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Jon Batiste & Friends was tonight’s headliner. Batiste was scheduled to perform for 1 hour and 15 minutes. He came on 5-10 minutes late and his set was cut short by 15 minutes. Jay immediately came on and said the set was ending early because of impending thunderstorms (that were supposed to plague us all day but never did). His “Friends” were Native Soul (song off of new album together) and Lauren Daigle. (A set list shows that James Taylor was also going to be a friend… but probably stayed on his yacht due to the impending storm.)
My take:
Batiste played with the same infectious energy he always does. As someone said earlier, it would have been fine for a 3:20 show on the Fort Stage. But it was entirely disappointing as a headliner. The guests were pretty underwhelming for a headliner set billed “& Friends.” Songs off the new upcoming album.
I assume that interview where he said he didn’t really have much planned to be probably the truth. I’m not sure if James Taylor was going to be a very surprise guest planned in advance and played a set on Friday when Noah canceled (taking away the surprise). Or if JT was just a last minute guest since he was around and on site. I’m going with the latter. In hindsight, he had fewer guests/friends than several other bands who played the fest. Not sure why he couldn’t even get other musicians at the festival to join him… even on When the Saints Go Marching In. (Unless they were all told to leave early before the storms.)
I know we have been spoiled with Dolly, Paul, and Joni and shouldn’t expect that every year. But I also feel like a lot of artists could have planned a more special headlining set if given rein to do so. Batiste did it before as a headliner at Newport.
I’m sure authorities put an early stop to the show. There were rumors going around today that that may be the case. Probably the right call, as some lightning was seen in the distance around 8:30.
I’m am a little disappointed with how Jay seemingly kept the information that the festival would be cut short by 15 minutes from the crowds until the set ended 15 minutes early. Jon obviously knew because his set was planned around the abridged time, meaning Jay knew as well. But a lot of people were sticking around to see who the Friends were and then there was an awful traffic jam of people and cars with everyone leaving at the exact same time. A notice in advance could have given people the chance to plan ahead when to leave and maybe helped alleviate some traffic.
This makes me more confident that he’s paranoid of people leaving early and the headliner having a shit crowd.
Also I wish they’d put as much effort into curating cool moments at the actual fest instead of aftershows. I don’t know if it’s a good thing when people seem more hyped about the separately ticketed event they go to after the fest than the fest itself.
This. That John Prine tribute aftershow should have been our headliner. They got Emmylou Harris and Swamp Dogg, in addition to artists at Newport.
Jon Batiste & Friends was tonight’s headliner. Batiste was scheduled to perform for 1 hour and 15 minutes. He came on 5-10 minutes late and his set was cut short by 15 minutes. Jay immediately came on and said the set was ending early because of impending thunderstorms (that were supposed to plague us all day but never did). His “Friends” were Native Soul (song off of new album together) and Lauren Daigle. (A set list shows that James Taylor was also going to be a friend… but probably stayed on his yacht due to the impending storm.)
Danielle Ponder? Brandon "Taz" Niederauer? Steve Jordan on drums? Whoever the violin player was?
Not epic names,sure, but still had a bunch of different artists helping him out as "friends".
Add in the scheduled James Taylor (not sure what happened there) and the meat smoker that resulted in a cool moment/ender with sharing food to the crowd and it had something special going but it just didn't land for some.
That said...I'm pretty sure I'll end up liking MMJ and Billy Strings more as headliners. Maybe they should just go back to artists for a little bit and scale back all the epic guests shows and big themes because it's hard to keep topping themselves.
Post by earthshoe12 on Jul 30, 2023 6:34:45 GMT -5
Re: James Taylor. I’ve never had a scoop before, and who knows if this is real or not. The security guard in our area claimed that Taylor was sound checking for an appearance with his son’s band, but for some reason they dropped out so he went home. Was there an unannounced slot that never panned out yesterday? Maybe it was for that? Maybe more people were supposed to come out with Batiste? Maybe this is completely made up!
Re: James Taylor. I’ve never had a scoop before, and who knows if this is real or not. The security guard in our area claimed that Taylor was sound checking for an appearance with his son’s band, but for some reason they dropped out so he went home. Was there an unannounced slot that never panned out yesterday? Maybe it was for that? Maybe more people were supposed to come out with Batiste? Maybe this is completely made up!
TBD on the bike stage didn’t happen. Seems wild that James would play on the bike stage with his son, but maybe
Re: James Taylor. I’ve never had a scoop before, and who knows if this is real or not. The security guard in our area claimed that Taylor was sound checking for an appearance with his son’s band, but for some reason they dropped out so he went home. Was there an unannounced slot that never panned out yesterday? Maybe it was for that? Maybe more people were supposed to come out with Batiste? Maybe this is completely made up!
Taylor as listed in the setlist. But the setlist is also really out of order so who knows?
So Noah really played his show yesterday in Maine after he couldn’t play Friday?
That's pretty lame, I was most excited about him out of everyone all weekend. James Taylor was an awesome replacement the only Newport could pull off, but still lame if Noah played the next day
Turnpike troubadours set was the big surprise winner. Thought they were fantastic. Really good energy for that one, too. Getting Childers with them was a bonus. McCauley is here, so maybe a La Bamba with Los Lobos and surely a song or two with Robert & Phil. That set will be really fun.
Gates were just delayed 30 mins. Lana getting her hair done again?
For what it's worth based on what some volunteers were saying I don't think you're too far off. Said there was an issue with an artist and implied heavily it was LDR...
Gates were just delayed 30 mins. Lana getting her hair done again?
For what it's worth based on what some volunteers were saying I don't think you're too far off. Said there was an issue with an artist and implied heavily it was LDR...
For what it's worth based on what some volunteers were saying I don't think you're too far off. Said there was an issue with an artist and implied heavily it was LDR...
This didn’t happen at all.
I mean might have just been late for sound, I didn't say any details lol
I’m not sold on the increase in tickets, not to any substantive degree.
The bigger issue is that they’ve grossly failed to manage the blankets and chairs. They’re routinely getting closer and closer to the stages. The front paths walking up to the pit from either side of the stage are a fraction of what they used to be.
I’m not sold on the increase in tickets, not to any substantive degree.
The bigger issue is that they’ve grossly failed to manage the blankets and chairs. They’re routinely getting closer and closer to the stages. The front paths walking up to the pit from either side of the stage are a fraction of what they used to be.
Eh, I don’t know about that. The fort stage has always been nothing but blankets and chairs, but in years past the back of the field wasn’t nearly as jammed as it is now. They’ve also added more vendors and stuff which limits space somewhat - the area where the foundation tent and family tent are used to be wide open, with the family tent in the back corner where they have food trucks now.
