BPD member Slik77 send in this report:
Dave Matthews + Neil Young + John Mellencamp + Willie Nelson, + a dozen other front line performers. On top of that, another BPD member got totally toasted backstage, took off her top, took off her bra and swung it around like a lariat while dancing to the music.
Ya think I had a good time?
But I digress. When I saw Matthews before, he was backed by his entire band. But at Farm Aid there's no time for long sets or delirious jamming. So Matthews scaled it down perfectly by teaming up with guitarist Tim Reynolds. It gave Matthews enough instrumental fiber, while allowing him to better display his vocal range. As an example, he toned down his big band version of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" infusing it with jazzy riffs instead. Matthews seems like a genuine, humble man whose personality fits perfectly with Farm Aid's idealism.
John Mellencamp brought his bar band energy to the event. Among the headliners, he had the most raucous, crowd pleasing set. Like Matthews, Mellencamp has surrounded himself with musicians worthy of their leader. Guitar player Mike Wanchic and Mellencamp's long-time violinist, Miriam Sturm, brought lightning to Mellencamp's thunder. His only questionable decision was performing "Cherry Bomb" a cappella. It's not a hymn, John, it's a rousing anthem and ought to be sung like one.
Neil Young looked 100-years-old until the onstage finale but his voice is ageless and unchanged. Uncompromising as always, he wasn't going to back down from telling harsh truths and discussed the plight of the American farmer more than all the other performers combined. But an artful preacher needs to know when to break into song, and Neil eventually got a bit windy. Still, you can't knock an original who has always been a thorn in the side of what is false and intolerable. And so it was that his performance of "Ohio" carried the same rocking rage it had 40 years ago. Sometimes, the same is exactly what the world needs.
Like Young, Willie Nelson, the godfather of Farm Aid, sounded like he'd always sounded. Both share the same gift - totally original voices. Yet Willie infused his standards with a freshness most of Young's songs lacked. And Nelson's guitar, which looked as weathered as the 77-year-old who was playing it, was like clay in an artist's hands.
Half way through the set, Willie was joined by his son, Lukas, who had performed with his own band earlier in the day. Unlike his father, the younger Nelson treated his guitar like a wild animal, coaxing out notes that would have made Stevie Ray Vaughn proud. His voice had the familiar reedy pitch of his father's, only a few octaves higher.
Norah Jones, who bridged the sets between stars like Kenny Chesney and super stars like Young and Matthews, is worth a footnote. As always, she was pitch perfect and flashed a luminous smile. Her music, though, seems more tailored to a bistro than Miller Park, Farm Aid's 2010 venue.
You can't knock the respect the performers brought to Farm Aid. No egos. No selfish CD promos. And when several shared the stage, as they did a couple times, they seemed like real friends.
Nonetheless, I wonder if the event needs a bit of a facelift after 25 years. A third of the crowd had left by the time Willie came on stage and the concert ended with a whimper instead of a bang. Maybe there should be fewer acts and more time on stage together. The fans who were rocking to Mellencamp and Matthews, didn't know what to do with Neil Young, so maybe the batting order could be adjusted. Leaving the biggest names for last is typical, but maybe all-day events need to mix things up.
Nelson, who had the final set, looked like he wanted to play all night but by then most of the other big names had called it a day. It would have been great to see them all on stage for one last blast.
But that's nitpicking. You can't find all that talent together this side of Woodstock in 1969. The cause is righteous and the music made you realize again how song can magically lift the spirits.
Farm Aid................what more need be said? Thanks, Slik77.
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