I am wiped, you are wiped. The heat of the sun hanging over Fort Adams got to me a bit today, so I’ll make this a quick fire exercise of my top 5 highlights from Day 1 of the 2016 Newport Folk Festival.
Starting things off the right way: We walked into the Fort (after a late start which isn’t characteristic of our Newport days) to our good pal and honky tonk hero J.P. Harris singing his working man’s country tunes to an adoring and growing audience. The band was on fire and two stepping down the aisles and folks grinning ear to ear as Harris and the band burned through number after number of storied songs set to high octane twang played out. A truly exciting and wonderful way to kick off the new year of Newport.
Ain’t Nothing Broke Here: St Paul and the Broken Bones managed to ever surpass my hugely high expectations of the performance they would unleash on the crowd at Newport and completely stole the hearts of the thousands of folks standing…ok, DANCING…in awe as they sweat it all out on the stage and left nothing else to be desired with a mind blowing performance. Ridiculous. Completely, insanely, ridiculous.
O’ My Goodness: Songwriting siren Aoife O’ Donovan never lets you down. On stage she has a wit and genuine comfort being there that cannot be faked. It can only make for brilliant performances time after time and coupled with introspective, poignant writing, rich vocals and a backing band that is an absolute dream…well, that is just something special. A visit from a Berklee string group to add a depth that is deeper than the deepest ocean…well, I just about melted into a puddle watching this set.
Radical, man: I had a feeling that a band unknown to me previously would be the one to again seem to wow me the most at Newport this summer. Radical Face is leading the charge after day 1 and its gonna take a lot to overturn that ruling. With a banter that had the crowd in stitches and pensive songs stretched over some infectiously rocking arrangements…a favorite of the day without a doubt.
My biggest regret: Kris Kristofferson played in the Museum stage…I wasn’t there. I didnt even experience this but I can guarantee it was one of the best of the weekend. Note to self: take your own advice and get to the Museum, the least expected and most wonderful stuff happens there. Get it.
See you tomorrow folk fam…