Farm Aid 2023

Farm Aid 2023 is officially history. And what a history making night it was. The 38th Farm Aid proved to be one of the greatest since it began.

Farm Aid’s roots go back to 1985 shortly after the success of Live Aid. Bob Dylan, who performed at the event, mentioned doing a music event to help the farmers. Willie Nelson became involved and pitched the idea to John Mellancamp and Neil Young, and so was born Farm Aid,  with the first concert held in Champaign, Illinois. Thirty-eight years later, adding Margo Price and Dave Matthews to their board, the issue is still as important as ever, if not more so with Earth’s changing climate and greedy corporations looking to make a profit from factory farming. 

This year’s event was held in John Mellancamp’s home state of Indiana in Noblesville at the Ruoff Music Center, the first time back there since 2001.

The day began with the board members speaking and local farmers telling their stories at a press conference. This really gave me a better understanding of the plight of the farmers and a new appreciation for the much-needed support and the importance of buying sustainable food from local farmers. 

The event lasted over 12 hours and was filled with great music, food and pure fun all for a good cause. Local farmers were selling everything from pork chop sandwiches to fresh vegetables as they did hands-on workshops and told their stories. 

Particle Kid (Micah Nelson)  kicked off the music portion of the day followed by String Cheese Incident, Allison Russell and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats all turning out such great performances. The Black Opry wowed the crowd with their country songs. Other acts included Native Pride Productions and the Wisdom Indian Dancers. 

Lukas Nelson had the crowd singing along to” Find Yourself”, obviously many Lukas fans in the audience.  Bobby Weir and Wolf Bros featuring the Wolfpack gave Deadheads cause to dance and enjoy the music of the Grateful Dead. Margo Price’s set included Sturgill Simpson and some Tom Petty covers.  The Jim Irsay Band (owner of the Indianapolis Colts) featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd playng lead guitar, covered Pink Floyd and Warren Zevon. His band then performed with Ann Wilson who sang Barracuda,  sounding as good as ever. And what a step back in time that was. 

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds played a set that showed Dave’s wide vocal range and Tim’s impressive guitar playing. John Mellancamp really delivered a powerhouse performance for his hometown doing most of his classics including “Pink Houses”  and “Small-Town” with his band sounding almost perfect. Neil Young sang an acoustic set (he usually performs with POTR) and only did four songs including “Heart of Gold” and a sing along with the audience of “Love, Earth”. While many people wondered why his set was so short it was just a matter of time before that question was answered.  

The final act of the night was supposed to be Willie Nelson and Family. But the stage went dark and when the lights came up there was Bob Dylan, performing for the first time since Farm Aid began.  The hushed, stunned crowd did not know  what was happening. When they finally realized it was really Bob Dylan, a roar of complete surprise and approval hit the air. No introductions (of course none needed) performing as only Bob Dylan can. He was joined by three of Tom Petty’s Band members as he did “Maggie’s Farm”, “Positively 4th Street”, and “Ballad of a Thin Man”. And just like tha,t he exited the stage leaving an elated audience reeling from what had just happened. What a treat for everyone who was there and kudos to the promoters for keeping this quiet. 

It was now time for Willie Nelson and family to take the stage. At 90,  with his beloved guitar Trigger he gave the audience a performance for the ages.  Micah sang a sweet song he wrote from his dads perspective called “Die When I’m HIgh” (I’ll be Halfway to Heaven). You could clearly feel the love the Nelson boys have for their dad. At the end of the 18-song set and approaching midnight, all the musicians came out to do a gospel set of “I’ll fly Away”, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” and “It’s Hard to be Humble”. Sometimes when something feels so magical you just want it to keep on going. And this was really one of these experiences.

If this event is not on your bucket list do yourself a favor and add it for next year.

And let’s not forget the reason for Farm Aid. In the last 38 years the event has raised more then 70 million dollars. All of the musicians donate their time and have a deep passion to help make our planet a better place. These humanitarians really care about the cause and as I heard many times ‘we will all be gone one day but the planet will remain’. They use their music and voices to inspire current and hopefully future generations to come. 

Reviewed by Gayle Kirshenbaum and Terry Giardina

To see highlights from the event or make a donation visit www.farmaid.org.