I'm going where the living is easy, and the people are kind
Newport Folk Festival and Deer Tick and Friends after show Day 1 Recap
Saturday morning we grabbed some breakfast from the free stuff at the hotel and hit the road. We made good time and there wasn’t a ton of traffic. We got a pretty good parking spot (close for getting out) and then made the first of our treks from the lot to the festival entrance. It’s a pretty long walk, but not terrible and we always opted out of the shuttle buses because the wait to get on those would have been so much longer. We got into the festival and after grabbing a schedule we high tailed it over to the stage we would call home for a few acts. We lucked out and got seats in the front row to the far right! We figured a lot of people were over at the main stage seeing Brown Bird. I like them, but we had priorities! So first up was Robert Ellis. Neither me or Kelly were that familiar with him except for knowing he’d opened for Dawes some in Europe earlier this year. We both came away very impressed. He had a country tinge, but in a good way. Very folky country. He also had a lot of extremely sad songs about being on the road and missing his wife. One in particular was all about wondering if she was stepping out on him wearing the dress he’d given her and all this stuff and it was so sad I almost wanted to cry. Plus he was wearing a wedding ring, so you had to wonder how much of his songs were autobiographical. Now thanks to being down so far in the row we also had a prime view of the “backstage” area. So while the songs were sad we were also a bit distracted flailing over who was arriving. First we saw Jonny Corndawg’s van, as he was the next act after Robert. We also saw him and his various band members. After this we saw Griffin from Dawes and then eventually Taylor arrived too and they were watching Robert from the side. Well then this other van pulls up and out pile like 5 girls or something first. I was confused for a second, like what band is this? But then out behind them came the Deer Tick boys. Haha Upon them spotting Taylor (I think Griffin had wandered off?) they kept coming over and many big hugs were exchanged. Dennis was the last to get out of the van and he sort of stood on the runner and put his arms out all huge and then got down and came over to Taylor. It was cute. So back to Robert. He did a couple new songs, including one he’s calling “The TV Song”, which was really good. It’s all about getting lost in TV shows and pretending you’re starring in them. He even referenced Betty from Mad Men, so that won me over of course! After that Kelly turned to me and said it was tumblr’s new theme song and I laughed because I’d had the same thought during it.
Robert Ellis
Robert's guitarist
"Portrait" I took while Robert was talking to people after his set
So next up was Jonny Corndawg and we got the pleasure of Taylor playing guitar with him for his whole set, so that was extra awesome. It’s always cute to see Jonny watch Taylor solo because he loves it so much. It was a fabulous set- Jonny and his band were on fire! They did a bunch of the new songs from the album they did with Dawes that I’d also heard in Cleveland that past Monday, so it was great to hear them again and I was already loving most of them. We also got the special treat of “Middle Brother” with John McCauley joining on vocals. That was so cool and just the tip of the iceberg as far as Middle Brother stuff we got that weekend. So then as they were loading off we spotted some people backstage. First was Jackson Browne chatting with Griffin. Then I spotted a familiar floral shirt through the netting on the fence and sure enough it was Matt Vasquez!
Jonny
Taylor being gorgeous with a pick in his mouth
Joshua
Waving during "Goodbye Summer"
Aw Jonny! He was having so much fun.
Taylor and Joshua singing backup
John joining for "Middle Brother"
HIS EYES
Photo I found on tumblr of us in the front row during Jonny (this is during "Middle Brother"!). Handy arrow added- Kelly's to the right of me.
"Middle Brother"
Taylor's fist pump at the beg. omg I forgot about that! And his solo and then him and John's little half hug at the end!
Next up was Deer Tick. It was a great set. They did some of my faves like “Easy”, “Twenty Miles” (which I’m not sure I’d ever heard live), and Houston, TX (John solo, which is super gorgeous). So during I think “The Bump”, which is super fun to sing along to, Matt jumped on stage and got on the back of Rob’s piano bench and sang into his mic with him and was clapping and getting the audience to clap. Which is such a Matty thing. Haha So then towards the end of their set Ian goes I know this is a folk festival, but we’re going to do a total rock and roll song and they bust out their amazing cover of “Maybellene”, which Ian sings lead on. Kelly and I flipped because we’d just been discussing how much we love that cover on this live recording of a solo Ian set we have. John tried some Chuck Berry guitar moves even. So I then notice Matt offstage debating coming up and then he sees someone with a fancy camcera is filming on stage by the steps nearest him, so he takes off running behind the stage and comes up on the other side again and starts doing his silly dance moves. It was the greatest.
Matt stage crashing
John
Ian
Rob
Chris
Dennis
Backstage "portrait" of Matt- looking gorgeous as always
"Twenty Miles"
"Maybellene"
After Deer Tick we left that stage and headed over to the main stage to get spots for Dawes. Alabama Shakes were still playing, so we caught a few of their songs as we maneuvered through the crowd. They sounded good, but it’s not really my thing. So we were a bit confused because we were trying to find the standing area they’d had last year and couldn’t really figure out where it was. We found out later some awful people kept tearing it down. More on them on Sunday. So we finally got a pretty good spot for Dawes. Not super close, but off to the right and maybe 3 or 4 rows of standing people back? We were behind three pretty tall guys, but Kelly and I did the look between them thing. Haha So we were still standing next to each other but peeking through different sides of the dudes’ heads. So some people were throwing a beach ball around, which became kind of annoying when they’d hit people in the head. But anyway at one point it landed on stage and Taylor was on stage kind of setting up with the other guys and their crew and he decided he’d kick it back out to the crowd. Well he kicks it and it just goes behind him still on the stage. He was like aw man. Haha It was precious. Kelly told me a guy yelled “stick to guitar” (not in a mean way), but I missed hearing that.
So anyway we’re still standing there just kind of watching the stage when something amazing and crazy happens. Now I missed the first part of it, but Kelly told me later, so I’ll just put it in here in chronological order, so the story makes the most sense. Taylor was looking out and around the crowd when he makes eye contact with Kelly and points at her and they share a smile. He then immediately goes to look for me (since he obviously remembered we’d been together the night before), spots me and points at me and then starts waving and grinning his huge adorable grin. I was like OMG and started waving back, grinning like a fool too I’m sure. So he then turns to walk back off stage and we see him shaking his head a little. Not in a mean way (I mean he’s the one who initiated it haha), but just like oh man, those girls. We then proceeded to flip out. We were freaking out like, did that just really happen? People around us were probably like what the heck? But seriously I just couldn’t believe it. I mean he managed to find us up on that tall stage and us all short and behind tall dudes. And he waved at me!!!! UGH. Never over it. I will be telling that story forever. But yeah see what I mean about he most definitely saw us the next day? :D
So Dawes were of course amazing, and they were so psyched about being on the main stage, and being back at the festival. I love the like loyalty Newport Folk breeds. Once you’ve been one time you’re like hooked for life. I mean Kelly and I already plan on buying early bird tickets again next year. Annual traditions for the win! But anyway that feeling gets to the performers too- you can just tell. They didn’t bust out any rarities or anything, but that was fine, it was still a great set. They did an awesome transition from the new song “From a Window Seat” (which I’m already super in love with after hearing it all summer) right into “Peace in the Valley”. And “When My Time Comes”- oh man! So I was wondering if any special guests would pop up during the set like maybe John McCauley (except we found out later Deer Tick was recording their videos in the ruins for Paste at that time) and we ended up treated to Matt Vasquez during WMTC! During the verses he would run around and try to get everyone clapping of course and then he’d come up to the mic and sing with Taylor during the choruses. And then he and Taylor were super adorable during the part where the audience just sings. So that was an awesome surprise to see him again and the audience sing along was of course epic. Another cute thing was Taylor and Griffin’s dad was up in one of the VIP “balconies” on the side of the stage and he was so pumped the whole show and would like lean over and point at Taylor or Griffin during solos and stuff like yeah those are my boys! Ugh, precious. And I think they had some other relatives or family friends there because during “Fire Away” Taylor pointed up at this little boy and the little boy got super excited. Taylor also made a little speech that was so sweet, he said that Newport Folk Festival is more like a family reunion than just a festival and was just saying how special it was. And then he said it’s so great to be so close with the people who love our music and come to our shows. I was like awww. Obviously he was talking about many people, but it felt good to know that Kelly and I could be included in that bunch. And he had just given us that wave!
Tay
Taylor
Tay on the grand piano
Wylie
Matt and Taylor during "When My Time Comes"
Taylor turning the mic for the audience to sing!
Griffin and one of his silly drum faces
"When My Time Comes" with Matt Vasquez
So still reeling from the awesomeness of the Dawes set we headed over to see Iron & Wine, who’d already started partially during Dawes, back at the stage we’d been at the in the morning. Oh, and on our way there we ended up walking right behind Taylor and Griffin’s dad for a bit. Kelly went right on to I&W and I stopped and got my festival shirt and took a few photos of the boats on the water. I walked past Blind Pilot playing at the other stage, but I didn’t stop because I knew I’d be seeing them headline in August. But they sounded good as I went by. Then I went to join Kelly. We stood outside the tent, but still had a pretty decent view. That’s one thing I love about Newport- it’s not super hard to get close-ish and the crowds, while large, aren’t crazy huge like at say Lollapalooza or Bonnaroo. But yeah I don’t know a ton of Iron & Wine songs, but I really liked the stuff I heard there. I intend to check out more of it.
Awesome boat
Iron & Wine
Sam Beam
After that we had some time to kill before My Morning Jacket and we’d seen earlier in the day that Deer Tick were doing a signing at the merch tent, so we headed over there for that. There was just a small mass of people around the tent buying stuff and we couldn’t tell if there was a line for the signing or what, so we went up to one of the workers and he found out from a co-worker that the signing was canceled. We were bummed, but our moods quickly picked up when Kelly received an alert on her phone from the festival app that Jonny Corndawg would be performing in the ruins in like 5 minutes. So we booked it over there. The setup was the ruins area was sort of divided into two “rooms”. The performers were in one on the left and there was a little opening in the back of the right one where you could see. There was also an opening on the front of the one the performers were in. Because of one of the stages being so close by with loud music you had to get headphones from the company that was sponsoring the area along with Paste Magazine. They were like wireless and tuned to the mics I guess. So we grabbed those and went and stood outside the left “room”. It was just Jonny and his fiddle player Joshua and they did two Jonny songs including “Fever Dreams” and then a Shel Silverstein song. So that was a pretty cool treat!
We stood outside this opening to watch- Note the headphones others are wearing
Jonny in the ruins
After that we headed over to get spots for My Morning Jacket. We went up this middle “aisle” that was created because of electric wires running up it that were covered by this protective plastic thing. About halfway up to the stage was some sort of fuzzy microphone. I think we ended up kind of in front of it. And when you stood on the plastic thing it gave you some extra height! So we had a decent view. The My Morning Jacket guys soon came on and they were all wearing suits and looking dapper. Jim James had a white suit on. He also wore his signature cape on a few songs. I think they opened with “Welcome Home”, which is on their iTunes session. I read somewhere later that it might have been the first time they played it live, so that’s cool. They did a more folky set if you will it seemed and it was really good. Well before they’d started and as the set went along the sky was getting darker and you could tell rain was rolling in. It started out lightish, but got heavier. Luckily Kelly had brought two umbrellas, so we were protected once it really got going. So the set was also more like My Morning Jacket and friends- they brought on so many great guests! They had Ben Sollee on like twice I think (once just him and then he was on with Conor) and Will Johnson, Jim’s New Multitudes band mate, came out for one song. We’d heard rumors Conor Oberst would be on-stage with them and sure enough he came out and joined them for “Smokin’ From Shootin,” I’d been hoping they’d do a Monsters of Folk song, but it was still really cool. And then a really awesome moment was when they brought Brittany from Alabama Shakes out and did their cover of “It Makes No Difference” by The Band. I have a recording of it from this compilation and absolutely adore their cover, so I was super psyched. And Brittany has a great voice as well. It was one of those magical moments where we all sang along. Jim even dedicated it to Levon Helm. So the rain had really picked up and there was even a flash of lightning or two, so they had to cut their set short. They ended with “I’m Amazed” and then we all rushed out of there.
Carl Broemel rocking 3 different patterns in one outfit
Jim James in his white suit with flowers and medal
Patrick Hallahan
Tom Blankenship
Seagulls listening to MMJ
Bo Koster
Jim James wearing his famous cape
Ben Solee and Conor Oberst
Conor rocking a Tom Petty/Jonathan Wilson Europe tour shirt! (I just noticed it also said JW's name- so cute!)
"It Makes No Difference"- The Band cover
So we had our long walk back to the car. We weren’t going to wait for the shuttles because the lines were insane and we were thankful we hadn’t taken the water taxi as we maneuvered around the long stretch of people waiting for that on our way out of the fort. By this time it was a crazy downpour. I was trying to keep my bag under the umbrella as best I could since it had my camera in it, but the rest of me was just getting soaked: jeans, the side of my shirt that was more outside the umbrella, my feet, etc. Well as we’re walking out of the fort these two guys come up alongside us. I was on the outside and Kelly was right next to them. Well they asked if we had driven there and Kelly goes yeah. They asked if they could get a ride because they were going to walk back into town otherwise. I had a sort of hard time hearing over the rain and everything and they weren’t right next to me, but Kelly agreed and then jokingly asked them if they were murderers. They said something like not anymore, we’re reformed! Haha So we kept heading to her car. Well we get to the hill you have to go up to the parking lots and I just knew it wasn’t gonna work with my flip flops being all slippery from the rain, so I took them off and hiked up the hill barefoot. Even when I was wearing them on regular ground they created a sort of suction and would slap my foot when I walked, so that wasn’t too fun. Kelly and our two new friends got far off from me at one point in my slow disaster, but luckily she finally turned around to look for me. I knew where the car was and I could see her red umbrella, so I wasn’t too concerned. We finally got back to the car and turned around to meet our friends a little better- they were older than I expected. Not old- probably like mid 30s or something, but for some reason I thought it was like 20 something guys. They’d had a tarp over their heads when we were walking and I was more concerned with not dying in a monsoon. lol Their names were Mark and Kevin and they turned out to be super nice and they were Trampled by Turtles fans, so that was cool. They’d come with their families and a friend and the rest of their party had gone on the water taxi, but they were separated from them and didn’t want to wait in the line. We got out of the lot pretty fast thanks to our spot. I later heard some people got stuck in there for a long while and stuff, so I’m glad that didn’t happen to us. We had a small wait right outside the fort, but other than that not bad. Mark and Kevin were staying in town near the street we were going to, so we dropped them at their hotel and said our good byes. They were super thankful to us for driving them and we felt good about doing that kindness. It was still pouring at this point. We found a parking spot and then walked to the restaurant we’d planned on going to for dinner before the after show. We went to the same place last year and it was really good, so we wanted to go back. Maybe it’ll be a yearly tradition! We got seats in the upstairs part pretty fast. I got delicious calamari once again. We dried off a bit during dinner, but soaked jeans are kind of a lost cause. It did stop raining while we ate, so that was good. The workers then took the plastic sheets off the windows they usually have open and it was cool and nice and smelled like rain. We then headed down the street to the Blues Café. I think the doors had opened, so we didn’t know what it would be like inside, but we got in and no one was by the stage! So we claimed our front row spots.
So we’d been standing there for a few minutes when the guy next to me turns to me and asks if I’d hold his spot and that he’d buy us drinks if I did so. Neither of us wanted anything, but I told him I’d hold it for free. When he came back he started chatting with us a bit and asked where we were staying. I was being cautious, so I said Massachusetts, but didn’t give him the town. Well he then goes me too, in Swansea! I was like oh, us too. He then says at the Holiday Inn Express? We were like omg, yes. He was staying at the same hotel as us. We also found out he was from this town in NY where Kelly sometimes works. So that was a crazy coincidence. He also took a lot of videos that night and we found his youtube channel later and he got a bunch of the stuff we liked- from the fest too- so we were like yay! But anyway first up was Jonny Corndawg, although he started a little late it seemed. He came on stage wearing these giant, way too big for him, jeans and this like biker shirt that said on the back if you can read this the bitch fell off. It was strange, but silly. Very Jonny. So it was just him and his band- no Taylor. So we were like guess he’s not here and we were a little sad. We saw Tay come in by himself during Jonny’s set I think, but figured he was just there to watch. We still had a blast watching Jonny again- I just love him. He even brought Matt Vasquez on stage for “Red on the Head”. Matt comes on stage in this like poncho or blanket wrapped around him- it was random. And then he kept doing his silly Matt dances and thrusting during the whole song, so we were just cracking up. Also we saw John watching from the side of the stage and I was like aww because it’s so cute how much all of those boys love each other.
Not the best photo, but Jonny!
"Red on the Head" with Matt Vasquez
Next on the bill was Sharon Van Etten. I like some of her songs and I’d seen her with The National last year. Well they took forever setting up and sound checking. We were worried she was going to cut into Matt’s time and he wouldn’t get to do much or whatever. Because there’s a strict 1 am sound ordinance curfew and we still had Deer Tick to get to as well. The other sucky thing was these super drunk and annoying guys on the other side of Kelly. I think even it was them that like slapped Jonny on the butt as he walked across the stage to get to the door after his set and he flipped them off. We were like go Jonny! But then they kept up their shenanigans when Sharon came on. They kept clapping and clapping as she set up and trying to get her to high five them constantly. She played along for a bit, but you could tell it was annoying her too. Finally these girls behind us got those two to leave. They basically told them to and finally convinced them and I think they said the one guy agreed because he was feeling sick. We were like yay. And then finally Sharon started. Except there was another gross guy who was still up there and during her first or second song in the midst of it she goes “get the fuck out. If you’re going to do that by the stage get the fuck out of here” And sure enough here came security to drag him off. We don’t know what he did because we didn’t see it, but it obviously super upset her. So I’m glad they took care of him. But people all around were still talking super loud and a lot of her stuff is quieter, so it just wasn’t an ideal condition to see her in. At one point she said, yeah we’re not really a bar/party band. I felt bad for her and her band because they kept looking at each other and giving each other smiles that were sort of like oh god, let’s hurry up and play and get out of here. She even cut one song from her set. I liked the music, so it’s too bad that the situation wasn’t better.
So after that it was getting pretty late and we didn’t really know what was going to happen and then the Deer Tick guys came on and were setting up and we were like wait, but Matt! But then we saw one of the guitar cases said Delta Spirit on the side, so we figured they were just setting up so it’d be ready and then Matt would play in front of their stuff with his guitar. Well then they’re all set up and most of Deer Tick leaves except John and of course Matt’s still there, and then John goes, is Taylor here? We were like OMG OMG OMG. So here comes Taylor, Griffin, and Tay. I’m sure you can guess what happened next- surprise Middle Brother set! :D We were beside ourselves with excitement. Last year their set at the festival (and then the mini set they did at the after show) were sort of billed as their last time together. So we were so psyched we were going to get to see them again! They started with “Blue Eyes” and the guys were just grinning at each other the whole time. They were clearly just as excited to be playing together as we were about seeing them. It was so cute! They probably didn’t have any time to rehearse and Matt messed up the lyrics a bit and did one of the later verses like first, but they just kept on going and it didn’t really matter because we were all just singing along and having a great time. Next up was “Theater”, which I always love so much live. The “this life won’t tell you nothing, nothing but lies” part is always so explosive and great. Then they did “Million Dollar Bill”, which OMG LOVE. It’s of course also on the latest Dawes album and they do it live sometimes, but I prefer the Middle Brother version hands down because I love all the guys taking turns on the verses. So Matt does his verse and after he sings the part about “ the finest man the world has ever seen” he then adds Taylor Goldsmith! and points at him. It was so precious, oh my goodness. And then finally they of course did “Middle Brother.” John was like where’s Jonny? They kept looking around for him and at first it seemed he wasn’t there. We’d last seen him as he was headed out the door, so I thought maybe he’d left, but then suddenly here he came! So that was awesome. And the guys were all hugging after as they left the stage. John and Taylor hugged and John like patted him on the stomach. Oh John.
"Blue Eyes"
"Million Dollar Bill"
So then it was Deer Tick time! Our minds were still blown from Middle Brother, but we were ready for some Deer Tick. They had to do a shortish set, but it was still great. Matt had stayed up there and they did two Nirvana covers that they did with him last year too- “Scentless Apprentice” and “Negative Creep.” The screaminess of those songs isn’t usually my thing, but Matt’s so great at it, so I enjoyed it. And he kept head banging and stuff right by me and Kelly. He then at one point decides to try jumping off the kick drum, but the stage was so small it just didn’t really work and we thought he was going to fall on us. (There’s actually photographic proof of us being like uh oh… but also go ahead Matt, we won’t mind too much. Haha See below). He also shook his beer on us some. Which is an annual tradition too I guess what with John having done that on us last year. So that was crazy and then Deer Tick did some songs. One really cool thing was the set list said Walk for Ian’s song “Walkin Out the Door”, but he then busted into this unreleased song that Kelly and I both love, “Hope is Big”. We both freaked, especially Kelly who kind of screamed. Dennis noticed and laughed at her. It was funny. But hey now, that’s an awesome song and they don’t play it that often. We also had an awesome “Ashamed” sing along. After the first part everyone sings John was like “Yeeah.” And then after the second part he goes “I like that” in his raspy John voice. It was cute. They also did a Warren Zevon cover “Carmelita” and a Chuck Berry (Move Over Beethoven)/Beatles (One After 909) mashup.
Ian
Dennis
John
The photo of me and Kelly during the Nirvana covers. Look how we're both scared and delighted at the prospect of Matt falling on us
"Ashamed"
"Smith Hill"
"Hope is Big"
So after the show I snagged one of the handwritten set lists and then we hung around a little to see if we could meet anybody, but that wasn’t happening and then the staff kicked everybody out. So we wandered down the side street just to see if anybody was meeting people back there. There were a few people back behind the venue, but I’m not sure who and it was dark back there, so we just decided to leave and try again the next night. So we had gotten back out to the main street and were standing there for a second when suddenly a couple guys come down the street and turn the corner to the left going past the Blues Café. I was like omg, Kelly isn’t that Conor Oberst? Sure enough it was. We recognized him from his long hair and the jacket he’d been wearing on stage with MMJ earlier that day. Well then right after that, coming down the sidewalk on the side we were on, is Jim James (Suddenly…Jim James), one or two other MMJ members (the keyboardist for sure), and a few other people just hanging with them. Well Jim James walks right by us- like we could have reached out and touched him. We looked right at him, but he was so out of it he didn’t even notice anything. His eyes were like wide and dazed. It was kind of scary/sad and just super surreal. Like we were not expecting to see him just out wandering on the street. He’d been hanging on this girl and then one of his buddies had to grab him because he was going to fall over. They then went and got on one of the pedi cabs. We headed back to our car after that, but we could not believe what we had just witnessed. We were also fangirling still about all the night’s happenings. We went back to the hotel and crashed pretty soon after that.
The set list I got. I cannot figure out what "SOLO SHEP" was...
Not my photo, but here's proof of Jim James in a pedi cab.
Saturday morning we grabbed some breakfast from the free stuff at the hotel and hit the road. We made good time and there wasn’t a ton of traffic. We got a pretty good parking spot (close for getting out) and then made the first of our treks from the lot to the festival entrance. It’s a pretty long walk, but not terrible and we always opted out of the shuttle buses because the wait to get on those would have been so much longer. We got into the festival and after grabbing a schedule we high tailed it over to the stage we would call home for a few acts. We lucked out and got seats in the front row to the far right! We figured a lot of people were over at the main stage seeing Brown Bird. I like them, but we had priorities! So first up was Robert Ellis. Neither me or Kelly were that familiar with him except for knowing he’d opened for Dawes some in Europe earlier this year. We both came away very impressed. He had a country tinge, but in a good way. Very folky country. He also had a lot of extremely sad songs about being on the road and missing his wife. One in particular was all about wondering if she was stepping out on him wearing the dress he’d given her and all this stuff and it was so sad I almost wanted to cry. Plus he was wearing a wedding ring, so you had to wonder how much of his songs were autobiographical. Now thanks to being down so far in the row we also had a prime view of the “backstage” area. So while the songs were sad we were also a bit distracted flailing over who was arriving. First we saw Jonny Corndawg’s van, as he was the next act after Robert. We also saw him and his various band members. After this we saw Griffin from Dawes and then eventually Taylor arrived too and they were watching Robert from the side. Well then this other van pulls up and out pile like 5 girls or something first. I was confused for a second, like what band is this? But then out behind them came the Deer Tick boys. Haha Upon them spotting Taylor (I think Griffin had wandered off?) they kept coming over and many big hugs were exchanged. Dennis was the last to get out of the van and he sort of stood on the runner and put his arms out all huge and then got down and came over to Taylor. It was cute. So back to Robert. He did a couple new songs, including one he’s calling “The TV Song”, which was really good. It’s all about getting lost in TV shows and pretending you’re starring in them. He even referenced Betty from Mad Men, so that won me over of course! After that Kelly turned to me and said it was tumblr’s new theme song and I laughed because I’d had the same thought during it.
Robert Ellis
Robert's guitarist
"Portrait" I took while Robert was talking to people after his set
So next up was Jonny Corndawg and we got the pleasure of Taylor playing guitar with him for his whole set, so that was extra awesome. It’s always cute to see Jonny watch Taylor solo because he loves it so much. It was a fabulous set- Jonny and his band were on fire! They did a bunch of the new songs from the album they did with Dawes that I’d also heard in Cleveland that past Monday, so it was great to hear them again and I was already loving most of them. We also got the special treat of “Middle Brother” with John McCauley joining on vocals. That was so cool and just the tip of the iceberg as far as Middle Brother stuff we got that weekend. So then as they were loading off we spotted some people backstage. First was Jackson Browne chatting with Griffin. Then I spotted a familiar floral shirt through the netting on the fence and sure enough it was Matt Vasquez!
Jonny
Taylor being gorgeous with a pick in his mouth
Joshua
Waving during "Goodbye Summer"
Aw Jonny! He was having so much fun.
Taylor and Joshua singing backup
John joining for "Middle Brother"
HIS EYES
Photo I found on tumblr of us in the front row during Jonny (this is during "Middle Brother"!). Handy arrow added- Kelly's to the right of me.
Click to view"Middle Brother"
Taylor's fist pump at the beg. omg I forgot about that! And his solo and then him and John's little half hug at the end!
Next up was Deer Tick. It was a great set. They did some of my faves like “Easy”, “Twenty Miles” (which I’m not sure I’d ever heard live), and Houston, TX (John solo, which is super gorgeous). So during I think “The Bump”, which is super fun to sing along to, Matt jumped on stage and got on the back of Rob’s piano bench and sang into his mic with him and was clapping and getting the audience to clap. Which is such a Matty thing. Haha So then towards the end of their set Ian goes I know this is a folk festival, but we’re going to do a total rock and roll song and they bust out their amazing cover of “Maybellene”, which Ian sings lead on. Kelly and I flipped because we’d just been discussing how much we love that cover on this live recording of a solo Ian set we have. John tried some Chuck Berry guitar moves even. So I then notice Matt offstage debating coming up and then he sees someone with a fancy camcera is filming on stage by the steps nearest him, so he takes off running behind the stage and comes up on the other side again and starts doing his silly dance moves. It was the greatest.
Matt stage crashing
John
Ian
Rob
Chris
Dennis
Backstage "portrait" of Matt- looking gorgeous as always
"Twenty Miles"
"Maybellene"
After Deer Tick we left that stage and headed over to the main stage to get spots for Dawes. Alabama Shakes were still playing, so we caught a few of their songs as we maneuvered through the crowd. They sounded good, but it’s not really my thing. So we were a bit confused because we were trying to find the standing area they’d had last year and couldn’t really figure out where it was. We found out later some awful people kept tearing it down. More on them on Sunday. So we finally got a pretty good spot for Dawes. Not super close, but off to the right and maybe 3 or 4 rows of standing people back? We were behind three pretty tall guys, but Kelly and I did the look between them thing. Haha So we were still standing next to each other but peeking through different sides of the dudes’ heads. So some people were throwing a beach ball around, which became kind of annoying when they’d hit people in the head. But anyway at one point it landed on stage and Taylor was on stage kind of setting up with the other guys and their crew and he decided he’d kick it back out to the crowd. Well he kicks it and it just goes behind him still on the stage. He was like aw man. Haha It was precious. Kelly told me a guy yelled “stick to guitar” (not in a mean way), but I missed hearing that.
So anyway we’re still standing there just kind of watching the stage when something amazing and crazy happens. Now I missed the first part of it, but Kelly told me later, so I’ll just put it in here in chronological order, so the story makes the most sense. Taylor was looking out and around the crowd when he makes eye contact with Kelly and points at her and they share a smile. He then immediately goes to look for me (since he obviously remembered we’d been together the night before), spots me and points at me and then starts waving and grinning his huge adorable grin. I was like OMG and started waving back, grinning like a fool too I’m sure. So he then turns to walk back off stage and we see him shaking his head a little. Not in a mean way (I mean he’s the one who initiated it haha), but just like oh man, those girls. We then proceeded to flip out. We were freaking out like, did that just really happen? People around us were probably like what the heck? But seriously I just couldn’t believe it. I mean he managed to find us up on that tall stage and us all short and behind tall dudes. And he waved at me!!!! UGH. Never over it. I will be telling that story forever. But yeah see what I mean about he most definitely saw us the next day? :D
So Dawes were of course amazing, and they were so psyched about being on the main stage, and being back at the festival. I love the like loyalty Newport Folk breeds. Once you’ve been one time you’re like hooked for life. I mean Kelly and I already plan on buying early bird tickets again next year. Annual traditions for the win! But anyway that feeling gets to the performers too- you can just tell. They didn’t bust out any rarities or anything, but that was fine, it was still a great set. They did an awesome transition from the new song “From a Window Seat” (which I’m already super in love with after hearing it all summer) right into “Peace in the Valley”. And “When My Time Comes”- oh man! So I was wondering if any special guests would pop up during the set like maybe John McCauley (except we found out later Deer Tick was recording their videos in the ruins for Paste at that time) and we ended up treated to Matt Vasquez during WMTC! During the verses he would run around and try to get everyone clapping of course and then he’d come up to the mic and sing with Taylor during the choruses. And then he and Taylor were super adorable during the part where the audience just sings. So that was an awesome surprise to see him again and the audience sing along was of course epic. Another cute thing was Taylor and Griffin’s dad was up in one of the VIP “balconies” on the side of the stage and he was so pumped the whole show and would like lean over and point at Taylor or Griffin during solos and stuff like yeah those are my boys! Ugh, precious. And I think they had some other relatives or family friends there because during “Fire Away” Taylor pointed up at this little boy and the little boy got super excited. Taylor also made a little speech that was so sweet, he said that Newport Folk Festival is more like a family reunion than just a festival and was just saying how special it was. And then he said it’s so great to be so close with the people who love our music and come to our shows. I was like awww. Obviously he was talking about many people, but it felt good to know that Kelly and I could be included in that bunch. And he had just given us that wave!
Tay
Taylor
Tay on the grand piano
Wylie
Matt and Taylor during "When My Time Comes"
Taylor turning the mic for the audience to sing!
Griffin and one of his silly drum faces
"When My Time Comes" with Matt Vasquez
So still reeling from the awesomeness of the Dawes set we headed over to see Iron & Wine, who’d already started partially during Dawes, back at the stage we’d been at the in the morning. Oh, and on our way there we ended up walking right behind Taylor and Griffin’s dad for a bit. Kelly went right on to I&W and I stopped and got my festival shirt and took a few photos of the boats on the water. I walked past Blind Pilot playing at the other stage, but I didn’t stop because I knew I’d be seeing them headline in August. But they sounded good as I went by. Then I went to join Kelly. We stood outside the tent, but still had a pretty decent view. That’s one thing I love about Newport- it’s not super hard to get close-ish and the crowds, while large, aren’t crazy huge like at say Lollapalooza or Bonnaroo. But yeah I don’t know a ton of Iron & Wine songs, but I really liked the stuff I heard there. I intend to check out more of it.
Awesome boat
Iron & Wine
Sam Beam
After that we had some time to kill before My Morning Jacket and we’d seen earlier in the day that Deer Tick were doing a signing at the merch tent, so we headed over there for that. There was just a small mass of people around the tent buying stuff and we couldn’t tell if there was a line for the signing or what, so we went up to one of the workers and he found out from a co-worker that the signing was canceled. We were bummed, but our moods quickly picked up when Kelly received an alert on her phone from the festival app that Jonny Corndawg would be performing in the ruins in like 5 minutes. So we booked it over there. The setup was the ruins area was sort of divided into two “rooms”. The performers were in one on the left and there was a little opening in the back of the right one where you could see. There was also an opening on the front of the one the performers were in. Because of one of the stages being so close by with loud music you had to get headphones from the company that was sponsoring the area along with Paste Magazine. They were like wireless and tuned to the mics I guess. So we grabbed those and went and stood outside the left “room”. It was just Jonny and his fiddle player Joshua and they did two Jonny songs including “Fever Dreams” and then a Shel Silverstein song. So that was a pretty cool treat!
We stood outside this opening to watch- Note the headphones others are wearing
Jonny in the ruins
After that we headed over to get spots for My Morning Jacket. We went up this middle “aisle” that was created because of electric wires running up it that were covered by this protective plastic thing. About halfway up to the stage was some sort of fuzzy microphone. I think we ended up kind of in front of it. And when you stood on the plastic thing it gave you some extra height! So we had a decent view. The My Morning Jacket guys soon came on and they were all wearing suits and looking dapper. Jim James had a white suit on. He also wore his signature cape on a few songs. I think they opened with “Welcome Home”, which is on their iTunes session. I read somewhere later that it might have been the first time they played it live, so that’s cool. They did a more folky set if you will it seemed and it was really good. Well before they’d started and as the set went along the sky was getting darker and you could tell rain was rolling in. It started out lightish, but got heavier. Luckily Kelly had brought two umbrellas, so we were protected once it really got going. So the set was also more like My Morning Jacket and friends- they brought on so many great guests! They had Ben Sollee on like twice I think (once just him and then he was on with Conor) and Will Johnson, Jim’s New Multitudes band mate, came out for one song. We’d heard rumors Conor Oberst would be on-stage with them and sure enough he came out and joined them for “Smokin’ From Shootin,” I’d been hoping they’d do a Monsters of Folk song, but it was still really cool. And then a really awesome moment was when they brought Brittany from Alabama Shakes out and did their cover of “It Makes No Difference” by The Band. I have a recording of it from this compilation and absolutely adore their cover, so I was super psyched. And Brittany has a great voice as well. It was one of those magical moments where we all sang along. Jim even dedicated it to Levon Helm. So the rain had really picked up and there was even a flash of lightning or two, so they had to cut their set short. They ended with “I’m Amazed” and then we all rushed out of there.
Carl Broemel rocking 3 different patterns in one outfit
Jim James in his white suit with flowers and medal
Patrick Hallahan
Tom Blankenship
Seagulls listening to MMJ
Bo Koster
Jim James wearing his famous cape
Ben Solee and Conor Oberst
Conor rocking a Tom Petty/Jonathan Wilson Europe tour shirt! (I just noticed it also said JW's name- so cute!)
"It Makes No Difference"- The Band cover
So we had our long walk back to the car. We weren’t going to wait for the shuttles because the lines were insane and we were thankful we hadn’t taken the water taxi as we maneuvered around the long stretch of people waiting for that on our way out of the fort. By this time it was a crazy downpour. I was trying to keep my bag under the umbrella as best I could since it had my camera in it, but the rest of me was just getting soaked: jeans, the side of my shirt that was more outside the umbrella, my feet, etc. Well as we’re walking out of the fort these two guys come up alongside us. I was on the outside and Kelly was right next to them. Well they asked if we had driven there and Kelly goes yeah. They asked if they could get a ride because they were going to walk back into town otherwise. I had a sort of hard time hearing over the rain and everything and they weren’t right next to me, but Kelly agreed and then jokingly asked them if they were murderers. They said something like not anymore, we’re reformed! Haha So we kept heading to her car. Well we get to the hill you have to go up to the parking lots and I just knew it wasn’t gonna work with my flip flops being all slippery from the rain, so I took them off and hiked up the hill barefoot. Even when I was wearing them on regular ground they created a sort of suction and would slap my foot when I walked, so that wasn’t too fun. Kelly and our two new friends got far off from me at one point in my slow disaster, but luckily she finally turned around to look for me. I knew where the car was and I could see her red umbrella, so I wasn’t too concerned. We finally got back to the car and turned around to meet our friends a little better- they were older than I expected. Not old- probably like mid 30s or something, but for some reason I thought it was like 20 something guys. They’d had a tarp over their heads when we were walking and I was more concerned with not dying in a monsoon. lol Their names were Mark and Kevin and they turned out to be super nice and they were Trampled by Turtles fans, so that was cool. They’d come with their families and a friend and the rest of their party had gone on the water taxi, but they were separated from them and didn’t want to wait in the line. We got out of the lot pretty fast thanks to our spot. I later heard some people got stuck in there for a long while and stuff, so I’m glad that didn’t happen to us. We had a small wait right outside the fort, but other than that not bad. Mark and Kevin were staying in town near the street we were going to, so we dropped them at their hotel and said our good byes. They were super thankful to us for driving them and we felt good about doing that kindness. It was still pouring at this point. We found a parking spot and then walked to the restaurant we’d planned on going to for dinner before the after show. We went to the same place last year and it was really good, so we wanted to go back. Maybe it’ll be a yearly tradition! We got seats in the upstairs part pretty fast. I got delicious calamari once again. We dried off a bit during dinner, but soaked jeans are kind of a lost cause. It did stop raining while we ate, so that was good. The workers then took the plastic sheets off the windows they usually have open and it was cool and nice and smelled like rain. We then headed down the street to the Blues Café. I think the doors had opened, so we didn’t know what it would be like inside, but we got in and no one was by the stage! So we claimed our front row spots.
So we’d been standing there for a few minutes when the guy next to me turns to me and asks if I’d hold his spot and that he’d buy us drinks if I did so. Neither of us wanted anything, but I told him I’d hold it for free. When he came back he started chatting with us a bit and asked where we were staying. I was being cautious, so I said Massachusetts, but didn’t give him the town. Well he then goes me too, in Swansea! I was like oh, us too. He then says at the Holiday Inn Express? We were like omg, yes. He was staying at the same hotel as us. We also found out he was from this town in NY where Kelly sometimes works. So that was a crazy coincidence. He also took a lot of videos that night and we found his youtube channel later and he got a bunch of the stuff we liked- from the fest too- so we were like yay! But anyway first up was Jonny Corndawg, although he started a little late it seemed. He came on stage wearing these giant, way too big for him, jeans and this like biker shirt that said on the back if you can read this the bitch fell off. It was strange, but silly. Very Jonny. So it was just him and his band- no Taylor. So we were like guess he’s not here and we were a little sad. We saw Tay come in by himself during Jonny’s set I think, but figured he was just there to watch. We still had a blast watching Jonny again- I just love him. He even brought Matt Vasquez on stage for “Red on the Head”. Matt comes on stage in this like poncho or blanket wrapped around him- it was random. And then he kept doing his silly Matt dances and thrusting during the whole song, so we were just cracking up. Also we saw John watching from the side of the stage and I was like aww because it’s so cute how much all of those boys love each other.
Not the best photo, but Jonny!
"Red on the Head" with Matt Vasquez
Next on the bill was Sharon Van Etten. I like some of her songs and I’d seen her with The National last year. Well they took forever setting up and sound checking. We were worried she was going to cut into Matt’s time and he wouldn’t get to do much or whatever. Because there’s a strict 1 am sound ordinance curfew and we still had Deer Tick to get to as well. The other sucky thing was these super drunk and annoying guys on the other side of Kelly. I think even it was them that like slapped Jonny on the butt as he walked across the stage to get to the door after his set and he flipped them off. We were like go Jonny! But then they kept up their shenanigans when Sharon came on. They kept clapping and clapping as she set up and trying to get her to high five them constantly. She played along for a bit, but you could tell it was annoying her too. Finally these girls behind us got those two to leave. They basically told them to and finally convinced them and I think they said the one guy agreed because he was feeling sick. We were like yay. And then finally Sharon started. Except there was another gross guy who was still up there and during her first or second song in the midst of it she goes “get the fuck out. If you’re going to do that by the stage get the fuck out of here” And sure enough here came security to drag him off. We don’t know what he did because we didn’t see it, but it obviously super upset her. So I’m glad they took care of him. But people all around were still talking super loud and a lot of her stuff is quieter, so it just wasn’t an ideal condition to see her in. At one point she said, yeah we’re not really a bar/party band. I felt bad for her and her band because they kept looking at each other and giving each other smiles that were sort of like oh god, let’s hurry up and play and get out of here. She even cut one song from her set. I liked the music, so it’s too bad that the situation wasn’t better.
So after that it was getting pretty late and we didn’t really know what was going to happen and then the Deer Tick guys came on and were setting up and we were like wait, but Matt! But then we saw one of the guitar cases said Delta Spirit on the side, so we figured they were just setting up so it’d be ready and then Matt would play in front of their stuff with his guitar. Well then they’re all set up and most of Deer Tick leaves except John and of course Matt’s still there, and then John goes, is Taylor here? We were like OMG OMG OMG. So here comes Taylor, Griffin, and Tay. I’m sure you can guess what happened next- surprise Middle Brother set! :D We were beside ourselves with excitement. Last year their set at the festival (and then the mini set they did at the after show) were sort of billed as their last time together. So we were so psyched we were going to get to see them again! They started with “Blue Eyes” and the guys were just grinning at each other the whole time. They were clearly just as excited to be playing together as we were about seeing them. It was so cute! They probably didn’t have any time to rehearse and Matt messed up the lyrics a bit and did one of the later verses like first, but they just kept on going and it didn’t really matter because we were all just singing along and having a great time. Next up was “Theater”, which I always love so much live. The “this life won’t tell you nothing, nothing but lies” part is always so explosive and great. Then they did “Million Dollar Bill”, which OMG LOVE. It’s of course also on the latest Dawes album and they do it live sometimes, but I prefer the Middle Brother version hands down because I love all the guys taking turns on the verses. So Matt does his verse and after he sings the part about “ the finest man the world has ever seen” he then adds Taylor Goldsmith! and points at him. It was so precious, oh my goodness. And then finally they of course did “Middle Brother.” John was like where’s Jonny? They kept looking around for him and at first it seemed he wasn’t there. We’d last seen him as he was headed out the door, so I thought maybe he’d left, but then suddenly here he came! So that was awesome. And the guys were all hugging after as they left the stage. John and Taylor hugged and John like patted him on the stomach. Oh John.
"Blue Eyes"
"Million Dollar Bill"
So then it was Deer Tick time! Our minds were still blown from Middle Brother, but we were ready for some Deer Tick. They had to do a shortish set, but it was still great. Matt had stayed up there and they did two Nirvana covers that they did with him last year too- “Scentless Apprentice” and “Negative Creep.” The screaminess of those songs isn’t usually my thing, but Matt’s so great at it, so I enjoyed it. And he kept head banging and stuff right by me and Kelly. He then at one point decides to try jumping off the kick drum, but the stage was so small it just didn’t really work and we thought he was going to fall on us. (There’s actually photographic proof of us being like uh oh… but also go ahead Matt, we won’t mind too much. Haha See below). He also shook his beer on us some. Which is an annual tradition too I guess what with John having done that on us last year. So that was crazy and then Deer Tick did some songs. One really cool thing was the set list said Walk for Ian’s song “Walkin Out the Door”, but he then busted into this unreleased song that Kelly and I both love, “Hope is Big”. We both freaked, especially Kelly who kind of screamed. Dennis noticed and laughed at her. It was funny. But hey now, that’s an awesome song and they don’t play it that often. We also had an awesome “Ashamed” sing along. After the first part everyone sings John was like “Yeeah.” And then after the second part he goes “I like that” in his raspy John voice. It was cute. They also did a Warren Zevon cover “Carmelita” and a Chuck Berry (Move Over Beethoven)/Beatles (One After 909) mashup.
Ian
Dennis
John
The photo of me and Kelly during the Nirvana covers. Look how we're both scared and delighted at the prospect of Matt falling on us
"Ashamed"
"Smith Hill"
"Hope is Big"
So after the show I snagged one of the handwritten set lists and then we hung around a little to see if we could meet anybody, but that wasn’t happening and then the staff kicked everybody out. So we wandered down the side street just to see if anybody was meeting people back there. There were a few people back behind the venue, but I’m not sure who and it was dark back there, so we just decided to leave and try again the next night. So we had gotten back out to the main street and were standing there for a second when suddenly a couple guys come down the street and turn the corner to the left going past the Blues Café. I was like omg, Kelly isn’t that Conor Oberst? Sure enough it was. We recognized him from his long hair and the jacket he’d been wearing on stage with MMJ earlier that day. Well then right after that, coming down the sidewalk on the side we were on, is Jim James (Suddenly…Jim James), one or two other MMJ members (the keyboardist for sure), and a few other people just hanging with them. Well Jim James walks right by us- like we could have reached out and touched him. We looked right at him, but he was so out of it he didn’t even notice anything. His eyes were like wide and dazed. It was kind of scary/sad and just super surreal. Like we were not expecting to see him just out wandering on the street. He’d been hanging on this girl and then one of his buddies had to grab him because he was going to fall over. They then went and got on one of the pedi cabs. We headed back to our car after that, but we could not believe what we had just witnessed. We were also fangirling still about all the night’s happenings. We went back to the hotel and crashed pretty soon after that.
The set list I got. I cannot figure out what "SOLO SHEP" was...
Not my photo, but here's proof of Jim James in a pedi cab.