2014 Newport Folk Festival - Ten Songs I'd Love To Hear

 

Picking only 10 songs that I want to hear over the course of what promises to be a great full three days of music was a silly exercise.  A silly exercise I chose to do:

In no particular order:

Our Demons - Ages and Ages

I'm not going to lie.  I've only been listening to Ages and Ages since April 22nd at 10:13am which is about a minute after the Newport Folk Festival announced them.  Since that time, Divisionary is easily on my Top 5 most listened to albums.  They have a lot of good candidates for the song I most want to hear from them but I think this one will really have the audience clapping along...and it's going to be awesome.

Take Me To Church - Hozier

I've been singing this song to myself at least once a day ever since I heard it even on days where I don't hear it.  I have a feeling that if you want to see Hozier's full set at the Harbor Stage then you are going to have to get their early.  I anticipate a crowd to big for the Harbor Stage to handle with the way this song is taking off.

Slow Motion - PHOX

There are a few PHOX songs I'm really looking forward to hearing but how could I not be most looking forward to the one with a clarinet solo!  I used to hate the clarinet.  I wanted to play saxophone in elementary school but they didn't have any left so I got stuck with the clarinet, hated it and dropped it as soon as I could.  If only Slow Motion was around back then maybe I wouldn't have been so quick to dismiss the instrument.

Heavy Bells - J. Roddy Walston & The Business

I've only been going to the Newport Folk Festival since 2008 but I've never been able to hear anything from the Harbor Stage while standing over by the Fort Stage.  I'm pretty sure that Heavy Bells could be the loudest song ever played at the Harbor Stage and I bet those people waiting at the Fort Stage waiting for Shovels and Rope to come on are going to be able to hear this.

Casino(Bad Things) - Houndmouth

I love From The Hills Below The City.  There is not a skippable track on it but this is the songs I always turn up a little bit louder when I hear it in my car.  I couldn't be more excited for this set.

Two of Us on the Run - Lucius

Turn it Around and Hey Doreen might be the songs that will get the crowd up and moving around but I just think Two of Us on the Run will just be a pretty thing to hear at Fort Adams.

You Go Down Smooth - Lake Street Dive

I've told anyone who will listen to me that if can listen to this song and not  at least start tapping your foot, you're probably dead inside.  There is a lot to look forward to for this set but I can't in good conscience head over to Band of Horses without hearing this.

Big House - Deer Tick

I could pick a bunch of songs from these guys I can't wait to hear.  I went Big House because of the stage.  Maybe at the Quad Stage I pick something, else but there is something about this song that I just want to hear permeate out into Narragansett Bay.

Alone In My Home - Jack White

Since the day it came out I have devoured this album.  Like most of the artists who have songs on this list I could have picked a ton of songs I'm looking forward to but I really enjoy this one.  I loved what he did with it on Conan and I'm looking forward to seeing it live for myself. 

La Cienega Just Smiled - Ryan Adams

The one problem I have about seeing a Ryan Adams show is that he has such a big catalog of songs to play that trying to pick one single song you want to hear is tough to do.  La Cienga Just Smiled has long been one of my favorite Ryan Adams songs.  Gold is now 13 years old(!!!) and many albums ago so I know the chances are slim I'll hear it, but my 22 year old self is still really hoping for it.

Navigating the 2014 Newport Folk Festival

It's my third year doing my "Navigating the Newport Folk Festival" post (see 2012 and 2013 here).  So that's enough of a sample size for me to officially dub it my "Annual Navigating the Newport Folk Festival" post.

Like every Newport Folk Festival lineup it's very, very deep.  After reading my last two years of these posts(in which I realize that actually planning this is an exercise in futility), it looks like I'm going to be doing a lot more zigzagging around Fort Adams and splitting sets than in years past.

So I'll be getting new comfortable walking shoes and seeing if I can execute this plan:

I'm driving up from Long Island on Friday morning so my hope is that ferries and traffic all cooperate but assuming I'm there for the gates opening I think the move for me might be hitting up the Tretorn Backyard while taking in some Mandolin Orange.

The first band I'm excited to see is PHOX at 1:50.  Their iTunes Festival album joined me on a lot of bike rides the last few weeks and I've been listening to their first studio album a lot since it came out a few weeks ago.  If there is time I would like to hop over to the end of The Devil Makes Three. 

I've been in to Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley to Jenny and Johnny to her solo stuff.  But this is where it gets tough.  I'm looking forward to this set but I will probably bail towards the end to see Lake Street Dive.  You Go Down Smooth is a song I feel like I need to hear played live.  If I hear that before 4:45pm then I will probably high tail if from there over to Band of Horses. 

After Band of Horses the priority is obviously Ryan Adams but in that window of time between their sets I'm going to try for a few Jimmy Cliff songs over at the Quad Stage.

I'm thinking about starting Saturday at the Museum Stage before heading to the Quad Stage to see The Oh Hello's.  I'm always on board with seeing a band that has a lot of pieces on stage.

After The Oh Hello's it gets crazy.  I'm probably going to the Harbor Stage for J. Roddy Walston and The Business, leaving before the end of the set to check out the end of Benjamin Booker, watch a few songs from Shakey Graves before settling in for Houndmouth.

This brings me to the biggest conflict of the whole festival for me.  The Houndmouth/Deer Tick/Lucius trifecta is just brutal.  I really wanted to see as much of Houndmouth as possible which will probably have me showing up to Deer Tick a little late (which as my #2 favorite band on earth is shocking and annoying).  I'm seeing Deer Tick that night at the Newport Blues Cafe so I'm hoping that lessens the sting.  Finally, I've been listening to Wildewoman a ton so I'll high tail it over to the Harbor Stage and hopefully see enough songs to be satisfied. 

From there it's over to Nickel Creek for a bit and then to Puss N Boots before settling in for Jack White.

My early Sunday priority is Ages and Ages.  I'm been loving Divisionary these last few weeks.  Looking forward to them a lot and it looks like I'll be able to relax and catch their whole set without clock watching.  After them I'm open to Caitlin Rose or The Lonesome Trio so I'll make that a game time decision.

Since I probably will not have gone to the Fort Stage beer garden yet, maybe I'll take in the rest of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down from there and wait for Dawes to come on.

Now for my second biggest conflict of the festival.  Dawes into Hozier into Hurray For The Riff Raff.  I love Dawes live.  I've seen them a bunch of times now which today probably doesn't work in their favor.  I'm thinking as long as Dawes doesn't close with When My Time Comes and plays it at least a few songs from the end I can split Hurray For The Riff Raff and Hozier.  I'd really like to at least see Take Me To Church if I can swing it.  That song has been in my head non-stop.

From Hurray For The Riff Raff it's going to get back to zigzagging around the Fort.  Conor Oberst to Trampled By Turtles to Jeff Tweedy to Rodrigo y Gabriela.  Although there is a chance I'll get hung up at the Harbor Stage listening to Lucero so I'll end up splitting the two sets before going over to check out the last hour of Mavis.

If that doesn't sound like the best three days a person can have then I don't know what does.

Navigating the 2013 Newport Folk Festival

 Like last year, I'm going to try to outline how I'm going to navigate this year's Newport Folk Festival.

This year the Newport Folk Festival announced their lineup in rolling fashion instead of the whole lineup at once.  I thought there were pros and cons to doing it this way.  The biggest pro though was that it gave me ample time to listen to a band I wasn't overly familiar with without being overwhelmed with having to do the same with the other handful of bands I was going to need to spend some time with prior to the fest. 

As the lineup was rolled out, I knew I was excited to see (in no particular order), The Mountain Goats, John McCauley, Jim James, Father John Misty, Colin Meloy, Trombone Shorty, The Avett Brothers and The Lumineers. 

But since the announcements ended I've immersed myself in mostly artists who were playing the festival and started to look forward to acts like Hey Marseilles, Kingsley Flood, The Last Bison, Phosphorescent, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Houndmouth, The Long Bellow, Shovels and Rope and Lord Huron.  At one point I purposely stopped listening to NFF bands in fear that I was starting to like too many of them and I was setting myself up for some conflict disappointments.

But now that the schedule is out and I've had a day or two to sit with it, this is how I plan to navigate this year's festival:

2:30pm - 3:15pm
The festival immediately kicks off with a big conflict.  This comes down to Hey Marseilles and Kingsley Flood.  I like both of these guys but over the last few weeks Kingsley Flood's Battles has become one of my favorite albums from anyone playing at this festival.

3:35pm - 5:50pm
I'm going to head over to the Harbor Stage to see The Mountain Goats.  I've been in to their latest album since it came out but I'll probably cut out of that set a little early to try to catch the end of Phosphorescent since I'll be heading over their anyway.

6:10pm - 7:05pm
I plan on seeing John McCauley's whole set.  I'm a fan of Deer Tick and his other side projects so I'm hoping to hear him break out a song or two from Middle Brother and Diamond Rugs.

7:10pm - End of Day
I'll take the temperature of the group.  I'm going with two kids (1 and 3) so if it's not time to go yet I'll head over and see Old Crow Medicine Show.

11:45am - 2:30pm
I'm positive I'm starting my day off with Hurray for the Riff Raff but from their it becomes a mess.  The Lone Bellow and Houndmouth are a pretty big conflict for me.  I'm probably going to lean Houndmouth being that Penitentiary is a top 5 songs I most want to hear at the festival.  So ideally I'll be able to hop back and forth through the tunnel and hear some of Rayland Baxter and The Lone Bellow before settling in for the Houndmouth set.

2:30pm - 3:15pm
Bounce back over to Shovels and Rope and catch 45 minutes of there set while preparing to come to the cruelest conflict of all.

3:25pm - 4:55pm
I celebrate Jim James' entire catalog.  MMJ, his solo, Monsters of Folk and New Multitudes.  So it's a no-brainer that I'll be at the Fort Stage for the start of his set.  The shocker of all shockers for a big Jim James fan like myself...I am going to leave it early for Father John Misty.  Probably.  I do like Jim James solo but based on his other festival set lists, leaving early means I'm probably missing Wonderful or Bermuda Highway and one of his Monsters of Folk songs.  Luckily I saw a Jim James solo set in Philadelphia earlier in the year so it takes the sting out a little bit.  At the same time though, I'm seeing Father John Misty in NYC three days before Newport.  Fear Fun is my favorite album of 2012 and it's probably every 4th album I still listen to.  Being that I will have seen them both prior means that I can probably stop driving myself crazy with this decision and just go with the flow.

4:50pm - 6:15pm
There is almost a half hour between Father John Misty and Colin Meloy so I'll go over and catch some Trombone Shorty.  From there I'll decide whether or not I want to do one more bounce back and forth between Trombone Shorty and Colin Meloy at the Quad Stage.  Because there is no way I'm not going to be at the Fort Stage again at 6:15.

6:15pm - 7:30pm
The Avett Brothers were the announcement that really put this festival over the top for me.  I've been a fan for a few years and I saw them a few years ago at Mountain Jam and was really looking forward to the next time I was going to see them live again.  Just a great live band.

Sunday for me doesn't have as many "must-sees" for me as Friday and Saturday which honestly might be a nice change of pace.  It'll allow me more freedoms to just go where the wind takes me and bounce around to a few different sets.  I do know that I'm planning on catching a lot of Black Prairie and Lord Huron.  The act I'm most looking forward to on Sunday is The Lumineers.  Their debut album is great from beginning to end.

Newport Countdown Playlist