I spent the first couple of hours just wandering around, checking out the digs and spending time in the Homegrown Village. The Village consisted of a series of tents populated with farm advocates, representatives from organic farms around the country, and all kinds of people performing demonstrations related to food. I watched someone make sauerkraut, and I met with people who work to promote understanding of where exactly our food is coming from. I met a group that helps connect farmers with disaster-relief assistance. As a benefit concert, Farm Aid is unique in how much the show is directly targeting the people it is aiming to help. And the farmers do show up. I talked with people who had traveled in from all over the country, a great number of them farmers. People made the trip from Minnesota, West Virginia and even Florida.
Oh, right — there was music, too! The first act I had a chance to really sit down and check out was Lukas Nelson, son of Willie, playing with his band Promise of the Real. His speaking voice sounds incredibly like his father’s, his singing voice less so. He and his band play a jammy, country-tinged brand of double-drumsets rock, and if you are into guitar and drum solos, this may be the band for you. It may not have been John Bonham, but I counted one drum solo that went well over three minutes. Nelson also has a unique dance, not dissimilar to the dances of the handful of women wandering around the venue with hula-hoops. The crowd got to its feet when Willie made a brief appearance toward the end of his son’s set, welcoming everyone and “the world wide web” (the show was being streamed online) to the 26th annual Farm Aid.
Jakob Dylan took the stage next, wearing the first of the day’s many interesting hats. I’d call his a straw cow-dora. He and bandmate Rami Jaffee (piano) played a handful of pared-down songs, including “6th Avenue Heartache” and “One Headlight,” which sent the handful of young girls in the row in front of me into a bit of a pre-Jason Mraz swoon. He closed with a surprisingly nice cover of “Peace, Love and Understanding.”
Whatever energy had been built up by Nelson and Dylan was slowed and sludged by Jamey Johnson’s gravel-throated performance. The music was well-executed, but the tempo of his songs (including a dark, wonderful version of Leadbelly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”) was so tepid that the crowd didn’t have anything to cling to, and the energy fell flat. But the crowd (particularly the women) perked right up once Jason Mraz arrived, his curly hair pulled back in a Willie-style red bandana. It didn’t hurt that he was introduced by Dave Matthews. Like Jakob Dylan, he went for a stripped-down style, performing with his “vocussionist” (I dunno, I didn’t make that up), Toco Rivera. The dude and his music are pretty saccharine — cute enough to pull off Mr. Rogers’ “Won't You Be My Neighbor.” His was the first of the day’s acts that communicated a bit of the advocacy that is behind Farm Aid: “If we had every church in America just start a garden, we could help feed the community and greatly reduce our hunger problem.” I suppose you can’t really argue with that, and the sentiment was warmly received. Mraz closed with his hit “I’m Yours,” the first of many sing-alongs to come. Judging by the people whom I’d talked with, Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds) and Neil Young were the biggest draws on the bill. It can be easy to hate a bit on Dave Matthews and his fans — the fans are rabid, and Matthews’ constant crazy guitar face and warbly voice are sometimes distracting. But the guy is a great performer, and his rapport with the crowd is charming: “I hope your food tastes good. I hope your drinks taste good.” Reynolds’ technical guitar work provides two, sometimes three different parts, both rhythm and melody, and his solo number was one of the highlights of the 40-minute set.Lag times between sets were impressively short — typically about 20-25 minutes for setup and tuning. I realized that, after more than five hours in the sun, I was starting to hit a hunger wall. I was in real need of a beer. The concessions were “homegrown,” purportedly using local or family-farmed ingredients. Honestly, I couldn’t really tell any difference with my slice of cheese pizza and $9 Bud Light (ouch), but the food served its purpose, and I had enough time to make it back to my seat for John Mellencamp, introduced by Dave Matthews.
Mellencamp was the second person of the day to bring out a full band, and it was a nice change to move toward a bigger, fuller sound. I’m a fan of his more recent bluesy roots music, which was featured alongside standards like “Small Town.” I talked with the two surprisingly cool 13-year-old girls sitting by me at the show, one of whom was attending her first concert. My first concert was Chicago. So not only did they win there but they also seemed to understand that what they were seeing was a solid veteran performer who, while perhaps not at the peak of his game, is not far from it.After his set, Mellencamp introduced Neil Young to a rapturous audience. He kept his setup minimal, sticking simply with an acoustic guitar and harmonica, and opening with “Comes a Time.” It’s Neil Freaking Young, so his was naturally the most political performance of the night. He encouraged the audience to buy at least one local item each time they visit the grocery store. Either due to it being a long day or to Young's sparse setup and nasally vocals, I found my attention wandering about two-thirds of the way through his performance. I was mostly watching his face. Young is an extremely emotive performer, and if he’s plowing through an angry song, like “Love and War,” his face (which is basically in a permanent scowl anyway) gets downright scary. He also seemed put off that a fair amount of the people in the audience were watching the two big LCD screens flanking the stage rather than him. I think I was one of those people. The video screens were like 50 feet tall. It all turned out all right, though: His beautiful rendition of “Heart of Gold” garnered the evening’s loudest cheers.
Willie Nelson is 78 years old this year, and while obviously looking his age, he initially came out with a lot of energy after what was probably quite a long day for him. The crowd began a slow but steady stream out of the venue, which was a little discouraging. Their loss. Despite his age and possible fatigue, Willie’s musical ability is still apparent, and it’s a pleasure to watch him perform with a handful of his children onstage with him. He and Lukas traded guitar solos throughout the set. One surprise of Nelson’s performance was a very random reggae song about farms that was sung by someone I didn’t recognize. I received three text messages from friends in the venue asking, ‘What the hell is this?’ Thankfully, Nelson quickly bounced back from whatever that was with a cover of “Goin’ to Kansas City” and “Mamas Don’t Let Their Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.” Toward the end, a bizarre mix of people crowded the stage: Native Americans in ceremonial garb, at least one Marine in dress blues, and gospel singers — Willie’s village people. The show ended with “Roll Me Up,” and the end of the song just sort of petered out with a whimper. Willie Nelson is a national treasure. It was probably just time to end the day with a joint and some well-deserved sleep. Sound:The sound was good near the stage, but in the back of the stadium there were no PAs. It was very echoey and there was a delay between the sound and what was on the big video screens on the sides of the stage. I would have been pretty bummed if I had to sit back there.
Attendance:
Not as high as I’d expected, though the arena appeared to be at 85-90 percent capacity by the time John Mellencamp played. At the end of Willie Nelson’s set, it was down near 50-60 percent.
Set Lists:
Jason Mraz
The World As I See It
Won’t You Be My Neighbor (Mr. Rogers)
Traveler
Frank D. Fixer
They Shaped My Life
Rescue
I’m Yours
Dave Matthews
Where Are You Going
Save Me
Funny the Way It Is
Crush
Tim Reynolds solo
Oh
You and Me
Dancing Nancies
John Mellencamp
The Authority Song
Death Letter Blues
Walk Tall
Check It Out
Jackie Brown
Small Town
Rain on the Scarecrow
If I Die Sudden
Little Pink Houses
Neil Young
Comes a Time
Sugar Mountain
Long May You Run
Peaceful Valley Boulevard
Love and War
Heart of Gold
Willie Nelson
Whiskey River
Still Is Still Moving
Texas Flood
Fathers and Mothers
Reggae Farm Song (?)
Goin’ to Kansas City
Good-Hearted Woman
Mamas Don’t Let Their Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys
Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Roll Me Up
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