Recap: Newport Folk Fest Day One

The above “hawties” wanted to party. I said, ‘naw gurl, I gotta work.’ So I turned around and took more pictures from the pit on the main stage. Day one of the Boston Phoenix’s Newport Folk Festival experience. Anyway.

Above we see the bassist from O’Death, who looks eerily similar to the late Jay Reatard.  And unlike the dude from Japandroids, who does often employ a fan to simulate metal-approved wind-blown hair, no fan was present. That hair movement is pure, unadulterated rock goodness. O’Death was the first band I saw today and probably the best. More on that here.

Wait a second, O’Death’s drummer, that’s not how you play drums!

Above is the guitarist/singer from Calexico.

I’d always heard the name Calexico – mostly at the Latin-American restaurant at which I work – but had never fully heard a song of theirs. It’s the type of music I’d expect an old school dictator or fashionista/gangster to take in while sitting pool side at some badass villa, smoking a cigar and sipping on scotch. The songs are feathered with lap-steel and hushed, salsa vocals, the refrains punctuated by blasts of horn and bass. I only caught three songs, but they were powerful enough to inspire the crazed, possibly dug-addled girls behind me (also pictured above) to proposition the singer in a most unbecoming way.

Bro had a tat painted on his back. Pretty chill way to celebrate a festival.

Above is Andrew Bird playing his violion. It sounded pretty.

I’m pretty sure I’ve heard the entirety of Andrew Bird’s catalogue without ever having owned or purchased any of his material. Cafes and bars love this dude. But so do I. Although not typical of his recorded material, today he sounded similar, vocally at least, to Jim James of My Morning Jacket (who played under the name Yim Yames on another stage today. Clever!) He played his first five songs solo and looped all his violin and guitar parts. It felt a bit like seeing Howie Day, which kinda sucked. Also, once you’ve heard one looped violin part, you’ve heard them all. But, then he pulled the big festival move that makes festivals worth the time/money. The entirety of Calexico came out and performed his last three songs along with him, which added a south-american low-end groove to a set that otherwise sounded (and looked) like the score to a Wes Anderson film. Which isn’t a bad thing. I guess what I’m getting at is that Andrew Bird was pretty sweet and Calexico made him sweeter. Go words.

More to come tomorrow!