Live updates from the fest

It’s late July and that means it’s time for fans of folk music (and, admittedly, pop, country, sometimes hip-hop) to drive, bike, and water taxi to Fort Adams State Park in Rhode Island for the Newport Folk Festival. 

In its 67th year, it’s become old hat for the festival’s producers to create a stellar lineup, with plenty of history to pull from. This year is a tour de force of great women with discographies to cry and/or scream to, with names like Lucy Dacus, Lizzy McAlpine, Courtney Barnett, Hayley Williams, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Cat Power, and Brandy Carlile sprinkled over the festival’s three-day run. Check out Boston.com’s list of must-see acts here for more. 

Famous for its surprises — and with a last-minute Father John Misty set already announced, after an unexpected appendectomy forced Norwell native Susan Tedeschi’s Tedeschi Trucks Band to pull out — this year’s festival is set to be worth every second waiting in the water bottle fill line and reapplying sunscreen. We’re placing bets as to who exactly Haley Williams will bring out for the “and friends” portion of her set. (A Muppet, perhaps?)

These festival tickets sell like hotcakes (or lobster rolls, or iced Dunks in the summer, or beers when the Scots were in town). So, if you missed the purchase window on these long-sold-out shows, or are looking to know about sets you couldn’t quite make it to, below you’ll find live updates from the festival — surprises included. 

Thank you to the person with the bubble maker at the Courtney Barnett set (Friday night)

Courtney Barnett, legendary Australian witty indie rocker and songwriter, took the fort stage as the late afternoon sun warmed the faces and top of various hats of festivalgoers. 

Barnett is originally from Sydney, Australia, and is known for her witty and winding lyrics. 

Her fourth studio album, Creature of Habit, was released earlier this year. It was her first studio album in five years. 

“Avant Gardner” was one of Barnett’s earliest songs in the set, which is known to have particularly tongue-in-cheek lyrics. (“The paramedic thinks I’m clever ’cause I play guitar / I think she’s clever ’cause she stops people dying”) 

As Barnett’s repetition of the lyrics of “Small Poppies” got more intense in her vocal performance, the guitar got ever louder, and someone in the crowd started firing off a barrage from a bubble gun. 

Around Barnett’s set, children sat on their parents’ shoulders with bright protective eyewear. 

“Thank you so much. How are you doing, Newport? it’s so nice to be here,” said Barnett.

Barnett played a mix of older and newer songs. During Depreston, the whole audience seemed to sing together. 

“Beautiful singing everybody, I heard that,” Barnett said to the audience.

Barnett then launched into “One Thing At A Time”, one of her newer tracks. 

With exacting instrumentation, excellent head banging from Barnett, and one MVP audience member providing an ambiance of bubbles, Barnett’s performance was a mix of electric rock and endearing whimsy.

Scenes from Friday afternoon

‘What’s up, Newport?‘ Boston’s Lily Fitts takes the stage (Friday afternoon)

In the warm early afternoon sun, Lily Fitts took the Bike Stage. 

The members of Illiterate Light — they man the stage, which runs on the power of solar panels and a gathering of rotating bikers — threw a “What’s up, Newport?” into the crowd to applause. 

Fitts, who Boston.com covered shortly after her show at The Sinclair late last year, began her set with a quick Boston shoutout. 

“Newport, how we doin’?” she said. “I’m from Boston, Massachusetts.” 

Fitts is known for her raspy, full-bodied singing voice. She initially received intense internet attention for a cover and partial rewrite of Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” in 2022, and her covers and original music have only gone more viral since. 

Fitts’s set was a head-bopping affair. She began with her song “I Don’t Owe You S**t,” which epitomizes the distinctly New England (see: proudly direct and honest) lyrics she’s known for. She had a full band for the shorter set, including fiddle, drums, guitar, and bass. The arrangement created a large, fuller sound that would fit right in in the soundtrack of a western thriller — in particular, a bank robbery getaway scene. 

Fitts gave a shoutout to her parents in the audience, before playing her dad’s favorite from her discography — “Troubled Water.” 

Although her set was relatively short, as all Bike Stage sets are, Fitts’s neo-country folk sound (complete with fiddle), her forthright lyricism, and bright personality seemed like a perfect way to kick off a quintessentially New England festival. 

At the end of the set, I caught Fitts’s family for a brief word. 

“We’re so proud of her,” said her mom. “She’s growing and growing.”