In a normal year, a few thousand lucky ticket-holders would be descending on Fort Adams in Rhode Island right now for the Newport Folk Festival, gearing up for a series of one-off performances in one of the most stunning settings imaginable.
One unforgettable Newport performance happened in 2017, when John Prine headlined with an all-star set. His guests included Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon — who sang “Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)” — Jim James (who covered “All The Best”), Margo Price (“In Spite of Ourselves”), and Nathaniel Rateliff (“Sam Stone” with Prine.)
The biggest surprise of the night came at the end, when Roger Waters walked onstage. The Pink Floyd legend had not been on the Newport Schedule that year. Waters, Prine, and Lucius delivered a heartbreaking “Hello in There,” Prine’s empathetic song about elderly loneliness.
