A Weekend In Musical Heaven: Newport Folk Festival 2017 – Review, Photos & Videos
By Jeffrey Greenblatt Aug 4, 2017 • 11:59 am PDT
Words by: Jeffrey Greenblatt
Images by: Kevin Felix
Newport Folk Festival 2017 :: 7.28-30.17
Fort Adams State Park :: Newport, RI
Fort Adams State Park :: Newport, RI
Check out Kevin’s gallery after Jeff’s review.
At this point I feel like I’m running out of superlatives to heap on Jay Sweet and the rest of the people responsible for putting together the Newport Folk Festival. Since taking over as its guiding force and spiritual guru Sweet has undoubtedly turned the Newport Folk Festival into THE premier destination for music fans of a certain ilk. Sweet and his team not only lovingly know and honor the fest’s long and storied history, but they continue to morph and mold it with their lineup choices moving it forward each year.
There are no more questions about “Is this folk?,” as the Newport faithful have come to trust in the process. At this point if fans were offered the opportunity to buy tickets for the 2018 edition as they walked out of the gates it’s likely next year’s fest would already be close to a sell-out – that’s just how much cred everyone involved with making the Newport Folk Festival run has built up.
The 2017 edition was my seventh in eight years, and each year I seem to proclaim in my review that the lineup was their best ever. Well, wait for it, this may have been top to bottom their strongest and most complete lineup Newport Folk has put together during the modern era. Returning favorites, first-time acts, unique collaborations and unannounced sets filled out the bill, and that’s not mentioning the number of artists who seemed to materialize out of thin air for Sunday’s highly anticipated Speak Out set.
Highlights were a plenty over the course of the three days from The Seratones throwing down some blistering blues-rock early on Friday to The Decemberists’ side-project Offa Rex playing one of only a handful of only live shows for the year on Saturday to the Newport honoring the late-great Chuck Berry on Sunday with an all-star tribute set. On top of all of that add in the fact that Roger Waters flew halfway across the country on an off night from his current North American tour to help close out the festival by sitting-in with John Prine for just one song! After you let that sink in for a second you can start to fully understand why for one weekend each July the tiniest state in the union is the place to be for music fans.
Here are the best sets I saw this past weekend:
Hurray for the Riff Raff – Friday – Fort Stage – 1:55 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
The one word that kept popping into my head as I watched Hurray For The Raff’s set early on Friday afternoon was “fierce.” Alynda Segarra’s latest incarnation of her ever evolving project came with a purpose, declaring early on, “This time we come repping Puerto Rican people, Latin people” The band’s set leaned almost exclusively on material from their latest release The Navigator, a song-cycle inspired by Segarra’s personal experiences growing up as an outsider in The Bronx, while also honoring both the sounds and struggles of her Puerto Rican heritage. Segarra, who is one of strongest feminist voices out there right now making music, didn’t shy away from the issues using her time on stage to inform, inspire and unite.
The band’s 50-minute set had a fiery edge to it. This isn’t the country-folk band of their earlier albums, this is a tight rock band giving Segarra a chance to shine as a powerful frontwoman, and it showed as she passionately performed songs like “Rican Beach” and “Hungry Ghost.” “Living In The City” might be the best Bruce Springsteen song that The Boss didn’t actually write, while “Pa’lante,” got everyone’s fists raised in the air with a message to “Protect and defend each other and not let anyone is power tear us apart.” Hurray For The Riff Raff closed out their set with Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Vietnam-era anthem “Fortunate Son,” with Segarra urging the audience to sing along, stating “I want them to hear this down in Mar-a-Lago.”
Carl Broemel – Friday – Harbor Stage – 2:25 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.
No disrespect to Jim James, but Carl Broemel won the battle of the My Morning Jacket solo sets at Newport this year. Backed by the members of Steelism, Broemel showed off not only his guitar prowess, which MMJ fans are already familiar with, but also his songwriting by showcasing tunes from his two solo albums, 2016’s 4th of July and 2010’s Carried Away. The pairing was a match made in heaven as the Nashville-based band was the perfect foil for Broemel giving his material a psychedelic country-flair, while also being able to get weird and keep up with him when he wanted to stretch things out.
The highlight was a wild 12+ minute jammed-out take on “Carried Away” that closed out his set and saw some fantastic interplay between Broemel and his backing band. Toward the end of the tune Broemel switched from from electric guitar to pedal steel as the band segued into the Santo & Johnny classic “Sleepwalk,” putting an exclamation point on the performance.
Deer Tick – Friday – Newport Blues Cafe – 11:00 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.
If there was a Newport Folk “to-do list,” seeing one of Deer Tick’s Newport Folk after shows would absolutely be on it. For the seventh year in a row the bar-rock band took over the tiny Newport Blues Cafe for another three-night run. The cat has been out of the bag for awhile now on that these are special nights to let loose and see some of the fest’s biggest names not only open the shows, but also sit-in with John McCauley & Co. Demand seemed to hit a fever pitch this year, with the band adding two additional shows – one that opened Newport Folk week and an early acoustic show at the Jane Pickens Theater on Saturday night – bringing their total to five over a seven day stretch.
Opening with “The Bump,” Friday night’s show was an a all-killer, no-filler affair, with McCauley declaring early on that they wouldn’t be repeating tunes throughout the run – another reason why these shows have become must-sees for the hardcore Tickheads. The hour and a half show was full of the band’s biggest sing-along tunes – “Art Isn’t Real (City of Sin),” “Ashamed,” and “Miss K.” Midway through the show Robert Ellis emerged to lead the band on a pair of Billy Joel covers or “Some casual B.J.” as he referred to it the next day during his festival set. The augmented act offered up “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me” and “Big Shot,” turning a rock club in Rhode Island into a karaoke bar in Long Island.
Grandma’s Hands Band – Saturday – Fort Stage – 12:35 – 1:20 p.m.
When the mysteriously named Grandma’s Hands Band was announced for this year’s fest there was zero information given as to just what this was going to be – Newport’s website literally just featured a shot of an elderly woman’s hand. With a band named after a Bill Withers’ song, all signs were pointing to a tribute set, but little else could be gleaned – and that’s just how Jay Sweet wanted it. What we got was beyond expectations. Introduced by Sweet himself as an idea hatched by a bunch of Withers freaks, the set was anchored by an ad-hoc band made up of MC Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger), Phil Cook, Natalie Prass and the biggest surprise of all Justin Vernon (Bon Iver).
Opening with the one-two punch of “Use Me,” which was sung by Taylor and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” which featured Vernon on vocals there was no doubting that this was going to be a set that people talked about for years to come. Hurray for the Riff Raff’s Alynda Seggara offered up an inspired version of “Grandma’s Hands,” while the Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood handled the Vietnam War protest tune “I Can’t Write Left-Handed.” The group sing-along on “Lean On Me” provided the “We’re all in this together” emotional moment that many at the fest needed. The entire set itself was nothing short of amazing, and only could have been topped if they somehow coaxed Withers himself out of retirement (and if anyone can make this happen I’m thinking it would Jay Sweet – maybe next year).
J.P. Harris & Chance McCoy – Saturday – Harbor Stage – 1:15 p.m. – 2:05 p.m.
This is the kind of set that I love seeing every year. It transports me back to what it must have been like being at Newport during the fest’s golden years. Armed with just a banjo, fiddle and an acoustic guitar J.P. Harris and Chance McCoy (Old Crow Medicine Show) treated the Harbor Stage like it was their front porch, with the pair of longtime friends sharing stories, swapping jokes, finishing each other’s sentences and playing Appalachian folk music. The duo even jokingly shared their thoughts on the difference between old time music, which is what they classify themselves as playing and bluegrass – with the former being fueled by drinking whiskey and playing tunes and the other by expertly learning to play scales.
Harris and McCoy paired traditional foot-stompers with old-time work songs and bluegrass tunes. The set was highlighted by killer version of Bill Monroe’s “Uncle Pen,” and a version of the Billy Bragg & Wilco via Woody Guthrie song “Way Over Yonder.” The duo also used the opportunity to play songs off an album they recorded together, which has yet to see the light of day because of legal reasons, but that they boastfully declared were bootlegging themselves and selling at the fest.
Wilco – Saturday – Fort Stage – 6:15 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
The biggest question heading into Wilco’s headlining slot on early Saturday evening was would the band invite Billy Bragg to sit-in with them or not. The two acts famously collaborated and toured behind Mermaid Avenue, their album of Woody Guthrie lyrics that they set to song, but have seemingly kept their distance since. Thanks to what I could only assume was some very intentional planning to have Bragg and Joe Henry’s set end shortly before Jeff Tweedy & Co. were supposed to take the stage it seemed like a collaboration was almost inevitable. These are the kind of things that Jay Sweet does to not so subtly try and make things happen.
The Chicago-based band’s 17-song set admittedly got off to a bit of a slow start, with some of their more slow-paced material front-loading it. It wasn’t until the first notes of “Impossible Germany” that the crowd began to really perk up, and this version didn’t disappoint. Nels Cline’s guitar worked shined throughout the extended take as the crowded cheered enthusiastically. Tweedy, who was sporting his hipster Willie Nelson look, even pointed his thumb toward Cline during the frenzied solo. With their time on stage winding down the six-piece act offered up a slightly sloppy take on “Christ For President,” with Tweedy jokingly acknowledging afterword that they would now play something the knew how to play. With Billy Bragg strolling onto the stage the reunited pairing offered up a take on “California Stars,” much to the delight of the crowd. This was truly a bucket list moment for any Wilco fan, and one of my personal highlights of the entire weekend.
Sunday Groove with Preservation Hall Jazz Band – Sunday – Fort Stage – 11:15 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band are Newport Folk royalty. In fact their relationship with Newport Folk founder George Wein dates all the back to 1970 when he booked them and actually played with them at inaugural New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The band’s early-risers set was billed as “Sunday Groove,” with Sweet announcing it would mark the first of a yearly themed set that the New Orleans act would curate for the foreseeable future. For the inaugural edition Pres Hall looked no further than their most recent album So It Is for inspiration.
The multi-piece and multi-generational band threw down nearly an hour of booty-shaking, horn-filled New Orleans meets Cuba funk. Even with their early slot the Fort Stage, Pres Hall drew a huge audience, and got many of the folks that take things in from a lawn chair up and dancing – that’s how infectious the grooves were. Songs like “Santiago” and “La Malenga” got extended workouts, with 85 year-old saxophonist Charlie Gabriel stealing the show not only with his playing, but with both his dance moves and magnetic smile. The band even pulled the weekend’s MVP Jim James on stage with them to play cowbell to help close out the non-stop Big Easy dance party.
Speak Out – Sunday – Fort Stage – 4:40 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
To say expectations were high for Sunday’s Speak Out set may be one of the biggest understatements of the weekend. This set promised to “celebrate an artist’s freedom to write songs to reflect the times that he/she lives in,” and was teased to include a number of unannounced artists not found anywhere on the lineup. Just who would show up and what would they play, well you just had to show up to find out – and needless to say it didn’t disappoint.
Hosted by Chris Funk and featuring a house band that included members of My Morning Jacket, The Decemberists and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the almost hour-long cathartic set was filled with messages of inspiration, frustration, hope and fear, but all meant to push a narrative of a call to action against the current political climate. The set included an inspired version of David Bowie’s “Heroes,” from the relatively unknown Kyle Craft to Jim James and Nick Offerman (yes that Nick Offerman of Parks & Recs fame) teaming up on an impassioned cover of Bob Dylan’s “Masters Of War” to rising country-star Margo Price’s powerful take on John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero.” There were also appearances from Sharon Van Etten, Billy Bragg and Lucius with Nathaniel Rateliff closing the whole thing out with CCR’s “Fortunate Son” the second version of what has become the anti-Trump anthem of late.
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