Farm Aid

The weekend of October 2nd I attended Farm Aid in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the 25th anniversary of the Farm Aid concert, started by Willie Nelson to raise money for family farmers and awareness of the plight of local farmers. First of all, it's a great cause. I've always wanted to go to the concert, and I wasn't going to miss my chance. The show was at Miller Park, probably not the best venue (in my opinion), but it was nice that they closed the roof, as it did rain a little. The sound was actually better than I thought it would be. They had a "Homegrown Village" which had some information about issues and organic farming, I would've liked to wander through and talk to some of these people, but they were crammed into a small area and there were too many people milling around. They had it set up rather poorly, kind of like a dead-end, hard to get in and out of. Perhaps a limitation of the venue. Also, they had some organic food options, but they also had the regular Miller Park food options...hot dogs, popcorn, beer, etc. (Is there organic beer? They certainly weren't selling any. Probably because they were at Miller Park and didn't want to cut into profits).

Here was the line up of performers...
The Blackwood Quartet
Robert Francis
Randy Rogers Band
BoDeans
Amos Lee

Between 3 and 5
Band of Horses
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real
Jamey Johnson

Between 5 and 7
Jason Mraz
Jeff Tweedy
Norah Jones
Kenny Chesney

Between 7 and 11
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds
John Mellencamp
Neil Young
Willie Nelson


The concert itself was great. It had some wonderful moments - namely when Steven Tyler came out and sang with Willie Nelson. I loved it. It also had some not so great moments. Here's my rundown...

Didn't get there until the BoDeans. They were great. I wish the audience would've been more receptive and made them feel more appreciated! I'm not sure they heard me screaming from the cheap seats. They sounded wonderful. If you haven't checked out the BoDeans newest cd, Mr. Sad Clown, you should. I highly recommend it.
Amos Lee - very nice. I hadn't heard him before. I'll be checking out more of his music online.
Band of Horses - quite impressive. I liked their sound very much. Again, I'll be looking into their music more. Looks like they have a pretty cool website, too.
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real - the nicest thing I can say about Lukas Nelson is that he is a good guitar player. I did not care for his voice at all, but out of my love and respect for his father, Willie, I will say no more.
Jamey Johnson - this guy can sing! He has such a strong, powerful voice! I loved it! Really a good musician.
Jason Mraz - I was never a big fan. I'll be honest, he seemed a little cocky, with his little hat. But seeing him perform live, I have a whole new respect for him. I like him. His little had even grew on me. He seems friendly.
Jeff Tweedy - again, I wasn't familiar with him. Apparently he was/is with Wilco. I LOVED him. A great voice. I am amazed at his talent and voice!
Norah Jones - I love Norah Jones. I think she has a beautiful voice. I have to admit, I liked her better when her hair was more natural and she didn't wear so much makeup. She's kind of modded herself up to look like everybody else. I liked the softer look better.
Kenny Chesney - what a nice, strong voice this guy has. He seemed really genuine, and I liked his singing. Impressed!
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds - Never thought too much about him until I saw him in person. This guy has charisma. I think Dave Matthews is some kind of crazy, sexy genius. That's all I'm going to say.
John Mellencamp - I have to admit, I have always loved John Mellencamp. Saw him in concert about 20 years ago, and it was great. (Wait, maybe it was 25 years ago...) I have all of his albums, and was looking forward to seeing him. When he came out I wondered how he had gotten so old. Then I remembered, I too have aged in the last 20 years! I was blown away by the energy of his performance! This guy can rock! He sounded fabulous! I loved every minute of it. If he tours within 100 miles of my house, I'm there.
Neil Young - again, one of my all time favorites. I've seen him in concert four times. I am such a fan of his music. I admit, I mostly like the piano and slower songs. Love the Harvest Moon album. Anyway, he did a lot of "feedback", which I am not a fan of. And he spoke passionately about the plight of farmers and the big corporations and how we should read the label on everything we eat. He made some good points, but mostly seemed angry. Perhaps because the crowd seemed to be filled with falling down drunks. ( I literally had 3 drunk people fall down on me. I'm all for partying, but c'mon people, grow up a little ). Maybe he was disappointed in us?
and of course...
Willie Nelson - What can I say about Willie? I really like Willie. Like his music a lot. He did bring his son out and let his son sing even more, which was a little annoying, but, he's Willie Nelson, he can do whatever the hell he wants. And Steven Tyler came out and sang with Willie and that was surreal.
Overall, a fantastic concert! They played until after 11:30 pm! A very long day.


I think they did a great job keeping the down time between performers to a minimum, that had to be tricky, but it was appreciated. I wish the BoDeans would've gotten to do more than three songs. I think it would've been nice if they had shown video on the 3 big screens during the between the acts set up time. They could've had the artists talking about some of the issues/causes/successes of Farm Aid. I would've really enjoyed Dave Matthews and Kenny Chesney doing their "I'm Alive" song together.
My biggest sadness was when the night was over and we walked through the parking lot to our cars. There was litter EVERYWHERE. The place was trashed. Here I thought these were like minded people who all believed in something, but it seems a lot of them were just self centered drunks looking for a party.
Well, it was a good party.