of perseverance in the face of difficulties, “We always sing, even when we’re losing.” I quite liked that idea. The final song I listened to was one called, “The Old Man From Over the Sea.”
Rayland Baxter
As their set finished, I moved to the Quad stage to see country rock artist Rayland Baxter perform. I hadn’t heard of Rayland Baxter before, but I went to see his set after hearing positive words about him from the family who got me into the festival. I missed his opening song and maybe another one. The first song that caught my attention was “Strange American Dream” which comes from his album Wide Awake. He also talked about creating a Mac Miller cover EP, Good Mmornin [sic], which has been recently released, prior to performing the song “Come Back to Earth.”
I stopped keeping track of the songs at this point as I was starting to feel fatigued by the heat of the day. I keep mentioning that it was hot because the temperature was between 80 and 92 degrees F during the day the whole festival weekend, along with significant humidity. I was glad that the festival had a few free cold water stations for people to refill their own bottles. I was thankful to have a seat so I could relax and enjoy the music in the shade of the tent during the heat of mid-day.
Even though I wasn’t particularly hungry, I decided to get some ice cream to help cool off and revive myself. I began eating it by the edge of the harbor to catch some of the slightly cooler breezes coming across the water, while also people watching all those who pulled up in boats and inflatables next to the shoreline to enjoy the music from the Fort Stage for free.
Kevin Morby
Next, I moved on to catch part of Kevin Morby’s set at the Harbor Stage. A couple of his songs that I was able to pick out were a thought-provoking song called “Beautiful Strangers” and “City Music” from the album of the same name. His most recently released album is called Oh My God, and he also played its title song. I enjoyed his musical arrangements, but I left his set early as I wanted to get back to the Quad stage.
Lucy Dacus
It was standing room only at the Quad stage as folk-flavored indie rock artist Lucy Dacus was in the middle of her set. She was another musician I was not familiar with before the festival. There were moments when she had a Joni Mitchell style to her song performances and I could see her appeal at the folk fest. Lucy’s most recent offering is 2018’s Historian. I had positioned myself on the front far side of the Quad stage tent, which was a nice place to listen from, but a terrible position for taking any photos. When she finished off her set, a few people began to leave their seats inside the tent. Amazingly, one chair opened up in the front row, right in the center. It became mine.
Dawes
Honestly, I cannot believe how lucky I was to snag a front row, center seat for the upcoming set. One of my favorite bands, Dawes, was there at the Quad Stage performing their first album North Hills in its entirety, in honor of its 10th anniversary since its release. The band is comprised of front man and guitarist Taylor Goldsmith, drummer Griffin Goldsmith, bassist Wylie Gelber, keyboard player Lee Pardini, and regularly supported on tour by guitarist Trevor Menear. At the festival they were also joined by North Hills producer Jonathan Wilson on guitar, as well as Heartbreaker Benmont Tench for most of the set. Dawes was scheduled to be playing with “friends” but who knew that it was going to be a slew of amazing musicians? Dawes has some incredibly talented friends, as you can see by the breakdown! The guests either favorably complemented the song being played, or in some cases, made an old song feel brand new by bringing their unique musicianship to the tune.
- For “Take Me Out of the City” – Taylor and Griffin first appeared on stage singing together on one microphone, with a little help from Lee. I loved that they started with this song, since being in Newport felt so much for me like the cares of city life could be safely left behind.
- Jason Isbell was welcomed to the stage to help out with “Let Me Be Your Anchor.” I recall feeling in that moment like, “Wow, if Jason Isbell is the first guest, what is coming next?” While not performing his own set at the festival, Jason was all everywhere as a guest guitarist for other musicians, which seemed to be completely in the spirit of the festival!
- Well, what happened next was that Yola blew us up to the stratosphere with her vocals on “When You Call My Name.” It not only breathed new life into this song, she made it so much her own, it seemed like she had written it!
- Rachael Price and Bridget Kearney from Lake Street Dive came by to provide beautiful, soulful vocals to “That Western Skyline.”
- Taylor introduced the producer of the album, Jonathan Wilson, who was supporting the band on a red Fender guitar, and he took the lead vocals for the “Love is All I Am.” Benmont Tench joined in on the keyboards from this point on through the rest of the show.
- MC Taylor from Hiss Golden Messenger took the lead vocals for “God Rest My Soul,” wrapping the song up in country rock and tied it with a piece of twine.
- Taylor and Griffin and Lee were up front at the microphone for “Give Me Time” and it was a pleasure to hear Benmont building the solo section of the song on the keyboard. I used the title of this song as the title of this post, because it was the gift of time that allowed me to have this entire experience.
- Then four members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band came out playing saxophone, trumpet, trombone and sousaphone. The combo quickly turned “Still My Girl to Me” into the best song on the album and it was hands down my favorite performance of the whole festival. I believe Dawes should consider adding more horns on their next album! Lee and Benmont were not slouching on the keys either — what a fantastic sound.
- Musician and producer Mike Viola joined in with the band for vocals on “Mama.”
- Taylor handled lead vocals for “Peace in the Valley” and the song had a proper jamming instrumental section giving the guitars, keyboards, and percussion a moment to shine.
- Local favorite musician John McCauley from Deer Tick helped them close the show with the seemingly timeless “When My Time Comes.” I assure you I sang with heartiest voice with a huge amount of breath support under it for the chorus.
There was palpable energy flowing through this tent during this set. Writing about it, seeing photos, and even watching the videos made at the show can’t properly convey the magnitude of it. It was also incredible to see how pumped up Taylor was during this set. I swear a moment passed when we both looked at each other with a sense of “I can’t believe this happening!” I do recommend that Dawes fans check out the gorgeous black and white photos posted in the “On the Road with Dawes” article on the Mother Jones website. Yes, I am even in the photo taken from the stage that shows the audience, though I am partially obscured.
The Collaboration
My brain was so shaken up by this incredible set that I barely made it over to the Fort stage where a collaboration of ladies were performing the final set of the day. It was the mass debut of The Highwomen along with some legendary ladies. I love that Newport Folk Festival has plenty of female representation on their stages, while many other festivals continue to be dominated by male groups, despite the wealth of female talent available to play. I got to the area just in time to sing along to the 4 Non Blondes song, “What’s Up?” Then Judy Collins appeared on stage and performed “Both Sides Now” along with Brandi Carlisle.
The ultimate surprise of the night (though the rumor mill had already tipped me off) was Dolly Parton. She started off by singing “Eagle When She Flies” and then after a long story about her early married life, performed “Just Because I’m a Woman.” She proceeded to sing the three top songs a person might associate with her, “I Will Always Love You,” “Jolene,” and closed out the day with “9 to 5.” For more on this finale, check out what Rolling Stone magazine and view their video clips.
As the last strains of the song finished, I headed to the line for the harbor shuttle back, having the heard the line could be quite long. As I was waiting in line the sun was setting and seemed to perfectly coincide with the end of the festival for the day. A snapped this photo of the tall ship Oliver Hazard Perry with Fort Adams in the background, only a few minutes after sundown.
A final word about video. People were not supposed to be taking video at the Newport Folk Festival as they were to encouraged to enjoy the music in the moment. I decided to respect that rule and did not take any video myself on Saturday. Security was sometimes asking people to stop taking videos, but it is truly impossible in these times, to stop all videos at a festival. Videos and video clips are all over the Internet and YouTube, so if something I’ve written about makes you wish you could have seen it, feel free to search. In a crowd of hundreds or thousands of people, someone probably captured it. As always, there is so much free content online, but please, if you want the musicians you love to continue making music for your enjoyment, remember to buy the music and support them by attending their concerts.