Newport Folk Festival 2023 - Raw Notes

Newport Folk is a truly magical place!

Each year, to keep track of what I see (and like) I take notes in real time.

Here's a dump of that doc - very lightly cleaned up - for those who might find it interesting!
--

Friday (7/29) - SO HOT

Ron Gallo - High energy early. Fuzzy distortion on the guitars. Tiny bass player in a dress and heels, locked in. Tight propulsive (smart!) songs. Highlights : All the Punks are domesticated / Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me.

Laden Valley (end) - Caught “Do You Love Me Still” and then cover of Times Changin”

Beths - Giant fish! Fun, poppy, from New Zealand. Lead singer overheated - cut set short! (Apparently she rested a bit, then continued, but we moved on..).

Lee Renaldo & Eastern Medicine Singers - Intense collaboration. Drone with percussion, endless possibilities. Atmospheric , mesmerizing. Better than expected.

Bella White - strong, powerful vocals, captivating country rock (steel guitar! Fiddle!). Taut. (Still SO HOT out). Good song: Just Like Leaving.

Mdou Moctar - Pure kinetic energy. Heat, blistering, mesmerizing. Loud but so delicate. Layers and worlds. The whole crowd standing and cheering. Drummer kicked out his drum shell and it had to be replaced. Grinning, alive, he’s electric. Would love to see him with Billy Strings.

Slaughter Beach, Dog - Rollicking, tight band. Funny lyrics. With Erin Rae on backing vocals. Strong clear vocals. But a fuzzy psychedelic sound. Craig Finn came out for a song. Song about friend who played bass. Charming, fun. Would see again.

Illiterate Light - I rode a bike to power the stage! Super fun. Short set. New protest song. Rockin’ cover of Vampire Blues (as always). Growing Down to close as a sing-along.

Nickel Creek - From Beer Jail. Sara seems to be in good form, tight harmonies. Chris is a pro. Destination is a great song.

Maggie Rogers - From the pier. Such joy! Young and spinning and happy. Did a slower version of Want Want. Brought out Del Water Gap. Alaska. Such a voice and a lot of fun, as always.

James Taylor - Noah Kahan dropped out and James jumped in at the last minute. Meg heard the rumour in line for beer and it was true! Made it over for a story about a pig and Carolina on my Mind and you’ve got a friend. Singing close harmonies with his wife and son.

MMJ - Say That You Love Me (with Maggie Rogers!). They jammed. We smiled and soaked it in.

Tyler Childers @ Newport Blues Cafe (Aftershow). How to capture this in words? So close. Four songs in and we had our money's worth - Whitehouse Road / In Your Love / All Your'n / Purgatory. Deep gospel through-line. Triune God. Old Country Church. No crazy song about the shepherds from DelFest. Tight band, wild bass player. Solo acoustic to close - Grindstone. Lady May. Virgie. Walked out, floating.

Saturday! (7/30) - Still hot. Slightly overcast.

(Proposal! In which Megan agrees to marry me.)

Willi Carlisle - held the crowd in the palm of his hand with just his voice and banjo (and accordion). Folk songs (real ones). Vanlife - funny and smart with a political twist. Steve Goodman Vietnam protest ballad had me crying. Ended with two sing alongs.

Jamie Wyatt - silk shirt, blue suit, came out strong with neon cross. Fixed the sound. Slinky. Danced and slid around the stage, warm chaos with a soulful voice and a tight band. Warmed up to the crowd more and more by the end. Willi played fiddle! New album and show at 9:30. Can’t wait.

Danielle Ponder - caught last few songs. cover of mountain deep. Final song for pscilocybin ("or god - they’re the same thing.")

Bartees Strange - Incredible energy. Kindness, presence. But voice. Great songs. Heavy Heart. Dancing on stage, kinetic.

Ballroom Thieves (Bike Stage) - Charming, hair blowing in the wind. Jumped on the bikes and forgot the words to their own song!

Hold Steady - Straightforward hyper-literate rock and roll with a Midwest accent. Lots of words, images. Harmonica player wearing a suit. Characters in stories - high energy. Loose but polished, ragged but sharp. Good song. - Sequestered in Memphis.

Goose - Jammin’. Cover of Don’t Do It. Animal appearance.

SG Goodman - Short set on the foundation stage. Space and Time (which Tyler Childers covers?). Song by high school friend Tyler. Then Teeth Marks.

Jason Isbell - Opened with Cover Me Up. Turnpike Troubadors guy singing King of Oklahoma. Most of the rest of the new album. Sadler rocking out - that guitar sound!

Turnpike Troubadours - Rocking Western swing. Playful, fun, danceable. Tyler Childers came out for two songs - cover of Prine’s Muhlenberg County, kids (and me!) so excited.

Jon Batiste - Opened with medicine show singers. Guest spot by Lauren Daigle. Funky soulful Nobody’s Fault But Mine. Storm clouds rolling in.

Sunday (7/31) -

Made it through security, but long delay to the stages - long sound check by Lana? (Yes. Caught her with Nikki Lane, wrapping up as we went in).

JP Harris / Willi Carlisle / Palmyra - Bike stage. JP doing old ballads. Willi doing Rocks Don’t Know. Song by old friend (Luke Bell) - Bullfighter in the Pen. A highlight of the whole fest, easily.

Sonora May - Gorgeous smoky voice. Bluesy sound. SG Goodman came out for Milk and Honey. Energy up, loping guitar line. Papa won’t you let me go to town - Bobbie Gentry song? Dogs of Mexico to close. Really good.

Dan Blakeslee - ok? A lot of stage to fill with one guy. Would see in a smaller venue:

Sumbuck - sounds like caamp. Tastes like bbq and street corn (lunch).

Earls of Leicester - tight fun bluegrass. Train that carried. Big black train. Charlie Poole’s Deal Go Down. Gospel songs. Jimmy Brown the Newsboy. Jerry Douglass on dobro. Doing the Flatt and Scruggs set from 1966. So great to see the old songs still alive, folks dancing.

Madison Cunningham - Blue guitar, slightly funky beat. Tight band. Cool energy with a bit of a slide. Good song - I Think We’ve Been Here Once Before. Remi Wolf came out for Hospital. Slower ballads. Wide range to her voice. Closed with Looking For Something, filling the stage.

Remi Wolf - Small human, big energy. Had crowd up and dancing - Disco. Funky, playful. Alive. Bit of Lizzo-feel. Pacing the stage with a grin - flowing, happy. But still SO HOT out. Quad air felt thick so -

Los Lobos - from the pier, with a cool breeze. Opened with Chuck Berry riff. Neko Case! I finally see how Like a Rolling Stone comes from La Bamba.

Lana Del Ray - Nikki Lane came out (we saw her at sound check!). Highlight - Jack Antonoff playing piano as she sang a great Joni cover - For Free. Loved Video Games. Choreographed dancers. Dragged off stage in a sheet (exit!)

Billy Strings - Jammed a lot at first. Tight band. Doc Watson songs. Make me a Pallet. Stanley Brothers - Rank Strangers. Solo - talkin blues about fishing. Very good at playing lots of notes, exuberant, wildly talented. Sun setting, gorgeous end to a weekend.