Newport Folk Festival 2021

I only did Monday and Tuesday but had an absolutely fantastic time. Below is my recap:

Seen Before:
CMA – Saw and loved her in 2019, and this set was just as great. The Old Flowers band is so good, gives me Neil Young Harvest-era vibes, probably due to Twain’s pedal steel and all around magic. Also really dug the “Old Flowers” arrangements of Irene and May Your Kindness Remain.
Fruit Bats – Eric and the crew are such a great live band and have no trouble putting together a fun setlist. They are one of the few bands of this era that could put out a fantastic Greatest Hits album. Anais sounded great on Pet Parade and I’m always down to hear Josh on guitar.
Hiss – Some days Hiss may be my favorite band, but this was my first time catching a Hiss solo set and he was in excellent form. His voice sounded great, and it seemed like he was really enjoying himself. Erin and Aoife sounded great on harmonies.
Langhorne – I only planned on sticking around for a few songs, but I got totally sucked in and am so glad I stayed. Song for Sid is always a highlight but You Are My Sunshine in the crowd was just what the doctor ordered, beautiful stuff.
Beck – After SVE and Beck’s announcements, I knew I needed to be at this thing. He is one of my all-time favorites and this set was exactly what I would want out of a Newport Beck set. Loved how stripped down it was and getting to hear some of his early songs that rarely make his setlists these days. Smoky on guitar was a big plus. You could tell he was having a blast up there, and the riffs with Fred were a great time. My only complaint is that the set wasn’t an hour longer, his discography is so deep.

First Time Seeing:
Erin Rae – Putting on Airs is such a great album and those songs sound even better live. Her voice is outstanding and her guitar player was killing it. Looking forward to hearing more from the new Jonathan Wilson produced album, bound to be another goody.
Middle Brother – Maybe the best “rock” show I saw at the fest, they were so much fun. I understand the hype now.
Steve Gunn – Bummed William Tyler couldn’t make it, but Steve put on a great solo set. Good mix of originals and covers. It may have been better suited for the Quad, but I still really enjoyed it.
Allison Russell – This was a gem, Outside Child is blowing up and her band was sick. The Sade cover was a nice touch too.
SVE – I can’t believe this was her “shaking off the dust.” Was one of my favorite 2020 announcements, and she met and exceeded my expectations. She owned the stage and not much is better than her vocals.

Best Surprises: Glad Emma Swift got bumped up to the big stage. Wasn’t planning on seeing her, but her and Robin really did a number on those Dylan songs and made great song selections. Was walking back from Langhorne when I heard Bleachers crushing Whole of the Moon, the rest of what I saw was also great. The on-the-spot arrangements of their songs were really cool.

Missed: Despite only 2 main stages, I still had some conflicts. Bummed I missed Aoife and Bonny Light, but I don’t regret seeing all of CMA and getting a great spot for Beck.

Overall: I like how laid back everything felt this year. I usually don’t get to see much of the Museum stuff because it’s tough to get into, so I really enjoyed this year’s busking stage set up. Glad I got to catch Andrea von Kampen and Call and Response with Allison Russell. I also liked the holding area being right outside of the museum tent/tunnel this year. I’d like to see Newport continue that next year, way less cramped than usual. I always find it very easy to get a great standing spot at the Fort stage, but this year’s was even easier, which was great if you bounced around. I think this was a huge success, I already can’t wait for 2022, thanks Newport for a great couple of days.

Regardless of whether you prefer full band or stripped down, I found Julien Baker’s comment interesting. I’m paraphrasing and probably going to mess up some of the words/sentiment, but it was along the lines of…

- I formed a band for my last record to give me company on the stage to help take the pressure off of me when I’m up on stage. But Newport asked me to come stripped down, so here I am. That’s okay, Jay, I love you. -

Her set was beautiful by the way. Those of you who liked stripped down sets because they let the audience and artists connect - that was this set. She messed up, laughed about it, discussed her nerves about being on stage, swapped out the guitar for a banjo, invited a friend on stage to help with the harmonies, and let her voice carry the set. (I do still think hers and LSD’s set should have been swapped. It took some extra effort for me to connect with her on the Lawn Stage like I was immediately able to connect with Gibbard on the Quad stage. She finished 15 minutes early. Then LSD stole half of Deer Tick’s audience for 3/4 of their headlining set.)

I love the green river festival! it has turned into a mini newport the last few years.

If there was no storm on Friday, what was going to be TBA on Monday ? Would the schedule just have been moved around ?

I don't think it would've been there. Monday and Tuesday both had 6 acts on the Lawn, the other 4 days only had 5. Monday's was to squeeze in the Night Sweats and Tuesday was for Emma Swift

Agree on the mini-Newport characterization.....haven't been in a few years, but we started going when my kids were little (they're now both in their 20s), and I always thought of it that way.....esp. with kids, we always appreciated the less chaotic atmosphere along with the great music (among other things, I remember the Avetts on the underbill playing an early afternoon set as a trio during their early days - I think the year Fountains of Wayne headlined).....haven't been for a few years -- as with Newport, I expect that things will look a bit different this year, with a shift in venue -- also doesn't seem that they'll be doing the usual hot air balloon launch at dusk, which is a super cool addition......but nonetheless, it will no doubt be a blast of a weekend.  

Amazing set! I don’t have a setlist (a few of the songs were obscure obscure), but I did take snippets of the ones with guests and just posted them here if that helps:

http://instagram.com/p/CSAEd6bHjh4

I updated this playlist to include the surprises and buskers from the Fest. Hope you enjoy, I have been listening on repeat. 

FOLK ON 2021 PLAYLIST

Typically you’ll find at least a handful of the full sets in NPR but I haven’t seen anything yet this year

Billy Strings has/had both of his sets on Nugs though

I may have misunderstood but I thought they essentially dropped npr so they could begin their own subscription streaming service which has been taking way to long to implement. I thought there was a link for streaming that had a coming soon banner on Newports website but it’s gone now.

Interesting thought.  They do have an open month or so in their tour dates around Newport, and their new album is supposed to basically be their Nebraska... but I don't really see them taking the pay cut to do something cool like this.  I'd love to be wrong, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Dawes and The Killers are playing a festival together in Florida. I wonder if just a coincidence or if they’ll be touring together?

Also, please give us a Phoebe and Friends headlining set in 2022.

www.brooklynvegan.com/phoebe-bridgers-appears-on-new-killers-album-and-taylor-swifts-red-remake/?fbclid=IwAR2y2LztmkoDtDopNH7ZNpz9RD6bG12_GAee-jJwLxb-3masuChs52AvwIY

I'm def expecting some Phoebe next year

Thanks, I checked Nugs today, but Newport sets are missing. Hopefully the get added