Farm Aid…

What?! I’m disappointed, lwj…no mention of sightings of me dancing and singing to Mr. Mellencamp?! 😮

I was receiving postings on my FB page and text messages during the show I was spotted twice during JM’s set and I know at least once during Neil’s set because my husband was grabbing my shirt and pointing at the screen as they had zoomed in on him while I’m trying to tell him nonchalantly to act like he’s been there before. 😆

I’ll back up a bit though and give a quick run down.

We arrived in Kansas City early on Friday. A friend of mine and I volunteered to work the concert and was given a pretty sweet assignment, working the press conference the day of the show. We had 2 hours after we arrived before we had to be at the volunteer hotel and venue for meetings—one to pick up our volunteer credentials and go over the rules and then over to the venue for a media meeting where we had to tour the venue and get the lay of the land. Of course we were in KC so we had to sample the BBQ—this was my first trip. We settled on eating at Jack Stacks which was near the hotel. Our friend was with us, riding the elevator to leave for lunch, when in stepped a guy with a roll away suitcase and earphones in listening to his ipod and not making eye contact. Didn’t think too much of it. We step off the elevator and pass this guy that has a shirt on with a caricature and Tommy Chong written on the shirt. We sort of giggled when we saw it because the guy looked like Tommy Chong. We then pass someone and overhear the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are staying at the hotel, playing the Chiefs, so we put 2 + 2 together and are convinced the dude in the elevator was a player.

We ate lunch and drove 20 minutes to volunteer meeting. We pull into the hotel and right in front of us is John’s airstream he uses as a dressing room, parked behind a truck. We wanted to take a picture but there was no time. We pick up our credentials, come back out, and I pull out my camera to get a shot but the truck pulling the airstream pulls out! Missed it. We walk across the street to go to meeting, drive back to hotel to get changed to go back to venue for a Farm Aid eve party, an acoustic set with Rebecca Pidgeon. My party wasn’t too impressed with Rebecca. Afterwards, we head to a bar to meet other Mellenheads that had come in for the show. It was here that someone mentions Tommy Chong was in town for a show. My friend and I looked at each other and said…that WAS him!

Saturday morning finds us bright and early at the venue…we had to be there at 8:30 a.m. Not much sleep is had during Farm Aid weekend. We helped decorate the stage and do whatever else needed to be done and then had the benefit of staying and listening to the press conference which had an 11:00 a.m. start time…that’s always cool. I’ve had this volunteer assignment one other time. The doors are opened after the press conference and the show starts.

I loved Billy Joe Shaver, missed seeing Jakob Dylan but heard him (we decided to eat without knowing he was next), and loved Neil’s acoustic set. It was a great day. After the show, we walked across the street to a bar where a lot of artists and crew ended up. One of our Mellenhead friends became a fan of Lukas Nelson from last year’s show and had his logo tattoed on her arm. He walked in and she ended up getting it signed and she hat that tatted as well. She was thrilled.

lwj…I’m seeing articles and tweets where Minnesota and Vermont are heavily lobbying to get Farm Aid in their respective states for next year. Perhaps it will be within driving distance for you. 😉

The volunteer work I do, lwj, pales in comparison to yours. Kudos to you!

We didn’t drive, past my 8 hour rule of thumb. Air fare was within our budget.

I had on a (cheap) fedora type straw hat this year. 😀

Farm Aid will be uploading videos to their YouTube channel soon.