Way Over Yonder

Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica, CA

October 5-6

The Newport Folk Festival dipped its toes into the Pacific Ocean with the inaugural Way Over Yonder music festival. Perched on the Santa Monica Pier, the two-day festival – with just one main stage, a small secondary stage and a few vendors – resembled a scaled-down version of the legendary original, although Yonder was populated with many Newport veterans including headliners Neko Case and Conor Oberst

Facing an unseasonably hot October sun, Shovels & Rope’s dark-hued country tunes shined with sass and grit. Justin Townes Earle, one of several Day One musicians encountering tech problems, admitted to being rusty and fuzzy; however, he hit the mark with “Midnight at the Movies,” his forthcoming title-track “Single Mother” and a suitably ragged rendition of the Replacements’ “Can’t Hardly Wait.”

Calexico’s festive, Tex-Mex-inspired music sparked the crowd, particularly when the Tucson-based band showed its L.A. roots performing Love’s “Alone Again Or” and the Minutemen’s “Corona.” Brett Dennen’s buoyant music also proved to be a real crowd-pleaser. While sometimes displayed his influences (Paul Simon, Bob Dylan), the young singer-songwriter exhibited an endearing joyfulness and deceptively strong songwriting skills.

Neko Case capped off Day One with a playful yet potent performance. Casually dressed in a hoodie, Case joked with her sidekick/harmony singer Kelly Hogan and the crowd between songs; however, she sang with serious conviction, whether belting out arty torch tunes (“The Pharaohs” and “Set Out Running”) or harder rocking numbers (“I’m A Man, “Maneater” and “City Swan”).

A sense of camaraderie pervaded Day Two. Jonathan Wilson whose sun-baked psychedelic-tinged Laurel Canyon rock fit his mid-afternoon timeslot, brought out Jackson Browne to sing on a couple tunes, including the powerhouse “Moses Pain.”

The Felice Brothers, suggesting an Old Crow/Pogues mash-up, upped the energy level with red-hot renditions of “Fire At the Pageant,” Whiskey In My Whiskey” and the new “Cherry Licorice.” The cool of Sunday evening provided a lovely time for First Aid Kit’s heavenly harmonies on their self-described sad songs. The Swedish sisters also demonstrated that their breakout hit “Emmylou” isn’t their only song to savor.

Closing the festival on a high note, Conor Oberst underscored the sense of community. Both the Felice Brothers and First Aid Kit (plus longtime Omaha comrades Nate Walcott and Mike Mogis) backed him on his compelling set of literate, passionate songs that make him something of the Leonard Cohen for the Millennials.

For a first time festival, things went rather smoothly. The chief shortcoming was the secondary stage, which was awkwardly crammed into a corner of the Pier’s historic carousel building. It was particularly hard to see Sunday’s impressive foursome of acts: Aaron Embry, Frank Fairfield, Hurray for the Riff Raff and Spirit Family Reunion (whose dynamic, foot-stomping performance nearly wrecked the makeshift stage). First year problems aside, the festival proved to be a great showcase for bands that fit under the big Americana umbrella and hopefully Oberst’s parting words of “see you next year” will prove prophetic.