Newport Folk Festival 2024 Recap

The 2024 Newport Folk Festival, in its 65th year as the premiere folk festival of the northeast, has officially come to a close. Gorgeous weather, amazing music, and the positive spirit of the folk fest were in lavish supply this past weekend at Fort Adams in Newport. Besides a few hiccups in terms of the security lines to get into the festival on Friday and Saturday, Newport could teach a masterclass on setting up the proper infrastructure and planning it takes to run a festival. Every year, even in the years following covid, Newport receives top marks for its planning and the ability to handle any situation with safety and fun at the forefront.

Kicking off the festival on Friday at the smaller Harbor Stage was the recipient of this year’s John Prine Songwriter Fellowship, William Prince. The 2023 recipient, Jobi Riccio, who also had a set at the Harbor on Sunday, joined him on stage as well to metaphorically hand off the torch. Hailing from Canada, Prince’s smooth voice and captivating lyrics seemed to embody Prine’s spirit. Meanwhile, Sir Woman (led by singer Kelsey Wilson) set the tone at the Quad Stage with their blend of rock, R&B, and soul. And over at the Fort Stage, the Medicine Singers, which includes guitarist Yonatan Gat, opened their set by inviting the audience to join in on a unity round dance. The collective call-to-action dance fit perfectly in line with the unified aspect of Newport and folk music in general.

Every year, one of the best aspects of the folk festival are the acts that appear on the two smaller stages in between the bigger sets. At the bike stage, which is entirely powered by solar power and bicyclists on the side of the stage, Portland-based band Glitterfox impressed the early morning crowd with their mix of grunge and Americana. Hopefully Newport will see Glitterfox return to the fort on one of the bigger stages in the next few years.

Another highlight of Friday’s packed lineup included Wednesday, fronted by vocalist Karly Hartzman and includes Jake Lenderman (aka MJ Lenderman). The Newport Folk Festival has always been a place of political call to actions through music, and Hartzman captivated the audience by dedicating her prolonged scream in their final song to Sonja Massey. Traditional folk and americana music can often understate the political nature of its lyrics and meanings but Hartzman’s powerful screams cut right to the point, and was a powerful way to end the set.

Friday afternoon’s jam-packed schedule continued with alt-rockers Guster, whose set at the Fort Stage was interrupted by a massive dragonfly swarm that was incredible to witness. And over at the Quad Stage, indie pop favorites MUNA tailored their set to fit the folk festival vibe, opting to play some of their slower songs and even playing an acoustic arrangement of “Stayaway” that showed off the singing prowess of both lead singer Katie Gavin and Naomi McPherson. Gavin also performed a song that will appear on her upcoming solo album for the first time, with her bandmates moving to the back of the stage and giving Gavin her chance to shine. On the last few songs they fully let loose and had the whole Quad dancing and singing along to their breakaway hit “Silk Chiffon”.

Friday at Newport ended on a high note with sets by the always fun Black Pumas on the Fort stage and a stunning set by Adrianne Lenker. Hozier closed out Friday at the festival on an absolute high note that included multiple collaborations and firmly placing the music within today’s political climate and unrest. Hozier invited an array of guests and Newport favorites, including Allison Russell (who also delivered a star turn on the Fort stage earlier in the afternoon) and Mavis Staples.

The clear highlight of the day and the most memorable moment of the festival itself was Hozier inviting Joan Baez to lead “We Shall Overcome”. Baez’s presence and energy helped bridge the gap between the older and newer generations of folk and Americana that makes Newport special each year. With the deep Newport Folk Festival connections, it was a truly special moment and one that epitomizes why Newport stands out amongst the many other music festivals. A special shoutout of the weekend also needs to go to Mavis Staples being driven around in a golf cart with a banner that read, “Mavis is Brat”.

Saturday started off with a bang with Oliver Hazard opening up at the Harbor, Newport returnee Tré Burt at the Quad Stage, and rock group Number One Babe at the Fort.

Over at the bike stage in the afternoon, Katie Gavin of MUNA played songs off her upcoming solo project, What a Relief. Remarking that she hadn’t played a set like this since high school, Gavin debuted these songs for the first time to a captivated audience of mostly MUNA fans who were lucky to witness this special set. MUNA bandmate Naomi McPherson also joined Gavin on “As Good As It Gets”, a song about the intricacies of long term relationships. Gavin’s sound seems to take a lot of inspiration from the early 2000s singer-songwriter era that had a foothold at Newport Folk Festival during that time as well.

One of the acts that drew the biggest crowd this weekend, even though they played one of the smaller stages, was Bertha: Grateful Drag – a Grateful Dead cover band where all the members perform in drag. Ending their set with signs that read “Drag is not a crime,” the band brought energy and a buzz to all of those who were lucky enough to get a good view. Through their crowd over at the Quad Stage, Elle King performed her big band rock and roll set for the first time at Newport Folk.

Joan Baez continued her weekend residency at Newport with a special reading of her poetry from her new book at the bike stage. Immediately following on the Quad Stage, the audience was treated to a powerful set by Orville Peck, who made it to the Fort this year after unfortunately canceling his tour last summer. He thanked the audience for allowing him the space to heal mentally and physically, and appeared in top form. Performing “Cowboys are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other”, which he recently covered and released with Willie Nelson, Peck captivated the Quad audience with his smile and commanding voice. Peck also pulled Newport favorite Nathanial Rateliff up to perform their duet “Conquer the Heart” live for the first time.

Closing out the Quad Stage on Saturday was Killer Mike, a much-needed genre shakeup for the day. Newport’s continued inclusion of more hip hop and rap artists breathes new life into the lineup and broadens the definition of “folk” in a meaningful way. Meanwhile over at the Fort Stage, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings performed songs from the culmination of their careers to end Saturday’s festivities and included many unreleased songs from their upcoming work. It was a solid closing set that didn’t need to rely on any of the flashiness that many closing sets have erred towards in recent years.

The mood was higher than ever as Sunday kicked off. Bluegrass supergroup, New Dangerfield, which includes multiple Newport alums, jump started the festivities at the Fort with a mix of traditional folk and original songs. Directly after on the mainstage, Newport favorites, The Oh Hellos, took the stage together for the first time in a while. Their infectious energy and the way they completely envelope the Fort stage showed why they keep returning year after year.

The best music of the day continued to happen at the Fort Stage, as Madison Cunningham and Andrew Bird expertly played the 1973 Buckingham Nicks album from top to bottom – a truly once in a lifetime set that seems to only be possible in a setting like Newport.

The set that kicked the energy up on Sunday came in the form of Thao performing at the Harbor Stage. No stranger to the Newport folk festival, Thao Nguyen performed her hits as well as some unreleased new material and even sang her way through the dancing crowd. From there the party headed over to the Fort Stage where Sierra Ferrell, in a full bustle and gorgeous period dress, commanded the Fort Stage from the first notes of her fiddle on “I Can Drive You Crazy”. Guests who joined Ferrell on stage included Gillian Welch and actor John C. Reilly, who even attended one of the after show concerts in town.

Back at the Quad Stage (and despite some early technical difficulties) hip hop legends De La Soul opened up the pit, allowing a level of dance and energy that is sometimes missed with the block of chairs in front of the stage. These are the type of sets that keep Newport fresh while also staying grounded in its roots. With most of the chairs removed, the next act, Dropkick Murphys, called for the first most pit in recent Newport Folk Festival history. Opening up their set with “The Boys Are Back”, it is obvious the band revels any time they perform anywhere in New England. The set was so much fun it could have easily closed out a day at the fest on the mainstage.

As Newport has conditioned its attendees in recent years, the air was thick with anticipation as to what the closing set with Conan O’Brien would entail. Backed by Newport favorites Dawes, O’Brien was more than able to hold his own as the night’s band leader.

There were a few hiccups in the form of sound issues and a skit by Triumph the Insult Comic Dog that didn’t quite land, but O’Brien made sure to supply a steady stream of guests (including Langhorne Slim and Nick Lowe) that has come to embody the closing sets of Newport. Of course, the big guest of the night was Jack White, and O’Brien and White performed a duet on a few of The White Stripes’ songs.

However, this closing set seemed to miss the mark on the political and collective element that Newport’s Sunday closing sets have embodied in recent years. With the political climate such as it is, it felt like a bit of a missed opportunity to make more of a statement rather than rely on Conan O’Brien’s celebrity status, and as such, lacked some of its usual cohesion.