Walking to the parking lot at Fort Adams State Park at the end of day two of Newport Folk Festival, the only word that came to mind was perfect. It was a perfect festival day. Every single set of the day was impeccable and built upon each other eventually culminating in the ultimate surprise of Nathaniel Rateliff bringing out Paul Simon.
What made the day so special was everything that Newport Folk Festival is about. Love. Love of music, and collaboration. Every part of the day had incredible acts playing on one of the stages at all times making for some tough decisions on the sets you chose. At each leg of the day artists of all genres and stages took the stage. From the up-and-coming bands to the 12-time Grammy winner in Simon all impressed the incredible crowds at the festival stage.
Below is a highlight of some of the best things we saw on day two of Newport Folk Festival.
The Backseat Lovers
The Backseat Lovers are a band on an impressive rise. Being from Salt Lake City, I have had the pleasure of seeing this band in their early days at the iconic Utah venue, Kilby Court. Since then, I moved away and the band has achieved massive streaming success and is making waves around the world. It was a pleasure to see the band now on a giant festival stage. However, most exciting to see was how much the band shined. Their live set was one of the best of the weekend so far. They are rockstars. Their live set was flawless from start to finish. At the start of the show the band acknowledged many at the folk festival may not be familiar with their music and they wanted to play some new stuff, but the crowd was definitely familiar by the end of their set. The Backseat Lovers impressed the Newport crowd so much that their set was interrupted with THREE standing ovations from an adorning crowd.
Clusterfolk
What was meant to be a set of Bonny Light Horseman and friends got interrupted with members of the band having to pull out from the festival. The set was aptly named Clusterfolk, and consisted of a circle of some of the best artists around. Fans saw performances from the likes of Anais Mitchell, Lukas Nelson, Natalie Merchant, and so much more. It was a truly special set. Seeing Natalie Merchant was a dream come true for me as a kid whose mom had four CD’s in her car and one being Natalie Merchant. It was a pleasure to be the incredible voice on the early road trip playlists with my mom live for the first time.
Bleachers
Bleachers blows the roof off of any stage they perform on. We saw them last year at Pier 17 for an incredible evening. But what made their performance so special on Saturday was the mutual respect Jack Antonoff and the band expressed for the festival and the crowd. Bleachers seemed to really want to provide an amazing show for the festival crowd, and they did. It in Newport fashion was full of surprises with appearances from Clairo, Lucy Dacus, and Joy Oladokun. It was Bleachers’ second time at the festival and their affinity for the event shined in each set. Antonoff was directing the set on the fly with interacting with the crowd, playing songs off of the setlist, and more.
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats – Paul Simon Tribute and Surprise
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats hosted an incredible set in tribute to Paul Simon. The group brought out friends like Lucius, Natalie Merchant, Lukas Nelson, Marcus Mumford, and more to play Paul Simon or Simon and Garfunkel songs on the festival stage. The energy was incredible and you could feel the admiration in every note from Rateliff and his incredible band. Song after song of Simon’s catalogue were played and each was sonically beautiful. It was full of collaboration from other members of the Newport Folk Family, and on the stage Rateliff invited one more person into the family, Paul Simon. Simon made his first ever appearance at the festival.
“What a joy working with Nathaniel and his incredible band. The atmosphere at the festival was nothing short of wonderful,” recalled Simon.
Rateliff & The Night Sweats’ 13-song tribute was a star-studded affair, featuring a wide variety of collaborators and longtime friends of the band. Performances of Simon originals such as “Mother and Child Reunion” featured Lucius, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” featured Lee Fields with Phil Cook on keys, “Slip Sliding Away” featured Courtney Marie Andrews, “St. Judy’s Comet” featured Midlake,“El Condor Pasa”featured Natalie Merchant, Adia Victoria and The Silk Road Ensemble, “Homeward Bound” featured Lukas Nelson and “Cecilia” featured Marcus Mumford.
Simon’s performance of “Graceland”was a full band affair with Simon and Rateliff singing a duet on the track. Rhiannon Giddens then joined Simon for a new version of “American Tune,” featuring new lyrics written by Simon. Then Rateliff and his band, Simon, Jerry Douglass and CJ Camerieri performed “The Boxer” while ten thousand attendees sang along. For the encore, Rateliff brought Simon back onstage for a performance of “The Sound of Silence.”
