Conan O’Brien Channels Bob Dylan in Epic Newport Folk Festival Debut

The famed American festival where Bob Dylan went electric in 1965 has played host to countless legends in its 65 year history, more recently Joni MItchell’s return to the stage in 2022, so this season it was a bit of a surprise when former television host and comedian Conan O’Brien with “real musicians” was announced as the main headliner.

Given Sunday night’s headlining spot at Newport Folk Festival has gained a reputation for paying tribute to past legends with an expectation for star-studded guest sets, with a bench as deep as Conan’s, speculation was rampant who would be joining him.

Of course his musical chops as a comedian are unquestioned, he’s responsible for “The Monorail Song” from The Simpsons, he’s played Chicago blues to school kids in a skit on his show, and he’s also recorded tunes at Jack White’s Third Man Records. If anything, the set could have benefited from more of Conan’s original comedic compositions.

Instead Conan relied on his musical director of 30 years, Jimmy Vivino, and the more than capable hands of Newport veterans rock band Dawes led by Taylor Goldsmith, who functioned as house band throughout the proceedings for a parade of guest stars, to put on a full fledged superjam.

Conan opened his set with a barnstorming rendition of Ronnie Hawkins “40 Days,” a 1959 cover version of a song originally titled “Thirty Days” by Chuck Berry in 1955 that paid tribute to Hank Williams.

Aside from being most band's preferred late night host, when he was on television there was no safer bet than Conan. It makes sense Conan would be a popular draw at Newport, especially after he was recently eulogized on social media, despite being well alive simply because people realized how much they appreciated him following his viral appearance on Hot Ones.

The Newport set could have been billed as the “Conan O’Brien Variety Hour” and you could easily picture this kind of jam going down in his Hollywood garage any random weekend, bringing the fans along this time he quickly earned his spot on the Newport stage.

For his first guest, Conan introduced longtime Newport fan favorite Langhorne Slim, which worked as an instant co-sign to the Fort Adams faithful who may have questioned what a talk show host was doing headlining the storied folk festival—something Conan addressed from the onset.

Conan said he was in a down place recently when a friend gave him Langhorne Slim & The Law’s “The Way We Move” album. But then, “after listening to it maybe 75 times in a row,” he “felt joy again.”

Joining Conan on the festival’s mainstage, Langhorne told him “sincerely, three highlights of my career and life are to continue to come back to Newport and the kindness and support you have showed me and to bring those things together is very fuckin’ special” before launching into an inspired version of his song “Found My Heart” with Conan joining along.

Nick Lowe flew in from London to join the set, performing his classics “So It Goes” and “Cruel to Be Kind,” from his time with Brinsley Schwarz. “I would not fly from London to do this!” Conan exclaimed jokingly after.

Then, declaring, “If you play the Newport folk festival you must pay homage to the great Bob Dylan” Conan recounted his first and only meeting the wry folk legend. “Suddenly we got invited backstage and we got pushed into a room, then I got pushed to the front of the room, suddenly there he is with the little thin thief mustache,” he said.

“Kind of Vincent Price,” Jimmy Vivino chimed in.

“Yeah, kind of a Vincent Price looking mustache,” Conan continued, “and he was there and he looked at me and I didn’t know what to say, and he pointed at me and said ‘I know you from the tee-vee’ [in a perfect Bob Dylan drawl] and then I got taken away and that was it. That’s all I got!”

“‘I know you from the TV,’ I should write a song called that,” the comedian mused before starting his take on a favorite Dylan song he joked was playing in the background when he lost his virginity a mere six years ago: “Buckets of Rain.”

Right as the song began the overcast skies finally gave way to a sprinkling rain shower, something a few in the crowd took as a sign to head out early to the ferry, and others, including Conan as a sign from above: “It started to rain as we played ‘Buckets of Rain,’ it’s because God is with us!” he mocked, before simultaneously backtracking in his trademark self-deprecating way: “What a crazy thing to say! He’s an egomaniac! I played a song about rain and it rained, therefore I am God!” while instantly laughing away the moment.

The comedy continued as longtime Conan-collaborator Triumph the Insult Comedy Dog took the stage to play a supposed Woody Guthrie classic song—a folk parody disparaging Conan, and his podcasts. While the whole bit was hounded by a sound issue, Conan hammed through it in a classic late-night style, teasing Robert Smigel’s creation sharply off the cuff finding him at his sarcastic best when things don’t go according to plan.

The musical highlight of the set may have come from Brittany Howard, of Alabama Shakes, covering Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love,” a song from 1974 who's enjoyed a resurgence of popularity since being featured on the Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack nearly a decade ago.

Special guests kept wowing the crowd, including Nathaniel Rateliff’s take "Everybody's Talkin' (Echoes)", the 1966 Fred Neil song popularized by Harry Nilsson in 1969, and Newport legend, R&B & Gospel singer, activist and certified brat Mavis Staples, who led the crowd in rousing version of her family’s 1972 hit “I’ll Take You There.”

The night’s final big surprise came when Conan introduced who he described as a “former upholster,” none other than Jack White, who joined for “a song about friendship” that also happens to be the theme song for his popular podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: "We're Going to Be Friends," the classic White Stripes standard, and presented Conan with a megalodon tooth fossil he bought as a gift.

The song has added significance for Conan’s career. For his last late night show for NBC, he “asked for the moon” and said he “would love it if Jack and Meg [The White Stripes] would come on the show, and perform ‘We’re Going to Be Friends’,” and “yes, they said they’d do it,” which remains the band’s final performance together.

For the finale several of the guests including Langhorne Slim, Nick Lowe, and Nathaniel Rateliff were joined by John C. Reilly, Wesley Schultz from the Lumineers, Andrew Bird, Madison Cunningham, Sierra Ferrell, Erin Rae, and a slew of the day's performers and whoever else could sneak on stage for a celebratory rendition of “Midnight Special.”

As everyone waved goodbye Conan caught the glimmer of a glowing orange sunset and directed the audience to really take it in: “That’s what it’s all about,” fully embodying the festival’s missive of “be present, be kind, be open, be together.”

Setlist (Dawes backing band for all songs)

1. Forty Days (Ronnie Hawkins Cover) performed by Conan O’Brien with Dawes

2. Ramblin’ Man (The Allman Brothers Band cover) performed by Dawes

3. Found My Heart (Langhorne Slim & The Law cover) performed by Conan O’Brien with Langhorne Slim

4. So It Goes (Nick Lowe song) performed by Nick Lowe

5. Cruel to be Kind (Brinsley Schwarz cover) performed by NIck Lowe

6. Buckets of Rain (Bob Dylan cover) performed by Conan O’Brien

7. Come and Get Your Love (Redbone Cover) performed by Brittany Howard

8. Everybody’s Talkin’ (Fred Neil cover) performed by Nathaniel Rateliff

9. Let It Bleed (The Rolling Stones cover) performed by Conan O’Brien with Nathaniel Rateliff

10. I’ll Take You There (The Staples Singers cover) performed by Mavis Staples

11. We’re Going to Be Friends (The White Stripes cover) performed by Conan O’Brien with Jack White

12. Twenty Flight Rock (Eddie Cochran cover) performed by Conan O’Brien with Jack White

13. Midnight Cover performed by ensemble including Conan O’Brien, Jack White, Langhorne Slim, Nick Lowe, Nathaniel Rateliff, Wesley Schultz of the Lumineers, Sierra Ferrell, Erin Rae, and many others.

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