New Bedford Folk Festival Day #2 ~ 2019 July 7 ~ William Street Stage, Seamen's Bethel, Purchase Street Stage ~ New Bedford, MA
Set List (The Kennedys at the William Street Stage)
Life Is Large - Umbrella - Gulf Coast Highway {Nanci Griffith} - Bluebonnet Spring - Union - I Found a Road - Fireflies - 9th Street Billy - Namaste - Your Costume's In the Back {Pete reads from his book} - Mad Russian - Safe Until Tomorrow - Midnight Train to Georgia {Gladys Knight & the Pips} - Stand [with vocals from four local children]
Setlist also available on Setlist.fm
Set List (Seth Glier at the Seamen's Bethel)
Let It Be {The Beatles - played on church organ} - Love Is a Language - Justice For All - Birds - Like I Do - Water On Fire - I'm Still Looking - White Male Heterosexual - Next Right Thing
Setlist also available on Setlist.fm
Scroll past the videos for comments on the festival.
Videos
"I Found a Road" (The Kennedys)
"Stand" (The Kennedys with four local children who are sisters)
Review
Day 2 at the New Bedford Folk Festival was not quite as hot a day as Day 1. But there were some issues getting there. It was the Sunday of a glorious summer weekend which started on Thursday, the 4th of July. There were about twelve zillion visitors on Cape Cod this long weekend, and most of them decided to leave for home in the late morning this Sunday. What is normally a 35 minute drive for me to New Bedford turned into an hour and a half. We still got to the first show we wanted to see, The Kennedys at the William Street Stage, on time. We wound up standing outside the tent but we got a better view from there anyway, and got to dance around a bit when Pete and Maura played the uptempo instrumental "The Mad Russian." And I was able to get some pretty good pictures and video (see above). A highlight was Pete reading a very funny segment from his memoir Tone, Twang, and Taste. As in past years, the sisters from a local family were invited on stage for "Stand"; this year the youngest girl is old enough to join her sisters, making them a backing foursome.
After this performance Concert Going Partner and I found a handy spot to sit on Johnnycake Hill to eat the picnic lunch we'd had the sense to bring, and then we popped into the overly air conditioned Seamen's Bethel. We caught most of the set by the father and son duo Bourque Émissaires whose upbeat and fun Quebecois music is very enjoyable. They were singing without benefit of microphone, always a good thing in the folk world.
Next up was Seth Glier, who began his fifty-minute set at the back of the room, performing The Beatles' "Let It Be" on the church organ, with Rachel Coats accompanying him on guitar. This performance transformed the song into a true anthem, and I dare say it was the single highlight of the weekend for me. Seth then moved to the stage for the rest of his set, accompanied by Rachel on bass and vocals on most songs, and also by two other women (one of whom, I understand, is his new bride) on a couple of other songs. I don't know the names of these two musicians. Seth is an extraordinary singer and songwriter with a very serious approach to the world, but I have found out this weekend he can also do a funny song; "White Male Heterosexual" is laugh-out-loud funny.
There was one moment during Seth's set that I need to criticize, but it wasn't anything he did. The Folk Festival staff person whose job is to introduce the performers, around halfway through Seth's set, decided to insert herself into his performance, interrupted him, and patronizingly explained that since this was the "Meet the Performer Stage," he ought to be taking questions from the audience. Seth had been humming along doing just fine without this interruption, and I could feel the collective cringe of embarrassment from the audience. Seth then took a little pause and asked if anyone had any questions, but since we had all come to hear him sing, no one did. He recovered nicely and the rude interruption was forgotten.
My weekend finished up at the Purchase Street Stage with a workshop featuring Don White, a singer-songwriter we'd seen the day before; the fab Zoë Lewis (seeing her for the fourth time this weekend); blues master Guy Davis; and comedic musical combo Gerry Colvin Trio. All the performers were good, and Guy Davis was really great. I had never seen him before, and wished that I had caught one of his complete sets during the festival, but you can't be in two places at once. He excelled on two different guitars, one a lovely 12-string, sang a cappella on one song, made unusual sounds on a harmonica. His songs ran the gamut from humorous to serious, and during one of the songs he invited the female member of the Gerry Colvin Trio to dance with him. Workshop leader Don White is to be commended for being humble enough to forego his final turn in the performer rotation so that he, and the audience, could hear another song from each of the other three.
The New Bedford Folk Festival is the only festival I usually go to, since I generally prefer going to a show by a specific performer. It's a great opportunity to get to hear a variety of music for a very good price. I was very happy with this year's selection of the various varieties of acoustic music, including blues, Celtic, singer-songwriter, and funny songs.
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