29 years and still going strong, Farm Aid took its place this year at the Walnut Creek Amphitheater in Raleigh, North Carolina. Still backed by 81-year-old Willie Nelson, along with board members Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews, the 11 hour festival was chock full of good music, good food and good messages that were spread throughout the day.
The day started with a press conference focusing on local farmers and some of the struggles they have faced battling legislation that affects running their different types of farmlands. It really brings attention to why this event is important and the stories behind the videos come to life as the farmers are on stage to talk about their journeys. At times Neil Young got up to hug certain farmers due to the hardships they continually face on a day to day basis.
Willie Nelson led the day off by saying an “Our Father” prayer. Nelson’s heritage was well represented as his granddaughter, Raelyn, first took the stage and cranked out a cool rendition of Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation.” A few acts later, his son Micah led his psychedelic band Insects and Robots through a short set. Willie’s other son Lukas Nelson and his band, Promise of the Real, successfully delivered the goods as this is the second time I witnessed them (Farm Aid 2013) and they seem to get better and better. Their 20 minute set consisted of a few songs including “Four Letter Word” and a cover of Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.”
An act that was added late was singer songwriter Jesse Lenat. Lenat is a veteran of Farm Aid and is always one of the days highlights. He and his brother played a short but inspiring set to really kick things into gear for the rest of the days festivities. Check out Lenat’s latest offering “Cactus Farmer.”
Gary Clark Jr. added some homegrown blues to the Farm Aid lineup. Dubbed as the “Next One,” this soulful six-stringer played a solid 45 minute set. Clark let his fingers do the talking on the soon to be classic “When My Train Pulls In,” whereas the hit “Bright Lights” delighted the crowd and brought everything back to basics.
As soon as Clark brought it back, Jack White ripped it right back out. His ultra-alterative set consisted of a heavy dose of White Stripes tracks (7 out of 10). He remarked how he lives on the street as his former hero did, referring to “Hank Williams,” and then performed Williams’ song “You Know That I Know.” White was sporting a new undercut haircut, which on occasion he stopped what he was doing just to comb it. White closed the set with the now, and ever popular sport stadium favorite “Seven Nation Army.” He had the crowd singing while leading them on.
Dave Matthews was accompanied by acoustic guitar god Tim Reynolds during his set. Matthews acknowledged multiple times that he wasn’t even plugged in and was letting Reynolds carry the load. He was quirky and funny as he stated “I like cheese, I like milk, I like fresh cucumbers, I like fresh tomatoes, I like coffee and I like beer.” He drew many of laughs and then they went into Matthews biggest hit “Ants Marching.” He definitely kept the crowd at a fever pitch throughout his set, even though it was acoustic.
Mellencamp just announced he will be doing an 80 show run early next year in support of his upcoming disc “Plain Spoken.” He opened up the set with 2 new tracks from it, “Lawless Times” and “Troubled Man.” Mellencamp, who was not totally familiar with the songs yet, used the help of his trusty teleprompter to remember the lyrics. I’m not sure if the crowd was accepting of them or not, but by the time they needed to digest them passed, Mellencamp rained a bunch of his 80’s hits on them to make it a honorable set.
Neil Young crafted his performance to tie in with the reason everyone was all there. He stated “We shouldn’t be doing these every year, we do them because we have to.” He also went on to talk about how their state Senator Byrd voted for corporations to have control of farming. This elicited a round of “boos!” that Young quipped “Good, take that to the voting booth!” Young opened up with the classic track “Heart of Gold.” He also spent some time behind the piano on “Mother Earth,” with Willie Nelson’s harmonica player Mickey Raphael. His newer song “Who’s Gonna Stand Up and Save the Earth?” was highlighed where Neil Young would sing “Who’s Gonna Stand Up?” and the crowd would answer “To Save the Earth.” Young finished his set with the fuel charged “Rockin’ in the Free World” with both Lukas Nelson and Micah Nelson.
The event organizer, Willie Nelson, of course closed the set strongly with plenty of guests that ranged from Gary Clark Jr. on “Texas Flood,” and Lily Meola on “Will You Remember Mine?” to his sons Lukas and Micah on a number of other songs. Nelson still can pluck that guitar passionately and gave the fans everything they wanted and have come to expect when they see a Nelson show. Seeing him shine on “Angel Flying to Close to the Ground” proved how well he can still play, if there were any doubts. Almost everyone joined him on stage for the finale “I Saw the Light.”
Another year of getting out the message has passed; let’s hope this one brings us another step closer to bringing about lasting change that will make life easier for the struggling American farmer.
Willie Nelson setlist:
Whiskey River
Still Is Still Moving to Me
Beer for My Horses (Toby Keith cover)
Texas Flood (Stevie Ray Vaughan cover) (with Lukas Nelson)
Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys (Ed Bruce cover)
Good Hearted Woman (Waylon Jennings cover)
Shoeshine Man (Tom T. Hall cover)
Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground
On the Road Again
Always On My Mind (Brenda Lee cover)
Will You Remember Mine
I’ll Fly Home
Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die
I Saw the Light (Hank Williams cover)
Band Of Brothers
Milk Cow Blues (Kokomo Arnold cover)
I Saw the Light (Finale)
Neil Young setlist:
Heart of Gold
Comes a Time
Pocahontas
Standing in the Light of Love
Mother Earth (with Mickey Raphael)
Who’s Gonna Stand Up and Save the Earth
Rockin’ in the Free World (with Lukas Nelson & Micah Nelson)
John Mellencamp setlist:
Lawless Times (new song)
Troubled Man (new song)
Check It Out
Jack & Diane
Small Town
Rain on the Scarecrow
Paper in Fire
Crumblin’ Down
Pink Houses
Cherry Bomb
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds setlist:
Bartender (Dave Matthews Band cover)
Ants Marching (Dave Matthews Band cover)
Oh (Dave Matthews cover)
Crush (Dave Matthews Band cover)
Snow Outside Don’t Drink the Water (Dave Matthews Band cover)
Dancing Nancies (Dave Matthews Band cover)
We would like to thank Brittany Vanderpool from Vanguard Communications for the credentials to review the show.
