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There was no doubt that Dunkin Donuts was sponsoring the Newport Folk Festival, the pink and orange logos were everywhere.
An early-arriving Rani Arbo found the inside of Fort Adams State Park nearly empty except for six Rhode Island state policemen gathered around the donuts in the backstage Dunkin Donuts booth.
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While the heat was heavy and humid on Saturday, Sunday the weather was nearly as glorious as the music. I saw a bit of the Carolina Chocolate Drops on the mainstage, and delighted to their cross-generational approach to old time African American folk music. Much of my time was spent at the harbor stage where the above-mentioned Arbo and daisy mayhem, open the day with an extraordinary set that had the crowd standing and calling for an unheard of, early-day, encore.
Arbo and her band played a soulful version of the chestnut, "O Death" which was later reprised by bluegrass master Ralph Stanley.
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Alejandro Escovedo hit the main stage early with a big band, but brought his "symphony" to the smaller harbor stage where the crowd was
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It was a bittersweet festival for some of the Festival Production staff, since the festival (and perhaps the entire company) has been sold to new producers for next year.
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