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Newport Folk Festival 2025: Live updates from the fest
Follow along for all of the best photos, videos, and stories from all three days at this year's Newport Folk Festival.
Newport Folk:
Newport Folk Festival is back this Friday-Sunday for another year of folk-ish artists (heavy on the ish) leaving it all on the stage, endless rows of bicycle parking, numerous stops at water bottle filling stations, and — most of all — bopping along to the beat.
For the last 65 years, folks (haha) have gathered in the Fort Adams State Park to enjoy the sun, sea, and sunburn of Newport Folk Festival. This year’s stacked lineup is set to bring together eclectic voices from one of Barack Obama’s 2024 favorites, Waxahatchee, along with the fowl-forward offerings of bands Goose and Geese, and diverse artists from Public Enemy to Jeff Tweedy. (Check out Boston.com’s list of must-see acts here.)
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Infamous for selling tickets before the lineup is announced, Newport Folk is always full of surprises. After all, it has to live up to the climactic scene in 2024’s “A Complete Unknown” — where a young Bob Dylan performed his controversial electric set on the 1965 Newport Folk Festival stage.
Couldn’t get tickets, or looking to know about sets you couldn’t quite make it to? Here’s the latest from behind the barricade at Fort Adams State Park.
‘O Newport, My Newport‘: More surprises and other great moments
Besides Matt Berninger (see below), the second surprise set was James Austin Johnson, also on the bike stage — he of SNL Donald Trump impression fame. Sadly he wasn’t announcing a new Bob Dylan cover band, but he did a comedic exaggeration of Dylan’s “The Man In Me” (after roasting the way the singer’s voice has aged).
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Newport Folk Festival — with its surprise sets and more surprising thunder storms — has almost too many highlights to pick just one. So here are a handful of other great moments:
- Babies wearing noise cancelling headphones, generally;
- Dehd’s foot-tapping rendition of their song “Bad Love” – there were couples, friends, and the aforementioned babies swayed with their hands in the air on the Harbour stage;
- The Lemonheads’ Evan Dando talking about his paintings on stage;
- All of Remi Wolf’s friends (guest singers) during the Remi Wolf and Friends set.
- The folks behind Best Folking Friends and their yearly, custom mystery shirts – hats off you to you if you managed to grab one
Surprise set: The National’s Matt Berninger makes his choice (Sunday afternoon)
Sunday’s surprise set on the Bike stage – which you could possibly guess from the name – is powered by green energy from both solar panels and bikes.
Matt Berninger – known as the frontman of indie rock band The National – made the choice to quit his career in advertising to start the band. During his surprise set, he continued to do so.
After greeting the audience, Berninger said he would be playing a song off his recently released second solo album Get Sunk. Although the set was only around 25 minutes long, Berninger packed it with a solid heaping of whimsy.
During “No Love” – the first song of the surprise set – he made a small X and then a heart on the words “no love.” During a rendition of his 2020 release “Distant Axis,” Berninger pointed towards the sky. During another number, he pretended to run away from the bikes powering the stage.
“I thought I’d do something with the bikes … anybody get that,” he said, chuckling.
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Berninger is whimsical on the bike stage – and the audience is glad for it.
Jensen McRae is that girl (Sunday)
Jensen McRae was the coolest girl in the world at Newport Folk Festival on the Harbour stage on Sunday.
“God Has A Hitman” begins her set, and the hits just kept on coming. That first song begins what is a set of a few consistencies – her quick-witted remarks to the audience that show a deep intelligence, her insane vocal aptitude, and her powerfully evocative lyrics.
Her music and her banter on stage are open with the audience – she makes a point to divulge that her song “Savannah” is based on a time in her mid-20s when two different men asked her to come to Savannah, Georgia.
The aforementioned “Savannah” and “Let Me Be Wrong” – before which she gave a shoutout to her eldest daughters in the audience – were highlights of the set. McRae is like a morally upstanding wildfire – her voice is warm with a slight roughness akin to smoke, her presence is infectious like flames that catch on dry grasses, and she is so, so bright.
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Bostonians might recognize her viral song “Massachusetts” – released formally in her 2025 album I Don’t Know How But They Found Me! and the last of her set – which the singer told the crowd was a Back To The Future Reference.
Thought daughters everywhere stand and clap for Jensen McRae – she’s on an incredibly well-deserved rise.
Waxahatchee brought the best of southern charm (Saturday evening)
Waxahatchee, née Katie Crutchfield, was a sparkling marvel on the Fort stage early Saturday evening.
On the giant stage, which faces out towards an endless number of watercraft and a sky full of clouds, Crutchfield’s voice rang true. Throughout the crowd, groups of friends danced and twirled to her first slew of songs, from “3 Sisters” to “Bored.”
There was even a sighed, “I wish I could sing” from somewhere amidst the throng of fans. As far as crowd feedback goes, it is completely apt. Crutchfield’s vocal performance is unblurred – it allows her powerful lyrics to shine.
There’s a theory in graphic design that the most effective work is that which goes almost unnoticed – like a crystal goblet which allows whatever liquid it’s holding to be the star of the experience. Crutchfield’s vocals are a lot like that. Not that they’re not impressive, because they are. But that her performance is so consistently powerful it builds the foundation for a focus on the lyrics and the band’s instrumental power as well.
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Crutchfield’s set is suited towards the Fort stage – where the sound waves don’t just travel through the air surrounding the stage and into the crowd, but rather, make themselves at home in the ground and in the bones of audience members.
“This is my favorite song off Tigers Blood,” the Grammy-nominated alt-country singer said before playing “Crowbar.”
Crutchfield brought out Friday’s prince of Newport Folk alt rock – MJ Lenderman – for the fan favorite single off her 2024 album Tigers Blood, “Right Back to It.” Lenderman made repeat appearances throughout the set to volunteer harmonies for portions of Crutchfield’s set list.
With a performance that made good on the legacy of Newport Folk’s Fort Stage, Waxahatchee brought the best of southern charm to Rhode Island.
flipturn knows how to put on a live show (Saturday afternoon)
flipturn, who gained national traction in 2018 with their EP Citrona, are getting their Newport Folk Festival flowers belatedly – but the bouquet is extremely full.
The band – made up of Dillon Basse on vocals, Tristan Duncan on guitar, Madeline Jarman on bass, Mitch Fountain on guitar and synthesizer, and Devon VonBalson on drums – has performed at festivals from Lollapalooza to Governor’s Ball to Bonnaroo, but they made their Newport Folk Festival debut Saturday afternoon.
“We’re going to have a really fun set with y’all,” said Basse. There’s a familiarity to the vivid synthesizer that is featured for a portion of the set.
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Oftentimes, when making the choice to attend a band’s set live, there’s a question amongst festival and concert-goers, “Are they any good live?”
For flipturn, the live setting makes them shine even more than the recorded, streamable version many fans are used to. From behind a computer screen, there’s no sense of the scale of the group’s sonic chops – or the smiles on their faces shining on each other and the audience.
Basse’s powerhouse vocals were a standout part of the set – he should see if Broadway needs a leading man for a rock jukebox musical. Jarman’s musicality and energy seemed to empower the crowd on that side
Although the group is listed as an “indie rock” band when searching for their genre classification, this live performance truly embodied that spirit.
The masses of people who stopped to watch the band play made it slightly difficult to move through the area surrounding the Quad stage – perhaps pointing to a need for a transfer to a larger stage should the band play Newport Folk again.
Planning on stopping in to a Rhode Island Dunkin’ on the way to Sunday’s festival or need to try out a new order? We have the Florida-originated band’s Dunkin’ orders right here:
Dillon – Dunkachinos
Devon – Dunkalatte with an extra shot of espresso
Madeline – Medium iced coffee with cream & sugar with hashbrowns
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Tristan – Matcha
Mitch – Glazed donut and a blueberry frosted donut
Saya Gray is a shot of espresso
Saya Gray – a Canadian powerhouse who worked as a touring bassist for a decade before releasing her debut EP in 2022 – entered the Quad Stage on a bed of sound.
A looping beat began her song “PUDDLE (OF ME )” – she entered waving. There’s an essential energy to her and her bandmates that aligns perfectly with her bright, ethereal vocals. There are tight harmonies and bounding beats – helped by Gray bopping around on one foot and wearing a fox tail.
“Newport, how are we [expletive] feeling?” she asked the crowd. “This is iconic. … Iconic”
Gray told the crowd that their flight lost all their gear, so they were playing on gear they borrowed from other artists playing the festival. The audience would have had no idea if she hadn’t mentioned it – their energy and the strength of the material they played more than made up whatever minimal difference there might’ve been.
“…THUS IS WHY” and “SHELL OF A (MAN)” were highlights of the set.
Gray’s music has twang, swinging energy, and electronic undertones, which speak to her great capabilities as an instrumentalist and solo artist.
There’s a video that the internet loves of Andrew Garfield saying Emma Stone is like “a shot of espresso.” This set was a lot like that.
Diana Silvers, Dan and Peggy Reeder are frankly a great time (Saturday)
Diana Silvers, who fans might remember from “Booksmart,” struck exactly the right tone with morning festival-goers.
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“I can’t believe I get to play Newport Folk Festival, it’s insane,” she said to fans gathered around the bike stage.
She’s incredibly honest with the crowd – even calling out when she missed a chord unbeknownst to listeners. Her voice was clear, her lyrics were observantly honest, and her presence on stage was calming in the early afternoon sun.
She introduced a song she wrote following the One Big Beautiful Bill Act being passed, which she called the “Big Bastardly Bill,” named “Politician.”
Newport Folk Festival – a festival which stands on the ground of protest songs of years past – was the exact right place to add that to the set list.
“He won’t ever understand what it means to be a real man,” she sang. “When he breaks you in two, he will boast of all he’s done for you.”
On the harbour stage, Dan Reeder, who was famously signed by John Prine’s Oh Boy Records prior to the release of his self-titled debut album in 2003 after sending him a CD of his songs, was equally frank. He was joined by his daughter, Peggy Reeder, on stage.
Amidst the crowd, couples and friends held each other tighter – completely endeared to the pair. Following a heart-warming rendition of “Angels May,” which mentions eating ravioli straight out of the can, Reeder told a story.
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Reeder said that though he’s received many disgusted comments from listeners about eating cold ravioli, he told viewers that you don’t eat cold ravioli out of the hand for the taste, you do it for the taste of independence.
You run away when you’re 10, he said, and when you crack into that tin can of ravioli sitting in the bushes, you find yourself saying, “This is going well.”
There’s an approachability to these artists, a level of discussion that feels like you’re talking to someone you know well instead of watching admired musicians and actors on stage.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Jack Antinoff’s Talent Show (Friday evening)
If MJ Lenderman is the prince of alt-rock, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are seasoned rulers.
Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase, make up the sonic outfit. During live performances, their second guitarist, David Pajo, can also be heard.
O graced the stage in a glittering red jumpsuit with golden accents — throughout the outfit and hairdo. This band has 25 years of experience winning over crowds with the strength of O’s crystalline voice alongside the precisely out-of-this-world technical strength — and a rock ‘n’ roll attitude, of course.
O said the group is on a very special tour, including more strings on stage, acoustic guitars, and more “vulnerability.” They also covered “Hyperballad” by Björk.
Shortly after, Jack Antonoff (Bleachers) took the main stage for The Ally Coalition Talent Show. Throughout the performance, the audience was treated to surprise guests, from Waxahatchee and Dan and Peggy Reeder (who are both playing Saturday) to Weyes Blood and Haley Williams.
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There were covers and originals and a live debut of Haley Williams’s new song “Mirtazapine” — and we have Antonoff and The Ally Coalition to thank for bringing together the avengers of indie pop rock.
Geese rock the festival (Friday afternoon)
Everything was coming into fowl focus at Newport Folk Festival for the bands Goose and Geese, who played within a matter of hours of each other — pre-thunderstorm watch that is.
Geese, whose frontman Cameron Winter has been all the rage on r/indieheads this year, was formed in 2016 in the place where many of those r/indieheads likely post from — Brooklyn, New York.
On stage, you’ll find Cameron Winter (on vocals and keyboards), Emily Green (on guitar), Dominic DiGesu (on bass), Max Bassin (on drums), and Sam Revaz (their live keyboardist).
Winter already had his vocal warm-up on the Bicycle stage earlier in the day. His unique, deep warble has a strong capability to pull you in and never let you back out. So, with a full band, there’s a plethora of opportunities to send the sound into a whole other world.
Winter, wearing sunglasses despite the shaded nature of the stage, began with a “Hello Newport Folk Festival we’re the rock band.”
There’s a youthfulness to Geese, and not just because of their number of years on the planet. It’s a feeling of coolness — like asking your 14-year-old sister what’s cool in ninth grade now. Not that the band is juvenile, but more than they seem to be on the edge of something new and burgeoning.
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“Half Real” was a standout from the interrupted performance — with drums akin to a marching tune and a building sense of scale.
“Rest in peace Ozzy Osbourne,” Winter said.
The band has an energy that makes you want to stand up and pay attention. The scale and size of the band’s technical performance also raise the bar on Winter’s warm, booming vocals that ground each of their tunes.
MJ Lenderman is your friend and an alt-rock prince (Friday afternoon)
After a pause and shelter-in-place drill for inclement weather, MJ Lenderman took the stage.
“They think they can stop us, but they can’t stop us,” he said out into the damp crowd.
“Manning Fireworks” — a slow, waltzy tune that was the title track from Lenderman’s most recent album and a critic’s darling — began the set.
Lenderman is no stranger to Newport Folk Festival, appearing last year with indie darling Wednesday. Now he’s back, bringing his endearing, indieish-countryish-alt-rock sound with him.
It’s been an amazing year for Lenderman and his meme-able “Last of Us”-style horde of MJ Lenderman dudes.
“Joker Lips” made the cut early on the setlist. The claps and cheers of fans soon turned to nodding and stamping of feet to the room-filling (although the stage is open air) guitar and drums of the next tune — “Wristwatch.”
The way that Lenderman sways and sings in front of the mic, both at attention and relaxed at once, makes him seem at once familiar and unrecognizable.
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He’s someone that you know — the guy who’s your friend of a friend who’s somehow great at pool after two beers — and he’s an insanely, out-of-this-world talented writer and musician — who has a dedicated subreddit of fans.
“Thank you so much,” he said. “I’m MJ Lenderman and this is The Wind.”
Lenderman’s And The Wind (Live and Loose!) — originally released in 2021 — features the talents of Jon Samuels on guitar, Colin Miller on drums, Xandy Chelmis on pedal steel guitar, Ethan Baechtold on bass guitar, and Alex Farrar, who did the mixing and mastering in the recorded version.
Lenderman’s guitar skills, which he said in an interview with Far Out are honed mostly from imitation and collaboration, are a palpable presence and force during the set.
His voice’s unique tenor and quotidian (but fanciful in many regards) references to things like Disney World (“Toontown”) and avoiding getting his heart broken by becoming a Catholic priest (“Catholic Priest”) sucks the crowd into his universe.
S.G. Goodman, whose set happened a little earlier in the day, joined the group on stage.
“If you like first initials and last names,” said Lenderman to the crowd before the beginning guitar notes of “She’s Leavin You” brought the crowd’s phones to attention.
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Goodman joined Lenderman for a portion of the set. Her bright and light vocals filled out a few of the later set list choices.
All bets of not being pulled into Lenderman’s fab ship were off when the crowd started moving into one big mass towards the stage in sheer excitement.
“What the hell happened?” asked Lenderman to the now gathered crowd in front of him.
“You may find me awake,” he sang during “On My Knees” to a sudden (yet seemingly on an unknown cue) synchronized yell from the front few rows.
“You Have Bought Yourself A Boat,” “SUV,” and other songs also made an appearance throughout the set.
Of course, the last song of the set, “Knockin’,” is Lenderman’s most Bob-Dylan-centered offering.
Hats off to the heir apparent to the alt-rock throne — MJ Lenderman.
A brief pause (Friday afternoon)
In the midst of a rock and roll set from Geese, there was a (hopefully) brief interruption.
Organizers took the stage to announce that a thunderstorm required all attendants to begin a shelter-in-place drill.
“It is our intent to continue,” said organizers to the crowd.
Droves of people made their way out of the festival grounds, with instructions to listen in for radio updates about the status of the rest of the day’s lineup.
According to the National Weather Service, the severe thunderstorm watch will last until 9 p.m.
Alex G knows what he’s doing (Friday afternoon)
Less than a week after the release of his tenth album Headlights on July 18, Alexander Giannascoli, better known to fans as Alex G, took to the Quad stage.
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“Hello. Thank you. I’m Alex, this is Molly,” said Giannascoli before launching into “Afterlife” — a head-bopping treatise on themes of getting older and beginning “another life” as our lived circumstances change.
Headlights received an impressive 8.5 from the notoriously picky reviewers at Pitchfork, and is the singer-songwriter’s first release on a major label – RCA Records, who he signed with in 2024 to be exact. Giannascoli is now a father and a more adult version of the DIY-Bandcamp, it-boy original fans came to love.
“When I was a kid, I would do one take, if that, or just half a take and copy and paste, and I’d be like, It’s perfect. Everything I do is perfect. It’s just the best. Now I’m like, Oh sh*t, this is not good enough. I need to do it again and again,” said Giannascoli in an interview with Pitchfork about his new album.
Molly Germer, sharing the stage with Giannascoli, added an essential depth and fullness to the live arrangement — which Giannascoli began on guitar.
The singer-songwriter then brought the audience back to pre-pandemic years with a rendition of “Southern Sky,” complete with a little bit of tambourine.
“We got another song,” he said before playing another song from his 2019 EP House of Sugar. His voice and diction are crystal clear, bounding out to the gathered crowd members who nod their heads to the beat .
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“We didn’t anticipate not being able to see each other,” he said as Germer moved to sit at a tall piano on stage.
“Runner” — a fan favorite from his discography — rang out as a sea of phones rose like a wave at high tide to meet the melody.
“Really historic festival, it seems like,” said Giannascoli. “I saw that movie about Bob Dylan recently.”
“June Guitar” — a personal favorite and the first track of Headlights — made the open air stage seem small, personal even. The vocal performance and diction, precise guitar playing, and Giannascoli’s simple, confident stage presence seemed to elevate the song, garnering raucous applause.
That vocal clarity made the lyrics on his next song, “Real Thing” — the second song off Headlights — shine brightly.
Taking us back to that it-boy, the pair played “I Wait For You” from his 2011 EP “EASY” before Giannascoli announced to the crowd they’d be playing another one — to laughter. The cheers began from the first pass over the guitar on “Bobby” — which some crowd members even sang the harmony line for.
Germer’s excellent, emotional violin seemed to speak to the much-needed breeze which ruffled through audience members. The set contained a mix of songs for any Alex G fan new or old — from “Far and Wide” to “Sportstar” to “Bad Man” to “Hope” — which Giannascoli mentioned was a request.
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“In the Bob Dylan movie he plays electric at Newport Foll Festival and people didn’t like it … anyway, I thought you would like this,” he said before motioning to his acoustic guitar — to laughter from the audience.
There are artists that can make music and perform for a long time and there are artists who seem to eventually lose the interest of the public as their lives, and therefore their material, changes; I believe that (if he so chooses) Alex G will be playing to adoring crowds for his whole life. They will follow him into each stage of his “Afterlife” and whatever happens after that.
Check back for updates as they’re posted!
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