Through My Lens: Newport Folk Festival 2016

Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes

Last weekend, July 22 - 24, I was out at Fort Adams in scenic Newport, RI to catch the annual Newport Folk Festival.  It was hot…weather wise and music wish, I came home visually filthy at the end of each day and had lots of fun with my pals in the pit.  This is what it looked like through my lens.

Friday highlights: The Staves, Raury, Matthew Logan Vasquez and Violent Femmes. 

Saturday highlights: Banditos, Ruby Amanfu, Margo Price, Kris Kristofferson doing "Bobby McGee" with Texas Gentlemen & joined by Margo Price, Del & Dawg and Patti Smith.

Sunday highlights: Ian Fitzgerald, Berklee Gospel & Roots Choir, Son Little, Middle Brother, Phil Cook who was joined by The Blind Boys of Alabama and Alabama Shakes.

Friday

k.d. lang

Matthew Logan Vasquez

Raury

Dan Auerbach of The Arcs

The Staves

Violent Femmes

Saturday

Ruby Amanfu

Amy Helm

Banditos

Graham Nash

Margo Price

Patti Smith

Father John Misty

Del & Dawg

Sunday

Elvis Costello

Ian Fitzgerald

Son Little

Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Click HERE for more photos or the slide shows below.

Newport Folk Festival Daily Schedules

Heading to the Newport Folk Festival next weekend? Time to start planning who you're going to catch…hopefully you won't have too many conflicts!  Check out the schedule below. You can also download the handy app from the Apple App Store, HERE or the Google Play Store, HERE.

The Newport Folk Festival takes place July 22 - 24.

Download the schedule HERE.

Click images to view larger.

Newport Folk Festival Begin Rolling Line-up Announcements

The Newport Folk Festival began rolling out the line-up for this years festival. They kicked things off with Ray LaMontagne who will perform Friday, July 22 the only day you can still get tickets for!  Also announced, Father John Misty whom will play  Saturday (already sold-out), July 23.

The Newport Folk Festival takes place July 22 - 24 in scenic Newport, RI.

Newport Folk Festival 2015: Day 3

Sunday, July 26, 2015 -- Newport, RI

The weekend went by fast and I found myself at Fort Adams State Park for the final day of the Newport Folk Festival. I had been shooting with a bum wrist all weekend and was really starting to feel it but the show must go on! From the beginning of the morning, everyones mind was on who would perform during the '65 Revisited set. There were some wild speculations (Dylan himself, Clapton) and jokes (Kanye West) about who it would be. But there was a lot of music to see and hear before we would find out.

I started my day at the Harbor Stage to catch some of Christopher Paul Stelling whom someone on Instagram said I should make a point of seeing. Good recommendation. I didn't stay for his whole set as I wanted to get in as much music as I could. He apparently got engaged during his set which I missed but, congratulations!

I then dashed off to catch some of Ballroom Thieves on the Quad before heading over to the Fort Stage for a bit of the Berklee Gospel Choir. I somehow  neglected to make it over to the Harbor Stage to catch the Jones Family Singers who I wanted to check out. I'm not sure what I was doing but I must have been wondering around with my head in the clouds because there's a big gap of unaccounted for time where I apparently didn't see anything!

Next, I ended up at the Quad Stage where I caught some of Brian Fallon's set. Catherine Popper joined him; I dig her work. I enjoyed what I was able to catch of his set. His mood was infectious…he seemed genuinely happy to be there and that mood carried over to those of us watching him.

My next stop was at the Fort Stage to catch Jon Batiste & Stay Human. I normally see them at Folk's older sister the Newport Jazz Festival, where they would be playing a week later. The folk festival crowd enjoyed the energetic band as much as their jazz counterparts. 

I then headed over to the Quad to catch Nathaniel Rateliff & The Nightsweats. Talk about some high energy grooving! They were a lot of fun and I stuck around for a bit watching them before heading back to the Fort Stage to catch a bit of Lord Huron before taking a break.

After my break, I went over to the Fort Stage to catch First Aid Kit. Johanna had lost her voice but sister Klara held it down well for the both of them. I watched them for a bit before heading over to the Quad to catch Laura Marling.

I made my way to the Fort Stage to catch a set I was looking forward to all weekend, Hozier. I'm pretty sure I sang along more than I took photos during "Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene". The crowd was enthusiastic and I think it was the most singing along during a set that I heard from the audience other than the '65 Revisited set that would take place later on that the same stage.  A friend sent me a message, 'get a photo of J Mascis' … um, Hozier is on stage! But, I ran over to Timbuktu, I mean the Harbor Stage, where J Mascis was and ran back to Hozier.

All good things must come to an end. Closing out the Newport Folk Festival for the year, '65 Revisited. In case you didn't know, '65 was being revisited because it was the 50th anniversary of one of music's most iconic moments, Dylan going electric at Newport Folk. No, Dylan didn't show up which my ears probably appreciated, nor did Clapton or the joked about Kanye.  Who did show up? A string of musicians led by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch. There was Willie Watson, Dawes, Al Kooper, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Deer Tick, Blake Mills, Hozier, First Aid Kit, Robyn Hitchcock, even the guitar Dylan played 50 years ago was there for the party. The set ended with a rousing sing-a-long of "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" with everybody. 

Check out more photos in the slideshow below or see the photo album HERE. 

Newport Folk Festival 2015: Day 2

Saturday, July 25, 2015 -- Newport, RI

Day two of the Newport Folk Festival kicked off with a rousing set by The Suffers. They really got the crowd going at the Fort Stage.

I dashed off to catch a bit of the Spirit Family Reunion before walking around. I stopped by the big wooden FOLK lettering and manned several mobile phones for people who wanted to have their photos taken with it. I stopped by the Late July tent where the Ghosts of Paul Revere were just starting before I headed off for a little break.

It was then off to the Fort Stage for a bit of The Barr Brothers. I seem to remember them starting late due to some technical issues.

I made my way over to the Quad to catch Traveller…Jonny Fritz, Robert Ellis and Cory Chisel.  This is your new favorite band, seriously.  "Hummingbird" is still stuck in my head and I don't mind one bit.  I reluctantly missed the end of their set to catch another band I wanted to see.

I just made it over to the Harbor Stage in time to grab a few photos of Madisen Ward and The Mama Bear and hear a few tunes before heading over to the Fort Stage to catch some of Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn.

Next up, Langhorne Slim on the Quad. If you haven't seen Slim and his band, you should, they're a world of fun. My camera had one heck of a time keeping up with Langhorne!  Then about four songs in, he took to the audience. Anyone who wasn't already into the set sure was after that.

My next stop was over to the Harbor Stage to catch Nikki Lane whose set was as fun as her outfit. Then it was off to the Fort Stage to catch Jason Isbell whose set was tight.

I made it over to catch some of Courtney Barnett who has been getting a lot of hype. I wasn't as into her as the rest of the crowd was but I did like her better live than on record.

It was then off to the Fort Stage for the days "Unannounced" set. Just like the previous day, everyone already knew who it was. James Taylor took the stage. His appearance back in the day was interrupted by the moon landing so he came to finish it. Yeah, sure he's been back to Newport between then and now but hey, the story sounded good.  Sadly, there were sound problems which had cropped up earlier in the day but didn't detour Sweet Baby James. While there was a lot of "new blood" at the festival, Taylor and fellow legend Roger Waters were probably the two most talked about sets amongst the audience members I encountered over the weekend.

After taking a little break, I went back to the Fort Stage to catch Sufjan Stevens. Some ladies along the front barrier swooned. I'm not much into him but the few tunes I caught were solid and the swooning ladies were probably glad to have one less photographer in front of them.

Since everything on the Fort Stage was running late, I nearly missed getting photos of Jose Gonzalez. I love his work but I only stuck around for a little bit of his set…so much to see and hear!

My next stop was the Quad where Brandi Carlile closed out that stage for the day.  She rocked a highly enjoyable set leaving a very satisfied crowd.

The Decemberists closed out the day on the Fort Stage. 

Check out more photos in the slideshow below or see the photo album HERE.