A sunny Newport, RI hosted day two of the Newport Folk Festival and the surprises continued as James Taylor and his band showed up for a brief afternoon set on the Fort Stage.

Taylor’s appearance, as noted by festival producer Jay Sweet, was of historical importance as the singer-songwriter played at the 1969 edition of the festival which happened to coincide the night of the moon landing. Sweet noted that Taylor is “here to finish the job” during his introduction.

Taylor also recounted the night, saying that he just finished playing his hit “Fire and Rain” before founder George Wein came on stage to cut his set short and make the announcement of the moon landing. He then launched into the famous song during his 30-minute set. Other selections included “Carolina In My Mind” and Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend,” among others.

While the set was short, it wasn’t short on content as Taylor filled his stage time with stories about being signed to Apple Records and writing “Carolina In My Mind” while watching The Beatles record The White Album as well as namechecking various surrounding areas. He also appeased the local Red Sox nation with a Ted Williams #9 hat on stage.

In what could’ve been the most touching moment of the special appearance, Taylor closed his set by bringing out George Wein. “This is the man who made this all happen,” Taylor said while embracing Wein. The founder then took the mic and made some remarks about Taylor, recalling one of his first pitches to the musician about playing Newport Folk.

Elsewhere on the grounds, Brandi Carlile delivered a standout version of Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California” towards the end of the night and headliners The Decemberists closed with a cover of “This Land is Your Land.” The Replacements’ Tommy Stinson brought a slew of notable musicians with him for his set, including Luther Dickinson and bassist Catherine Popper. Dickinson has particular Replacements lineage as his father Jim was the band’s producer and Luther appears on Pleased to Meet Me.

The Barr Brothers also returned to the festival, noting that their parents went on their first date in 1967 at the Newport Folk Festival. The pair snuck in and watched Arlo Guthrie roll through his anthem “Alice’s Restaurant.”

Newport Folk Festival concludes today with performances from Lord Huron, Jon Batiste and a special ’65 Revisited set featuring a cast of musicians honoring the 50th anniversary of Bob Dylan going electric.