i haven't really had a chance to type anything out yet about my whole newport weekend, & since it was so much fun, i want to remember it forever. it seems that i have trouble remembering stuff in my old age (heheheheh!), unless i write it down, so that's what i'm doing. last weekend, i went to newport, ri, for the ben & jerry's folk festival. stephanie, who is a grad student at penn & has driven me to a couple other ig shows before, picked me up in glen rock on saturday, & we drove to newport together. (nff is a 2 day festival, but we only wanted to go on sunday, since we thought the sunday lineup was much better than saturday.) it took about 4 hours, & we talked the whole way & totally bonded, so it went by really fast. we met audrey (who graduated from penn last year), margaret (someone audrey met on the list), & sarah (margaret's friend from the list). i actually originally met steph & audrey on the list too. my friend from home, becky, was supposed to come too, but she got sick & backed out at the last minute. so we checked into our hotel & tried to work out the sleeping arrangements, since margaret's 2 friends from college, emily & mica, were meeting us at the hotel later, & all 7 of us had to fit in one room. (to save money, you know...) this was actually pretty funny, b/c we kept rearranging the room in crazy ways, like putting the chairs under the counter in the bathroom & the tv stand on the dresser & stuff. we got a cot, & someone brought an air mattress, & there were 2 beds, so only one person had to sleep on the floor. i was going to explain the way the folk fest works, but i remembered that margaret explained it quite well in an e-mail, so here it is: < Subject: Newport: Let the planning begin Alas, it is time to start plotting plans for Newport. Those of you who are veterans of the Newport Folk and Fitness Fest know that this is, in fact, the true title of the festival. For those of you who are confused by this, let me provide a brief overview: This year, Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams, and the Indigo Girls are all playing on Sunday. What this means is that every lesbian east of the Mississippi and North of the Mason Dixon will descend upon Newport for the weekend. In addition, some men will even show up for Dar and, now that she is married to a man (!), Ani as well. All will have one thought in common: maybe if I get close enough Dar/Ani/ Amy(*swoon*)/Emily will sleep with me. You can tell who I pull for. Anyhow, I digress. Now you have a good idea of the atmosphere. Newport is at Fort Adams State Park. They open the gates to the park at about 6 or 7 in the morning. You might think that people run from there to their seats and stay there all day. If so, you are wrong in the most simple minded of ways. It is about half a mile from the gate to the park and the TURNSTILES, i.e., the places where the guards take your tickets. These don't open until about eleven. In the early days of the fest, people would walk from one gate to the next and calmly line up at the turnstiles. No more. We are too horny. Today, people run, rollerblade, or bike to the turnstiles at 7am in the morning. We will bike. Then we wait. After the turnstiles we run. Yes, run. From the turnstiles to the lawn where we will park our lusty asses is about an eighth of a mile. If you walk you will sit that far from the stage. We will run. Being a "runner," as these heroic women will be referred to from here on, is a great honor. Being a Newport runner involves grace, skill, and, above all else, a plan. We will plan. The runners will secure a small plot of land on which we will plop our butts for the duration of the day. It be sunny. We will be happy. It will be good.>> you get the general idea of the craziness of newport from that! so margaret & sarah wanted to practice their biking, & steph wanted to drive to the park so we wouldn't get lost getting there the next day. so we drove to ft. adams, where margaret & sarah practiced biking on the course they'd have to bike on the next day, & audrey, steph, & i walked around a little. it's such a beautiful area! there's water on 3 sides of the park, & lots of boats in the harbor, & a beach, & we had such beautiful weather! after sarah & margaret were happy w/ their speedy times, we drove back to the hotel, where we had to meet mica & emily. on the way, we passed by all the huge mansions in newport, where you can actually pay for tours. (we just admired them from the road.) we also passed through a few different sections of town, which seemed really quaint & pretty, yet touristy. there was a problem w/ retrieving our messages in the hotel, so we never got the message from mica saying that she was waiting for us in the hotel bar! someone finally decided to look for her though! then we discussed sleeping arrangements a little more & picked where we wanted to sleep & stuff. by then, it was pretty late, so we decided to have dinner at chili's. everyone was really cool, & we were all getting along really well. i was the only underage one though, so when everyone ordered drinks at dinner, i got water! everyone was sweet though, & gave me sips of their drinks. after dinner, we went back to the hotel & hung out in the bar for a while. some of them had a lot to drink, which i thought was a bad idea, since they were getting up at 4:45 the next morning, & it was really late. but they drinking didn't seem to bother them! oh, & i also made plans to meet jan in my hotel the next morning before we headed to nff. i met jan on the list too, & we call each other our bf's (as in best friends), which is a big ol' inside joke. she's from arizona, & we had never met before. so we all went to sleep, & they decided that margaret, sarah, emily, & mica would get to nff by 6 am. the first 3 were going to bike, & mica was going to provide entertainment for them or something. audrey, steph, & i got to sleep in a little & we were planning to meet them at the front of the line at 9 am. jan & her friend, marta, met me in my hotel room around 8. i am so glad i finally got to meet my bf! she was so much fun to hang out w/! so it turned out that our friends had done really well in the bike race, so they were onear the front of 3 of the lines. (there were about 10 different lines.) we climbed in line w/ them, & then therese spotted me. she's another friend i met on the list, & we hung out a few times last summer. she just graduated from wellesley, & she's so cool! she decided to join us in line too. then someone said that the newport people decided that there was no running this year, but we could speed-walk. there are separate lines for people w/ coolers & backpacks & stuff, so i gave all my stuff to jan & just carried a blanket in, so i could get in fast & claim my spot. also, margaret's friends, margo & mary beth, were bringing food & drinks for everyone, in exchange for letting them sit w/ us on our great spots, so we didn't have coolers anyway. when they opened the gates around 10, i used my track abilites & speed walked as fast as i could to the front of the stage. people were so crazy, diving on their blankets, attempting to get the biggest spot possible, so i dove too. i ended up w/ a front row space, a little to the right of the stage. it was perfect! margaret & the rest of them got a huge spot a little further back too, so we had the best of both worlds. then we just hung out for a while, since the music didn't start until 11:30. (actually, they had music outside the gates, when people were waiting to get in, & i heard some of erin mckeown's set & thought she was really good.) so therese & i walked around a little, & there were lots of cool little stands set up, selling all sorts of stuff. i ran into alexis, nomi's friend from school, & i bought a t-shirt. there was a main stage & a 2nd stage, & there were people on both stages at once, so we had to choose between performers. the first performer on the stage was trina hamlin, & i had never heard her before, but i really liked her. then we saw raymond myles on the main stage. he wasn't really my kind of music, but he got the crowd on its feet & moving, which was cool. then we saw cheryl wheeler. i only know 3 of her songs (from a mix therese made me), but i love them. she was really good live, but we left her set in the middle to see michelle malone on the 2nd stage. i definitely have to see cheryl again sometime though. when we got the the 2nd stage, trina was just finishing her set (she had a set on the main stage & another one on the 2nd stage). the crowd was really relaxed & sitting down & everything, so we just walked right up to the front row, where we ran into audrey. as soon as trina finished, everyone stood up & walked right to the front, & we were in the front, right against the fence. if we had gotten there a second later, we wouldn't have been able to get up front! michelle gave a really great performance. i've seen her live a few times, but she was sick for a while, so i hadn't seen her in a while. amy ray walked over near the side of the stage & sat there for a while, & some people speculated that she would have joined michelle on stage but people were paying so much attention to her & not michelle, so she didn't. i don't know about that though. mm's setlist was something like (not in this order): hollow day all i can give you is me the edge green thumb learn to fly (learn to cry?) the doo doo song (i didn't write down any setlists, btw. i just copied them from other people's posts to various lists.) catie curtis came on next. i've been a fan of hers for over a year, but i'd never seen her live. i was really impressed, but dar williams was on the main stage during catie's set, so i only got to see catie do 3 songs. actually, dar came out & sang w/ catie for her first song, which was really cool, & said she was a huge catie fan. but then she had to go do her own set! we got back to the main stage in the middle of dar's first song. dar is so great live! my only complaint is that i've seen her live a few times, & she tends to tell similar stories every time, so i almost always knew which song was coming next. she played a new song that i had never heard, so i was excited about that. her setlist was something like: if i wrote you the ocean iowa what do you love more than love road buddy the christians and the pagans are you out there party generation what do you hear in these sounds the babysitter's here as cool as i am ani was up next. oh, & by that time, it was *so* incredibly hot. i had been drinking a lot of water, but probably not enough, since it was so hot & we were in the direct sun all day. it was much cooler closer to the ocean, but our prime front row seats were about the farthest you could get from the water! a girl next to us, who was wearing black jeans, a black t-shirt, & a black long sleeve shirt over that, got really sick during ani's set & people were pouring water all over her (practically drowning her!), & eventually they just carried her out of there. (she came back later though, & seemed fine.) i was trying to drink water, but most of it was as hot as bath water by then. my friends were being so nice to me, pouring water on me & giving me cooler water to drink. i felt a little dizzy, but i felt much better when ani came on. ani fans are crazy, & everyone stood up & pushed forward once she was about to come on. since i was up front, i had plenty of room & didn't get pushed around at all, but i still don't like ani fans at general admission shows. i thought ani gave the best performance that i have ever seen! she kept making funny comments & was really into the music, & i really like her w/ a full band (drums, bass, & keyboard/accordian). her setlist was: little plastic castle fuel two little girls letter to a john pulse not angry anymore tiz of thee anticipate come away gravel 32 flavors shameless encore: everest during letter to a john, she forgot a verse and instead made up one about how she always whines about touring but that when she takes a break she forgets everything she knows. she forgot the words to another song too (which i forget now), & made up a verse. it's so cute when she does that! come to think of it, dar forgot the words to one of her songs too, which was pretty funny. next up was indigo girls, who were excellent, as always. they got the crowd moving w/ their sing-a-longs & they played some new amy songs, which were great! michelle joined them for a few songs, playing harmonica & singing. their setlist was: i don't wanna know it's alright faye tucker/scooter boys (w/ soc) get out the map three hits ghost go least complicated [a break, when they introduced rose polenzani, who had been on the 2nd stage the day before. they said they had gotten a tape of hers and were moved to tears. she sang olga's birthday, which was beautiful!] shed your skin power of two gone again galileo encore: the weight (the "take a load off annie" song by the band) closer to fine for the encores, lots of people came up & sang...dar, catie, rose, michelle, ani's band (but not ani), 3 little boys (who i heard were ben & jerry's kids), & lots of others. after power of two, as amy was starting gone again, amy joked that she had ripped emily off in reverse. instead of "multiply love by the power of two" in power of two gone again goes, "think i'll bag a trip for two." after that, we just hung out for a while, to avoid the rush to the gates. someone from the stage threw an ig pick & it landed in my lap, but i gave it to therese, since she seemed really upset that she didn't get one, & i already have 2 from other shows. that night, we went back to the hotel & showered & stuff, & then audrey, steph, & i met up w/ jan & marta & had a yummy seafood dinner. and then steph & i drove home the next morning. all in all, it was an amazing weekend. i'm so glad i went & got the opportunity to hang out w/ such cool people & see so many of my favorite musical performers! :) andi here are some other nff reviews from various lists: Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 00:20:11 -0400 (EDT) From: therese Subject: [devil-moon] Re: devil-moon-digest V2 #140 hey folks! :) just came back from seeing MM do a *terrific* performance at newport. damn- that woman can belt out a song! i think her set list went something like this (although not in this specific order): hollow day all i can give you is me the edge green thumb that "fly/sky" song and a REALLY excellent bluesy-jazz song that was absolutely phenomenal. even though she was on the second stage - MM had a very full crowd of listeners which i'm sure pleased her incredibly. MM also joined IG (as expected) on several songs including "i don't wanna know" "scooter boys" and she played harmonica on just about every other song-she also chimed in on the "take a load off fanny" song in the end in which the audience whooped about becuase she was just SO good. :) that's it! :) therese i've been wearing out my mood ring - michelle malone my other car is a broom - random bumper sticker my karma ran over your dogma -another great bumper sticker Date: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 21:22:31 -0700 From: "Amy J. Putnam" Subject: [ig-news] review: newport folk fest [Sherlyn's note: This message was originally sent to the Indigo Girls mailing list at netspace.org.] i'm still sort of fried from a day in the sun, but i wanted to give a brief review. IG closed the day and festival, as is becoming a mostly annual tradition. their set seemed pretty lively to me. i didnt take notes, and i am sure at least one person will post a complete set list, but i can recall opening with walk away with michelle malone. amy, especially, seemed pretty happy to be there and was bouncing about all over the place. michelle malone came out occassionally, wasnt there for the whole set. songs i recall...ghost, least complicated, three hits, power of two, faye tucker, gone again, galileo, shed your skin...i know i am missing at least a couple. the encore was a pair of songs featuring a ton of people...first, the weight, adn then closer to fine. dar williams even chimed in a verse on closer to fine. also on stage was sara lee, tom rush, catie curtis...did ani come out? i dont recall noticing. it was a crowded stage, and there were more people up there than i know names for... besides IG, ani and dar both turned in very enjoyable sets. cheryl wheeler was also splendid. i missed all second stage sets, but i hear that michelle malone and catie curtis were quite good. all in all, it was a very enjoyable newport. gonna be tough to go back to work on monday.... _________ amy p. \ / Who holds your hand pegasus@crl.com \ / When you're alone monk@world.std.com \ / the original photo monk \ / --Patty Larkin http://www.crl.com/~pegasus Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 09:12:37 EDT From: Lauree Shampine Subject: Re: review: newport folk fest >complete set list, but i can recall opening with walk away with >michelle malone. amy, especially, seemed pretty happy to be there I Don't Wanna Know >came out occassionally, wasnt there for the whole set. songs i >recall...ghost, least complicated, three hits, power of two, Ghost was especially poignant for me since the first time I heard it was when Em premiered it at Newport '91 (?)...at the time, worried that she might not know all the words yet... Another poignant moment was when they followed up Power of Two with Gone Again, and Amy stopped the song laughing about following "multiply life by the power of two" with "I'm gonna bag this trip for two...". >to fine. dar williams even chimed in a verse on closer to fine. but she didn't know the words so Rose P. (?) helped her out... >also on stage was sara lee, tom rush, catie curtis...did ani come out? No...and quite conspicuously so...God forbid be a good sport at a folk festival... Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 10:48:50 -0700 From: "Amy J. Putnam" Subject: Re: review: newport folk fest > >complete set list, but i can recall opening with walk away with > >michelle malone. amy, especially, seemed pretty happy to be there > > I Don't Wanna Know yes yes yes. thank you for the correction. i had a crazy day so i'm not surprised i had a brain skip. _________ amy p. \ / Who holds your hand pegasus@crl.com \ / When you're alone monk@world.std.com \ / the original photo monk \ / --Patty Larkin http://www.crl.com/~pegasus >From: sek12@cornell.edu >Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 08:34:18 -0400 (EDT) >Subject: Re: ig-news-digest V1 #154 > >Hey everyone... I just got back three hours ago from newport, and I have >a few major questions... but first I'd like to say that it was one of the >most excellent concert going experiences I've had yet. The second stage >was rad, too, with Catie Curtis and Michelle Mallone and Trina Hamlin >(sp?). Catie even got her dad to come up on stage while she sang to him, >it was really nice to see that. Michelle mallone was of course awesome, >and trina was excellent, too. does anyone know any more about her? she >was really flattered that the crowd liked her so much. Hmmm... the only >thing that was kindof bad was that the sound crew had so much darn >trouble with adjustments for catie curtis and her set ran way over, and I >only made it back to mainstage to see dar. that was unfortunate, but >I am really glad I got to be up there in the front for catie. > so here is my major question- what's up with the encore that the >indigo girls--- how come ani didn't come out to play with them? everyone >and their brother (literally, there were lots of kids up there, too) came >on stage for the last song, except ani! amy said something like, "oh, >heres andy and julie, and where's ani? Oh, she's coming out later" that's >not quite accurate, but that's the general gist. so, I waited and waited, >but no ani! it was so uncool! If she was doing that because of the >awkward tension between her and the indigo girls, that's really sad. I >thought newport, if any place, would be the perfect forum in which to >essentially kiss and make up. but no such luck, ani never came out. I >occupied myself with the thought that maybe she was not feeling well, or >just really really busy with something else, but who knows? I guess >that's what I'd really like to know... After all, ani did mention so much >stuff about how folk music is so politically active, and she was really >praising it, and then at the same time her newer songs are more >pollitically driven it seems, and then she's denouncing IG for not >understanding native americans and therefore they cant really represent >them well? I am so confused. It seems really wierd. does anyone know more >on the situation, am i in the dark about some major detail that would >help me figure it all out? I just think that its sad becuase it really >put a damper on the whole day, becuase I was really hoping that ani and >IG would end up singing together at least once. > >~~Shawn Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 19:09:27 -0400 From: Kelly Fairbairn Subject: Newport Review/Thanks to Elaine Hello! So I went to my first Newport Folk Festival thanks to the **wonderful** Elaine Bean. This amazing woman and her kids deserve a round of applause for taking in lowly ol' me for the weekend and just being generally wonderful! My highlights: * My high point would have to be meeting Dar Williams and having her sign my copy of End of the Summer. :)))) * Seeing Amy look so goddamned happy during The Weight. I wasn't too close but I could see her smiling from where I was. :) * Amy speaking of Rose Polenzani-- "She's the shit." I thought so too--that woman made me cry (No, it wasn't just the sunscreen in my eyes...) * Ani just being herself...though I wish she had sung with the rest of 'em. * Meeting so many listees. You guys rock! * Dar singing The Ocean with all that beautiful blue in the background. * The new IG songs. * Free Ben & Jerry's at the end. :) Who booted this? I am looking for copies of possibly Catie Curtis (I missed her because I wanted to see Dar!), either of Trina Hamlin's sets, Nanci G., Dar, Ani, and IG. If *anyone* booted any of this, please contact me. I have some (not much!) to trade, but you will have my undying gratitude. It was one of the best weekends I could ever imagine, and I hope to return next year. :) Thanks, kelly *%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%* *% Kelly Fairbairn *% *% fairbk@sage.edu *% *%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%* Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 18:06:25 EDT From: ShmpooDar@aol.com Subject: My Newport Ramblings... Hey all you Dar-heads! I'm sure there will be _mad_ Newport reviews, so I figured I'd do one too... I don't have the set-list, but someone will... She didn't play ONE song from THonestyR... I was highly upset. She played WDYLoveMTL... It rocked! I also have it on tape cuz I recorded it off FUV on Friday. Hmm... this is coherent... I didn't meet any fellow Dar listers b/c at 9:30 I was jammed in a crowd waiting to get in. I hope it went well. I went to get my program signed at noon and followed Dar halfway across the festival to do it! She spelt my name wrong, but it's ok. I was kinda nervous, even tho I've already met her.I told her I heard her on the radio on Friday and that I loved WDYLMTL. If I had puked within 15 minutes of seeing her, I would have attributed it to nervousness. Dar put on a great performance, as did everyone else there. I really enjoyed Cheryl Wheeler. The IG's were AWESOME!! They were just great! And Ani D. looked so pretty with her hair brownish blonde sorta color. I thought she was kinda mellow, tho, and her sound wasn't too good. All in all, the coolest day of my life, except for the extreme pain I'm in due to sun burn. But it was worth it. And even though my mom won't read this I just want to say thank you to her and that I'm in debt to her for the rest of my life. Writing a completley incoherent post, Robyn Bruce From: HappyToday@aol.com Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 22:23:28 EDT To: baigls@world.std.com, ay1@earthlink.net, JAOTMG14@aol.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: caite curtis drool, memories, and Liz's alarm system Sender: baigls-approval@world.std.com Precedence: list Reply-To: HappyToday@aol.com Hey all BAIGLS!!!!!!! Roastin in the sun.....with friends.....drinking Dell's.....shooting photo's from afar....turning green but full of happiness for Ms. Amy Putnam (way to go girl!)....I don't know about all of you but I am a new Catie Curtis fan! She has to be the cutest thing....EVER! Her dad was there and she played "Dad's Yard," for him and he came up on stage and took pictures of her and a stage guy gave him a chair. It was such a goosebumpy moment! OH...and when she first got on stage...before she started to play, I saw Dar creeping up the side stage stairs and of course in amazement..I screamed 'DAR!!!!!!!" and she looked at me and went.."SHHHHH!" with a smile! THEN Catie introduced her and they sang together! Michelle was good but definately missing somethin'. I got some cute pictures of her! Then the girls....well....wasn't Amy in a great mood?? I was three deep by the stage and loving it! My pictures still seem far away but I did get one great one of the two of them rockin out and a bunch of cute ones of Michelle, Catie, Sara, and Julie playing at the end. [snip] happy indigo and may I marry Catie Curtis. Laura From http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/5733/newport98.html: Now for my musings: I must have really good concert luck. On Friday, August 7, I didn't even know if I would be able to go to the sold-out Sunday show. I didn't have a ticket, my ride (Jules) didn't even have a ticket, and I was feeling a tad bit pessimistic about the whole concert. But how could I miss it?! Three of my favorite acts: Dar Williams, Ani DiFranco, and the Indigo Girls were going to be performing. What a lineup! [snip] Cheryl Wheeler played a very entertaining set, but I entered my blissful state in the early afternoon, and stayed deliriously happy (albeit dehydrated and fried) until the end of the day. Dar Williams kicked off her slightly atypical set. Rather than playing all three "new" songs, she opted to play only "What do You Love More than Love." Though in a few songs she forgot words, she seemed to be having a great time and her enthusiasm rubbed off on the crowd. (And she saw me before ACAIA, which made me beam even more!) Everyone stood up for ACAIA, and we stayed that way the rest of the afternoon. Next up was Ani! Woohoo! I hadn't seen her that close up since Mass MoCa a few years ago! As usual, Ani blew the crowd away. Woosh! She rocked as much as ever. She played a bunch of new songs. On one of them, Julie joined her at her mic, which was supercute. The Newport bug bit Ani too, and she forgot some words in a couple songs. She joked about how her friend told her Newport had finally made the investment of teleprompters. Nope. :) When introducing her band, Ani decided to make each of them tell the crowd their fave flavor of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, plus what muppet they wanted to be when they grew up. Here's the results: Andy S: Cherry Garcia and Dr. Teeth Jason M: Cherry Garcia (Phish food is too sweet, and he always ends up going back to C.G. To which Ani mused, "Once you try it, you always come back...") and Beaker Julie W: Coffee Heath Bar Crunch and "the muppet who said "MaNaMaNa" (do doo do do do) Ani D: Vanilla (it goes down smooth) and (duh?! take a wild guess!) ANIMAL! After Ani, the crowd didn't get a chance to recuperate. no, next up was the Indigo Girls, and most people (except for the smart ones like Amanda and Andrea who chose not to risk fainting) didn't dare leaving their spot to find water (which apparently sold out. How could they NOT have enough water? Poor planning much???) And soooo they came on. I was expecting an extension of their "Shaming of the Sun" tour, with them playing mostly recent songs. but I was pleasantly surprised, they started right off with Michelle Malone by their side to play "I Don't Wanna Know." though they played rocking versions of newer songs, (plus a couple "new" unreleased songs) they also indulged us with many older "singalongs" like Galileo and Least Complicated, as well as Ghost, which I was so happy about! Then came a shocking surprise that totally made the day complete. My bliss was radiating as Amy began talking about a demo tape someone had slipped her in Austin... I knew in the back of my head that Rose Polenzani had played the Bstage the day before. And I remember Rose telling me that Amy had called her to say she loved her music... Could it possibly be??? Amy Ray continued, saying that the music almost "moved us to tears." and my guess was correct-she introduced ROSE POLENZANI!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! :):):) HappyTash! I screamed my head off (with what voice I had left. Afterall, I had been singing on the top of my lungs along with all the songs since Dar came on) and applauded wildly. Though some of my blanket neighbors for sure thought I was nutty, I didn't care. I am nutty, afterall. And Rose is the best, she is totally Amazing!!! Sooooo after thanking everyone in the audience who was wearing red, she launched into "Olga's Birthday"-one of my fave (if not THE fave) Rose songs. The crowd loved her and went as wild as I had gone when Amy Ray announced her in the first place! I hope her record sales rocked. After a hug from Amy and Emily, Rose left... Soon another friend joined the Girls on stage-Sara Lee! I was superexcited about that too. She's the most amazing bassist ever (except for Dave Chalfant, of course. :) Eventually everyone knew the day was coming to a close. The sun was beginning to sink slyly down the trees. So the Girls invited everyone back onstage for a couple songs. (Ani didn't show-weird!) Of course the last song of the festival was "Closer to Fine." Rose and Dar were conspiring during the whole first part of the song to decided who would sing the third verse. (I think Dar was supposed to, but she wanted to let Rose sing with her. That's what seemed like what was happening, anyhoo.) They ended up sort of singing it together... At this point I don't know if there was one unhappy person in the audience. Shinyhappy people all around as far as I could see. What an amazing show! Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 23:32:38 -0500 From: WENDYP@psc.plymouth.edu Subject: Newport set list [snip] Sunday Trina Hamlin kicked things off. Cheryl Wheeler is spying on me...how else could her Guilt song be so accurate? She is one great songwriter! Went over to the Harbor Stage for Michele and Catie, wishing they had gotten main stage bids...they will. Missed half of Dar, note that this year the Ani fans who tromped over everyone else two years ago did the same thing this year, tho a tiny bit less obnoxiously. Someone needs to explain the difference between a rock concert mode of behavior and a folk festival mode...at my age jogging down a hill at 7 am to get in yet another line is worth the payoff of a good seat and I am turning into enough of a cranky old lady to be ready to strangle the latecomers who just tromp on forward!!!!! Oh yes, the indigo Girls! After astonishing those around us by whipping out my pad and pen, I do have a complete setlist: I Don't Wanna Know (with MM) It's Alright Karla Fay Tucker, which faded in to Scooter Boys, with brief SOC Get Out the Map 3 Hits Ghost Go/Raise your Hands/whatever name it finally gets Least Complicated A break, when they introduced Rose Polenzani, who had been on the Harbor stage the day before, with the explanation that they had gotten a tape of hers and were basically stunned. She did a song about Marianne that I want to find on something. Amy was watching from offstage with intense emotion (the advantages of 10X50 binoculars) Shed Your Skin Power of Two Gone Again, and yes, Amy cracked up and stopped the song to confess her realization she had "ripped Emily off!" only in reverse...it was a really funny moment Galileo Then it was Encore time, with many many crowding the stage for The Weight Closer to Fine And no, Ani never appeared, tho the entire rest of her band did. And Catie and Rose and Michele (who was around for most of their set) and Tina and Dar and a very uncomfortable looking Tom Rush. Anyone know who the three kids were? Oh, and Sara Lee joined for a couple of songs and CTF, but did not do the penny whistle...MM did that part on harmonica. [snip] Wendy Palmquist 3 months from the half century, and still getting up at 5:30 to run down a hill for a concert space! From: "DONNA M SCHWARTZ" Subject: newport Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 21:59:28 -0400 Hi fellow listees, Just came back from being fried like a chicken at Newport Sunday. I still got burned after reapplying 15 lotion. Unreal. Anyway, IG were great as usual, as well as Dar Williams, Cheryl Wheeler, Trina Hamill (newcomer), Michelle Malone and Ani DiFranco. Unfortunately, I missed Catie Curtis. They played for about an hour and 15 minutes. They did a great version of Amy's new one, Go, go go. This is the same song that was at the end of one of the CD boots that Rainy Day Records was distributing a while ago.Gone again and Faye Tucker were also good. I thought the second to last song (group singalong before CTF) was Take a Load off Annie (not that I even know that song). Could someone respond to me and let me know the name of the song? [snip] Thanks, Donna Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 15:30:02 -0400 From: "Luca, Joseph" Subject: newport Howdy! Since there have already been such glowing reports from the front at Newport, I'll try to keep it a little less lengthy than is my wont. But I can't promise anything... (Warning: Old fart commentary immediately ahead.) To me, it was a love/hate thing. It was great seeing the few Listers that I could find, but it was only a few because the place was so mobbed. Despite hearing that the number of attendees would be about 5,000, it turned out to be 8,000 on Saturday and 10,000 on Sunday. 5,000 would have been plenty: The lines were brutal, vendors ran out of both water and lemonade, and sometimes you would be on the walkway for minutes on end without moving an inch. I found it really difficult to make it to the other stages. I'm new to this festival thing, but I expected a different kind of atmosphere: less rock-fest-like, less fight-for-your-patch-of-sand-on-the-beach-on-4th-of-July-weekend. Can one of you veterans of Newport and FRFF please compare them for me? I have to believe that FRFF is more mellow, more folky, less overwhelming. How about the number of attendees? The size of the venue? The _feel_? As for the music, each day had its joys. [snip] Sunday was a complete mob scene. As for the music, I liked what I heard of Trina Hamlin. Cheryl Wheeler played a wonderful, if short, set. And then there was an incredibly incongruous appearance by Loudon Wainright. (Warning #2, to his fans: Bad review coming.) I know his lineage, and his long history, etc. But what a bad call. I found him puerile, anachronistic, and, to put it mildly, non-PC. His less-than insightful "I Wish I Was a Lesbian" was adolescent; his 25-year-old tune about his son Rufus and his breast-feeding proclivities was particularly tasteless; and his patter about selling coke and porn in the parking lot, and how although now it's Ben and Jerry's FF, it used to be sponsored by Newport cigarettes "in the good old days," was at least a little out-of-date, ungracious, and out-of-step. Maybe he was trying to get a rise from the youngish, "new folk" crowd. When he announced that he had one song left, a large contingent of women cheered mightily. Thankfully, Dar followed, and completely restored the good karma to the show. Her appearance was instantly greeted by people leaping to their feet, and she had to pass on a message that people should sit down so others could see. That didn't last, though, as TCATP and ACAIA had people singing and dancing throughout the crowd. She seemed very comfortable and was in fine form, even though she smilingly forgot the second verse of "Road Buddy," and hummed and strummed through it. "The Ocean" and "Iowa" were huge sing-along hits, and Dar left to thunderous applause. If only I hadn't been watching from Hartford. Obviously the musical highlight of the day for me. Ani followed to thunderous applause and dancing. It was my first Ani experience, and I hope not my last. I don't know that much of her material, and she was seriously undermiked, but she was still compelling. And as you've read elsewhere, IGs were huge favorites, and brought out Michelle Malone and Rose Polenzani, who was excellent. I don't want to get into it, but I had to leave just before their encore, when, as expected, Dar, and Catie Curtis, and others were called up to join them. As we were walking away, we could hear Dar's sweet soprano on "The Weight"; I was less than thrilled with my insistent-on-departing companions at that point. I'm sorry that there's this persistent negativity running through this; I just guess that my expectations were different, and I'm not as flexible as I'd like to be. [snip] Pax et lux, Joe (a long-winded 37-y.o. vegetarian, recovering Catholic, editor for Mass. Medicaid, soon-to-be massage-therapy student, and Darficionado, who had better get more sleep before he becomes terminally cranky) This story ran on page C06 of the Boston Globe on 08/10/98. © Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company. MUSIC REVIEW Newport Folk Festival has flavor of yore By Steve Morse, Globe Staff, 08/10/98 NEWPORT, R.I. - [snip] Yesterday's finale, again played under cloudless skies at Fort Adams State Park (with the cruise ship Vandeem anchored offshore), was a female empowerment day. Five of the seven main stage performers were women - roughly matching the ratio of fans, some of whom didn't take kindly (and catcalled) to Loudon Wainwright's attempt at humor, with his ``I Wish I Was a Lesbian.«« The day's surprise was Trina Hamlin, a harmonica-playing, blues-based New Yorker who played both the main and B stages. The B stage was hard to reach (at the back of the fort), but Atlanta's Michelle Malone drew the biggest crowd there (a few hundred) with her blues-drenched vocals, before she joined Indigo Girls on stage for the rocking ``I Don«t Wanna Know.«« The Indigos highlighted the day with their spiritually uplifting anthems, joined also by the hypnotic Rose Polenzani. But the crowd was already primed by the visceral punk-folk of DiFranco, who wore elevated sneakers and jumped all over her wah-wah pedal for cutting sound effects. DiFranco's ``Fuel«« and ``Shameless«« were knife-edged sing-alongs, while ``32 Flavors«« became a tongue-in-cheek homage to festival sponsors Ben & Jerry. Rhode Island native Cheryl Wheeler warmed up the crowd with a bitingly satirical set, while Dar Williams rocked out more than ever and showed that she is not just a force of the future, but one that has already arrived. From: jrs32@cornell.edu Subject: Newport setlist Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 17:51:16 -0400 (EDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII In-Reply-To: <199808101356.GAA00817@lists1.best.com> Hey-- Well, here's the newport setlist as promised, and I have to say it was an awesome show-- a good audience and a really incredible performance. Setlist: (8/9/98S) Little Plastic Castles Fuel 2 Little GIrls (new rappy intro) Letter 2 A John (she forgot a verse and instead made up one about how she always whines about touring but that when she takes a break she forgets everything she knows) Pulse Not Angry Anymore Tis of Thee Anticipate Come Away Gravel 32 Flavors (rappy version) Shameless Encore-- Everest She also introduced the band by having them say their favorite ben and jerry's flavor and which muppet they'd be: andy-- cherry garcia and dr.T jason-- cherry garcia and beaker julie-- coffee heath bar crunch and the "mahna mahna" guy ani-- vanilla and animal So there you have it folks. :) [snip] :) Jess From: fpegan@wellmanage.com To: baigls@world.std.com, neudls@mit.edu Subject: NFF: Dar Played Our Requests!!! Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 11:15:00 -0400 Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: baigls-approval@world.std.com Precedence: list Reply-To: fpegan@wellmanage.com What an incredible day Sunday! To start with, Mike R. and I met Dar at the Performing Songwriter booth and got our CDs signed. I brought my copy of the original release of "Honesty Room" - the pre-Razor and Tie release, and my "Christians and Pagans" CD single. When I saw Dar, I held up "Honesty Room" and told her that we had bought it at Newport four years ago after hearing her there. She was thrilled that I had the original release, and told us that that day ended up launching the rest of her career, so I told her that a lot of people fell in love with her that day, which really made her smile. She signed "Honesty Room" for Bob (my husband) and C&P for me, then Mike R. chatted with her for a bit and asked if she was going to play "Ocean". At that point she wasn't sure if she would because it's a dark song, but Mike told her how much he loved it and stuff.... So when Dar was on stage and said mid-way through her set that she was going to play a request, we were like, oh my god, oh my god, she's going to do it, and you can imagine what that felt like! We could hardly believe that she was really playing it. :) After that, she said she was going to play another request, and mentioned how she played Newport for the first time four years ago, which launched her career, and this was one of the songs, and began playing C&P.... Mike R. was already standing, which was a good thing because I jumped up, tripped on something and lost my balance, almost fell on my friend Chris, then fell towards Mike and he caught me - no small feat, as those of you who've met me know. ;) I was _so_ excited, since I hadn't really requested it so much as told her it was a big favorite of mine, and she played it!!! Afterwards, Mike saw Dar again and thanked her. She told him that she had seen us in the audience jumping around and gave him a big hug. Dar is the coolest! Peace, Fran E. Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 20:01:11 -0500 From: "Tawni T. Hoang" Reply-To: tth111@psu.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Catie Curtis List Subject: The Truth Is.. Catie's still the best Sender: owner-catielist@cgrg.ohio-state.edu Precedence: bulk Am I really back here in Pennsylvania, behind this desk, slouching in this chair? I'm looking around, my guitar's leaning on the corner wall, my bed's unmade, my books are everywhere, and my luggage is still sitting unpacked, like it's ready for another grand trip. My head is either cloudy from physical exhaustion or from dreamy thoughts of the weekend. Maybe both. Jenn posted her review of Catie and Newport and asked for some other opinions. Here's mine: [snip] We ended the day thinking how Sunday could ever top Saturday. It did. It started with a race at seven am, my first ever bike race. For many, the Newport Folk Fest is a test of physical endurance, strength, and sheer desire to see your heroes up close and in your face. There are two gates, the first that opens anywhere from 6 to 7 am, where a mad sprint via bike or legs marks your position in line at the second gate. I don't know if it was me or the gods, but I beat out the pack and reached that second gate with only one other fellow cyclist with six gates to choose from. What a rush. And well worth the effort. We ended up front and center at the stage. When Ani sang, "Squint your eyes a little closer.." she looked right at me! The music was exquisite. No problems with the sound for us. I decided to forego Dar's set for a chance to see the magnificent "Picky" at the Harbour Stage. As Jenn mentioned, she did have problems with the sound, but once again, Catie showed that she is just cool and incredibly nice. Although she was "picky" about the double notes coming out of one guitar string pluck, she apologized repeatedly for giving the sound guys such a hard time. I wasn't annoyed by the sound, because Catie didn't look like she was, just patient and totally confident that they could fix it. Her dad did come up on stage with her on Dad's Yard, and I thought Catie was blushing. At one point she laughed and said that she couldn't look at him. I didn't get throaghty on it like I usually do, just kind of laughed thinking it's funny and embarrassing to be singing such a sentimental song in front of the person it's about. That was one highlight during her set. The other was when Dar came on to sing Soulfully with Catie. She had a small amount of time before she had her own set at the main stage, so she came up with Catie and immediately blurted, "I'm a huge Catie Curtis fan!!", making my day and the many who chose to see Catie. The last two songs, Catie invited Julie Wolf (I love her!) to help sing backup on You Can Always Be Gone and Memphis. Julie and Catie sound great together. Catie sang her new song, Burn Your Own House Down (my guess at the title) which I love!! After Catie's set, I went back to meet my friends in front of the main stage. And I saw Ani, she's awesome. It's cute when she forgets lyrics, and makes up things - that rhyme! I was close enough to see the duct tape on her Lee Press-On nails, and that her guitar playing is phenomenal. I liked what looked like a backpacker guitar she used too. To close out the weekend, the Indigo Girls came out to play. Quite well, as always. There's really nothing like a good ol' fashion folk sing-a-long to a Girls song. After commenting how gracious it was for Ben and Jerry to give out free ice-cream, they threw out a guitar pick. I was lucky to snatch it up and am now a proud owner of an IG pick for It's Alright. I was so happy. At the end of their set, they invited Catie and Dar and Julie and Sara Lee and Andy Stochanski and Rose Polenzani (awesome) and Michelle Malone to come out and sing with them. Catie and Julie stood right in front of me!!! Catie was beaming. Her eyes looked out at the thousands and thousands of fans on their feet and then at all the talent on stage, and I knew she was thinking, this is incredible. Catie's incredible! So what kind of flowers does she like? A happy and contented fan, Tawni From: Nikki2213@aol.com Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 18:34:20 EDT To: catielist@cgrg.ohio-state.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: Newport and Julie Wolf Sender: owner-catielist@cgrg.ohio-state.edu Precedence: bulk So I was at Newport,( sorry I don't have a great travel story to tell, we just drove up from NJ).....and anyway I was all excited to go see Michelle Malone, Catie Curtis, Dar Williams, Ani Difranco (who I love) and of course the Indigo Girls. Well, we started out the day by seeing Amy Fairchild, who by the way I had heard of but never listened to. I thought she was great and she put on a great show for the little amount of people who came to hear her. Well, then after Amy my friends and I just floated around speaking with friends and people we didn't even know. Then we decided to go see Trina Hamlin since we had missed her on the main stage. Once again I was amazed by a second stage performer. I think my Best friend, my girlfriend and I all almost had an orgasm when Trina played Hendrix's Angel. I really thought I was going to cry during that song. Then of course came the beautiful and talented Michelle Malone and she too put on an amazing performance. Oh and she looked so cute in her sunglasses...but anyway that's for another day. Now to get onto what I thought was the performance of the day which was Catie. I stood there leaning right on the fence in front in awe the whole show. I screamed and clapped and laughed during the whole show but my amazement came when Julie Wolf joined Catie on stage. For those of you who were at the show I was the loud mouth who screamed really really loud when Julie came on stage. See like I said before I really love Ani Difranco and I have seen her live like 12 times now and Julie joined Ani's band this year. When I saw Ani live for the first time this year and Julie was with her I was amazed by what Julie brought to Ani's show. I thought Julie was amazing. When Julie came on stage with Catie my heart almost stopped. So with this whole story I have just told about my Newport experience I have one request to ask of you all......you see my seeing Julie play with Catie I have become somewhat obsessed with her. So my request is .....if any of ya'll have any pictures or info on Julie Wolf I would greatly appreciate if you could pass them along my may. Thank you ahead of time. PS By the way I thought both Ani and the Indigo Girls were amazing too. For me Newport was the best concert of the year. ~nikki~ Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 17:40:08 -0600 From: alex.teitz@state.co.us Subject: Newport - better late I had to chime in about Newport. It was incredible and terrific in ways that will never be described here. [snip] Sunday, Trina Hamlin has me curious. Cheryl Wheeler had me rolling with laughter. Loudon Wainwright III should not be invited back. He was the only one laughing to his own sick, demented humor. Dar. I can't wait until October for Cry,Cry,Cry. She was terrific. We should have been standing from the get go. Ani. It's been years since I've seen her. She is still "Animal" on stage. It won't be years before I see her again. Indigo Girls. Another WOW. Great gratitude for giving Rose Polenzani the main stage, and bring Michelle Malone back on. The standing O's and finale were worth the price of admission from day one. Every lister that I met (when I could breathe or not); It was a pleasure. I can't wait to see the photos from dinner. Scott's shots from the festival were great. I can't say enough even if I tried. Next year I may try for Newport & FRFF. I will be returning. Better late than never for a wonderful review. All my best, and still recovering. Alex Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 06:14:05 -0700 (PDT) From: Kyle Heather Subject: newbies, newport To: catielist@cgrg.ohio-state.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Sender: owner-catielist@cgrg.ohio-state.edu Precedence: bulk [snip] So... I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Newport Folk Festival as well :) And we had pretty good seats too.. about 25 ft from stage :) I have never seen so many amazing musicians in one place at one time! Trina Hamlin is incredible,folks, check her out if you get the chance! She's on my "to-buy" list as of Sunday :) I also really enjpoyed the chance to see Dar and Catie sing together... and to hear the "grand finale" of The Indigo Girls, Dar, Catie, Julie Wolf, Andy Stochanski (sp! Ani's drummer...)and Sarah Lee all performing 2 songs together. Wow, I don't think I will ever hear those people sing togethr again... so much talent on the same stage. Well, I too was THRILLED that Catie played Burn Your Own House Down. I hadn't heard the new verse yet. Well it just completes the song. I feel SO lucky to have been able to hear this song grow and chance and evolve over the past months. (I was fortuneate enough to be in the audience the first time she played it live, the day after she wrote it :) Everytime I hear it it is a little different. It just gets better and better!) Btw, since people are posting lyrics, if anyone wants the words t ths one email me :) I've only hear the new verse once though, so I don't know *it* yet, but I've got the rest of it swimming around in my head :) Thank you for the lyrics to What's the Matter!!!!! I hope Catie does not think the sound problems ruined the show. She dealt with it all so beautifully. I admit I was a bit frustrated at first when i couldn't hear Jimmy's mandolin (which adds *so* much to the music, Jimmy is awesome!) But She managed to pull it all off and kepp the audience happy and attent and dancing (well, the dancing part speaking for myself anyway!) It was a really awesome concert. Felt a little odd seeing her perform with so many people though, all crammed in together like a *concert* concert.. but odd in a good way. I am so happy so many people are discovering her music and were there to listen and show their support, despite Dar's set conflicting. (Which, btw, I caught the tail end of. She was really good too :) We got out of Caties's show and hear the Christains and the Pagans drifing across the park, which is my gf's fave. Dar song, so I grabbed her hand and we went running acrosss, dodging through all the people, sing at the top of our lungs! LOL!) Ok, so I have ramblled for long enough... back to work now... @>--Kyle == \|/--------\|/--------\|/--------\|/--------\|/--------\|/ "The limits of my language are the limits of my world." - Ludwig Wittgenstein http://gossamer.wheatonma.edu/users/kgilbert/mainpage.html ICQ#12504099 _________________________________________________________ Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1998 18:06:05 -0400 From: Deb Subject: Re: Newport Review/Thanks to Elaine At 07:09 PM 8/10/98 , Kelly Fairbairn wrote: >Who booted this? I am looking for copies of possibly Catie Curtis (I >missed her because I wanted to see Dar!), Too bad! One of my highlights was Dar singing "Soulfully" at the start of Catie's set! It's a shame they played so close together on separate stages, they have significant overlap between their fan bases. > either of Trina Hamlin's sets, No kidding! She was great! [snip] Michelle Malone's set on the Harbor Stage on Sunday was pretty good, though I was frustrated by the rude MM fans who pushed in front of everyone after Trina Hamlin's set... MM was talking and gesturing to someone off-stage, and I suspect that if so many weren't expecting it, and people weren't crowding the small stage, Amy would have surfaced, but that's pure speculation. The 2nd stage just made my life too complicated... so much music, frustrating not to get to it all! -- Deb \\ indigo@mindspring.com \\ http://www.mindspring.com/~indigo Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1998 00:02:36 EDT From: Barbara Todd Subject: Re: Newport Review/Thanks to Elaine << MM was talking and gesturing to someone off-stage, and I suspect that if so many weren't expecting it, and people weren't crowding the small stage, Amy would have surfaced, but that's pure speculation.>> OK, I was on the left side of the stage and Amy was there! She was sitting by a rock just outside of the concert area across the service road into the Fort. I think MM got a raw deal because of Amy making everyone on that side of the stage kinda crazy and then there was this bus that had to turn around and almost hit the fencing. My thought at the time was that it was Annie's bus. Who knows! I think MM might have been waving at Sara Lee. In some of the pictures I took and from having been there, I think Sara Lee was sitting ON the rock while Amy was just behind the rock out of view. Kris, Carrie, or Kate, does this sound right to you? Anyway, MM was wonderful, but she did get a tad upset when fans yelled out song names to her. Why do you think that was? And Carrie said that MM did not seem 100% because after she would be on the main stage with A&E, she would go off and sit down, and that she looked exhausted. Well, that is my story and I am sticking to it ... until proven wrong! Babs Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1998 00:46:36 EDT From: Barbara Todd Subject: Re: Newport Review/Thanks to Elaine << My thought at the time was that it was Annie's bus. >> ANI! Gotta love spell check! Babs! Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 01:30:24 -0400 From: Marivel Danielson Subject: Leftovers from 9:30/Newport/Musikfest... So I made it back and managed to avoid killing yet another roadtripping companion. One more to go this month. Jami, may the force be with you! Pray for her y'all. Well so I couldn't let this week go without a few really quick notes about this past weeks shows. Newport. Um. All I can say is it's a good thing I started training early. Scary. But it was really worth it for Sunday's lineup (in addition to catching Amy on Saturday for the end of Nanci's set). Can anyone figure out why they put Michelle on the B stage in the first place? Anyway, somebody talked about how she seemed a little upset about some song requests. What I recall is that someone kept requesting the "biscuit song" and she finally said she wasn't going to do it cause she was trying to do some newer material and didn't want to do the other stuff. She said this in a sort of apologetic way and then someone in the audience (perhaps the same person) said something about how she whined badly. Something like that. Sort of heckling her attempt at an explanation. So if I heard all that correctly I'd understand why she got pissed at the shouted requests after that. But then again, what the heck do I know? [snip] Marivel