Farm Aid 25

Thanks, tnt! Each year is more magical than the year before.

Here is another photo gallery, including some of the press conference.

http://www.jsonline.com/multimedia/photos/104196234.html?index=1

Amos Lee with Willie Nelson & Mickey Raphael. Amos played around 2:30 in the afternoon & Amos was the first artist Willie performed with. Willie appears on this song on Amos’s upcoming record.

Amos had a lot of technical issues during his set.

lwj…no, we did not see any material in the ballpark that you were watching, i.e. Mellencamp’s mention of Elton John and Ryan White. I’ve heard JM say that was his most memorable moment, because he had visited Ryan White in the hospital, per Elton John’s request, prior to the show. Rolling Stone relayed this story in their piece…

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/51942/214127

“As the family farmer goes, so goes America,” said Mellencamp, before tearing thorugh “Pink Houses,” “Take Some Time To Dream,” and “Scarecrow,” which he also performed at the inaugural Farm Aid, held in Illinois in 1985. Before his set, as he smoked American Spirits in his Airstream trailer outside the venue, Mellencamp reminisced about that first show. “I remember seeing Bob Dylan and Tom Petty sitting on a step, smoking cigarettes,” he said, smiling. After twenty-five annual shows, he says his most profound memory is of watching Elton John perform “Candle in the Wind” at the 1990 show in his homestate of Indiana. “The day before, at Elton’s request, I had visited Ryan White in his hospital,” said Mellencamp, referring to the young boy suffering from AIDS to whom Elton had dedicated his performance. “I was pretty choked up.”

As far as artists donating their time, not only do they donate their time, but they also pay their travel and stay expenses as well.

Troye & Miriam’s musical dueling is during “Small Town” lwj, not PIF.

John & Dave Matthews joining Neil on stage was another shocker as a Mellenhead. It’s the first time in 7 FA shows I’ve seen JM join any artist. He must have been in a 25th anniversary “let’s celebrate” mood. It was fun to watch.

Now, I have to ask about the mellenhead reference? Did they mention on the webcast the mellenheads? We shouted a coordinated “Happy Birthday, John” to him right before he played “Save Some Time To Dream”;-) He is hard of hearing so I was surprised he heard us and even more surprised he acknowledged the shout out. He could be losing his “Lil Bastard” reputation in his later years. 😉

lwj, there were reports that night from facebook friends we were spotted dancing in the crowd during the show. I’m surprised you missed that. You’re slipping… 😆 😮

lwj, you asked, I’ll try to give a condensed account of my FA experience.

This year was, by far, the best and most enjoyable lineup per my taste.

Last year, for the first time, we broke down and purchased VIP seats, one of the cheaper that FA had to offer. We enjoyed it so much we splurged and purchased again, which put us in the 6th row, center section. The VIP experience also included access to a food court, including a main meal, and access to flushing JOHNS. Yup, that’s a plus for me AND a portion of the ticket price is tax deductible. Yeehaw!

A press conference is held each year, prior to the show, where all four board members attend, along with FA personnel, and many of the artists sitting on stage as well. Usually this is inside the venue somewhere, but this year, it was outside, where we stood along the back fence line and watched from afar. As i mentioned before, we were standing where the artists and board members were arriving. We saw Neil up pretty close, signing the one banner, I saw Amos walk by 8) and my friend shouted to Jason Mraz asking him if he was going to perform barefoot. He looked over, smiled and shrugged. It was pretty cold standing outside. The ballpark has a retractable roof, and I was so happy they decided to close it. FA had posted the night before they were going to keep it open in support of the farmers who work in all types of weather conditions. Put me in the wuss column, 11 + hours of being in the cold would not have been good.

Highlights for me were Amos (of course!). He had all kinds of tech issues, from the very first song, but handled it all pretty well.

Lukas Nelson and his band gained a few Mellenheads as fans. He finished his set with “Hoochie Coochie Man,” playing guitar with his teeth.

I enjoyed Norah Jones’ set. She was the only female on the roster. She has an amazing voice. I was told JM was standing side stage to watch her set.

My husband actually enjoyed Jamey Johnson (last year as well) which surprises me, he isn’t exactly a country fan, but he likes his vocals.

Kenny Chesney was the last act to go on before the 4 board members. It was still fairly light in the audience, the sun hadn’t set. Kenny claims John Mellencamp as one of his influences, he’s covered a few of his songs in his shows, and invited JM to do CMT Crossroads a few years ago where the two first actually met. John always encouraged Kenny to write his own music and Kenny was talking about this from the stage. At this point, a friend right next to me found a sign and borrowed it, writing a song request on the back and holding it up. Kenny was saying he had just flown in from LA and kept mumbling he hadn’t put together a set list. The song she requested was “I Go Back.” He saw the sign, pointed it out, and thanked her for the request, played it, and then thanked her again.

We found out Steven Tyler was dropping in as a surprise guest from a friend who had been checking facebook inbetween sets. I have never seen Steven Tyler and Aerosmith, never my cup of tea, but he won me over with his appearance. It was pretty cool.

Here is footage I took of Amos, his first song of his set, where his tech problems started. He handled it so well.

I found the dancing Lafayette, lwj.