Philly Folk Fest big reveal: The Decemberists
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Philly Folk Fest big reveal: The Decemberists
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From the department of "Well, We Were Half Right Anyway," Point Entertainment main man Jesse Lundy announced yesterday that the theatrical celtic-maritime story songs of Colin Meloy and The Decemberists will round out this year's Philadelphia Folk Fest lineup, as I predicted two months ago. They will close the festival's Saturday night afternoon concert.
Excellent choosing, I must say. It gives this lineup the punch that was absent before; it stays within the broader interpretation of the whole "folk" idiom (listen to The Tain if you doubt this); ruffles the feathers of the stodgy, stubborn contingent of the crowd who doesn't care to venture beyond circuit mainstays; opens the festival up to the broader audience that it needs to cultivate in order to survive; and if nothing else, it guarantees a super well-attended Saturday night afternoon concert.
Still, it's not quite as mind-blowing as hearing that Espers was playing last year's festival. But it's triumph all the same.
Other late additions include Derek Trucks Band (meh), Heartless Bastards (a not-unexciting buzz band from blogoland), and a pairing of local acts that mirror the fest's zenly balance of tradition and growth: the lively celtic string band trio Burning Bridget Cleary and the very cool anarchic klezmer of West Philadelphia Orchestra. Well played indeed.
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