Paul Robicheau
One of the best things about the 40-minute selection from “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” that stood at the center of guitarist Steve Hackett’s near-three-hour show was its focus on the music without visual bolstering.
At a time when the world’s aflame, David Byrne ignited creative camaraderie, a dazzling experience that lingers in mind and spirit.
On this night, it was clear that Brittany Howard’s status as a force of nature came not from her bellowing vocals so much as the soulful subtleties she wove into high notes.
The Pogues leaned on their instrumental breadth when they took the Suffolk Downs stage as an 11-piece ensemble augmented at times by guest singers and a three-piece horn section.
Playing nearly 60 songs across a trio of near-three-hour shows, jam-rockers Widespread Panic certainly made their return to Boston count.
But this wasn’t just a night for the hits. It was an occasion for raw, in-the-trenches rock (none of Aerosmith’s later commercial dreck) and rarely, if ever, played songs.
The band tucked two songs from its new album into a career-spanning 95-minute show tilted toward six tunes from the Black Keys’ 2010 commercial breakthrough “Brothers.”
Newport Jazz sold out all three days in advance for the second year in a row, which made scheduling the primary acts across three stages prone to occasional mismatches between space and demand. But it’s still a golden ticket.
Despite the passing years, personal loss, and shifting musical roles, Wednesday’s 80-minute set proved that everything’s indeed ok with TV on the Radio.
Newport Folk Festival will likely never deliver cameos as ground shaking as those in 2022, when stars aligned for Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon to grace separate tributes. But it doesn’t have to, given that there’s so much talent already on site.
Arts Commentary: The Orchestra Gap — Europe vs. the US