“In 1985, Willie called me up. And then Neil called me up. And we started Farm Aid,” said John Mellencamp of Farm Aid co-founders Willie Nelson and Neil Young on stage Saturday at Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana. “I don’t believe that any of us, even in our wildest dreams, would believe that 38 years later, we would still have a need to do Farm Aid.”
Inspired by comments made on stage in Philadelphia by Bob Dylan at the Live Aid benefit in July of 1985, Farm Aid has fought for family farmers since, raising more than $70 million over nearly four decades.
“We’ve had such a warm welcome here,” said Farm Aid Communications Director, Jennifer Fahy of returning to Indiana during a phone call last week. “Our staff started coming months before we were able to announce the concert. So we’ve been on the ground since early spring meeting farmers here and going to farm conferences and finding out what’s going on,” she explained. “There’s just such good will. And the people here are so directly connected to agriculture. Agriculture is central to the state and the economy and the ethos and the culture – and so being in a place that values agriculture and farmers the way Hoosiers do is really exciting.”
Taking place for the third time in person after being forced online in 2020 amidst pandemic, Saturday’s event just outside Indianapolis was defined by returns.
2023 featured the first Farm Aid events to take place in Indiana since 2001. It also marked a shocking homecoming for Dylan, who performed an unannounced three song set in his first in person Farm Aid appearance since the inaugural 1985 staging in Champaign, Illinois.
It also marked the return of Young, who, following an appearance during the 2020 virtual event, performed live on a Farm Aid stage for the first time since 2019.
“First of all, I’d like to thank everybody here for welcoming me back after I’ve been gone for three years,” said Young on stage at Ruoff during a press conference Saturday morning. “I really appreciate being back here. And I really want to be a part of this going forward in my life – which I think I can do.”
The languishing farm bill was a hot topic Saturday at Farm Aid. Generally revisited about every five years, the bill enacts food policy, impacting farmers. But in its efforts to provide food security, the bill has a broader impact across the country.
Set to expire September 30 – with the potential of a government shutdown looming – the bill is crucial for millions of Americans.
“It really influences all of the policy around our food and agriculture and energy and rural communities. And one of the main things that we share with folks is how much it impacts all of us,” explained Fahy. “It can seem like something that’s so far away and not important in our day-to-day lives. But, in reality, all of us eat and it is extremely important. So, we’re having discussions with farmers who are coming from all over the country to talk about the bill and what the priorities are and how we’re going to make those priorities known to Congress,” she said.
“It’s our next big opportunity to really shift our food and farm system into regenerative ag and sustainable production that can mitigate climate change and increase the strength and number of our local and regional food systems and bring racial and social equity to our food and farm system. So, it’s a big bill. But there is time for us to raise our voices,” Fahy continued. “We don’t know exactly what they’re going to do if they don’t renew it before September 30 – which is definitely not going to happen. So, there’s a lot to keep our eye on right now.”
Amidst the supply chain and food shortage issues of early pandemic, many Americans turned to their local farmers as well as farmers’ markets.
Young and Farm Aid board member Dave Matthews were particularly vocal Saturday in their support of local farmers.
“When I first came here with Willie and John, and Dave, we had a lot of these red shirts around that said, ‘Stop factory farms,’” recalled Young. “This is serious business. This factory farm thing doesn’t work. It doesn’t work for us. It doesn’t work for humanity. It doesn’t work for the planet. It doesn’t work for the animals. It doesn’t work for the humans. And it doesn’t work for anything that grows naturally,” he said. “What we’ve done is gotten so greedy. I’m not going to descend into a corporate farm assault. But I would like to say that we have a choice. And it’s really the people on the street that are going to make the difference. The farmers are doing everything that they can do. But without the people behind the farmers, it’s not going to work,” said Young.
“Obviously, we all know that the planet is changing,” Matthews began. “And the thing I’m reflecting on the most right now is listening to the farmers that are here. The small farmers that we should support. They care primarily about the planet – they care about the earth, they care about their farms and they care about what they’re producing. A living is what they’re figuring out how to make. And they’re figuring out how to share that with their community,” he continued, growing more and more impassioned in what would become the day’s most direct rebuke of factory farms.
“When you look at the farm system that we call the conventional farm system, it has nothing to do with the planet and it has nothing to do with community. It has everything to do with profit,” said Mathews, standing now and pacing as he addressed those in attendance at Saturday’s press conference. “It is only about money and it is killing the planet along with other capitalist ideas like that. I’m not saying that making a dollar isn’t a good thing. I’m just saying making all of the dollars at the expense of everything else is gonna kill the planet for us,” he said matter-of-factly. “We are not helping anybody if we are relying on profit driven systems to take care of us – whether it’s the criminal system, the drug or pharmaceutical companies or the food that we eat. Profit is not the goal.”
Since 2020, Farm Aid has focused on the impact of climate change, a topic addressed on stage by Mellencamp, Young, Matthews and several local farmers.
Whistling during “Someone Else’s Dream,” Mikah Nelson offered up a scorching closing solo in his on stage guise as Particle Kid, channeling Young during “Everything Is Bulls–t.”
Performing as a six piece group, The String Cheese Incident vacillated between bluegrass pickings and Grateful Dead-styled jamming, giving way to a beautiful performance by Canadian singer songwriter Allison Russell and her terrific three piece band.
Climbing up onto the keyboard riser, Russell delivered “The Returner” early Saturday, performing on clarinet. Picking up the banjo, she soon drove “Eve Was Black,” sending out the brand new “Requiem” to her 9 year old daughter during a set closing performance alongside guests Lukas Nelson and Kyshona of Black Opry.
“It’s exciting to be back at Farm Aid!” asserted soul singer Nathaniel Rateliff on stage in Noblesville.
Alongside his seven piece band, Rateliff and company tore into “Suffer Me” to open the set, with Rateliff on tambourine during the organ-drenched call-and-response vocal that followed during “Intro.”
Rateliff picked up a guitar for “I Need Never Get Old” as keyboard player Mark Shusterman bounded across the stage like a man possessed. Fans literally danced in the aisles as a three piece horn section drove a spirited rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.”
The guest spots continued as Lukas Nelson and outlaw country stars Sturgill Simpson and Margo Price joined Bobby Weir and Wolf Bros. for a trio of songs over the course of 30 minutes, a seamless transition from the Dead’s “Truckin’” into “Dark Star” capped by the band’s take on Buddy Holly and The Crickets’ “Not Fade Away.”
Guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd flawlessly tackled the iconic solo of David Gilmour – while playing Gilmour’s black Fender Strat no less – as The Jim Irsay Band attempted Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.” Heart singer Ann Wilson soon joined the 14 piece ensemble for show stopping vocals during a pair of covers in The Who’s “Love, Reign O’er Me” and Heart’s “Barracuda.”
Price kicked off a set of her own with a rollicking take on “Been to the Mountain,” moving between guitar and drums during a performance which featured a harmonica-driven take on Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and another guest spot by Simpson on cuts like “Hurtin’ (On the Bottle).”
“First I wanted to be a fireman and then a farmer. I ended up playing music,” joked Matthews on the Farm Aid stage. “I feel like I took the lazy route!” he said with a laugh Saturday in Noblesville.
Performing alongside guitarist Tim Reynolds, Matthews put his spin on Dave Matthews Band early, the duo rolling out “Satellite” early in their set.
Matthews looked right with a humorous expression as Reynolds lit into a typically frenzied solo, the crowd erupting during DMB’s “Lie in our Graves.”
Indiana native John Mellencamp, backed ably by a six piece band, opened up with “John Cockers,” hoarsely shouting his way through “Paper In Fire” and “Small Town” before abruptly restarting a solo acoustic take of “Jack and Diane.” “Guys, come on,” he jokingly admonished the crowd (who came in on the second chorus just a bit too early).
Performing solo, Neil Young handled guitar and harmonica on “Comes a Time,” closing his set with a stunning take on “Heart Of Gold.”
Young’s moving Farm Aid return may have stolen the show if it wasn’t for the day’s biggest surprise, one featuring the unexpected pairing of Bob Dylan alongside guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboard player Benmont Tench and drummer Steve Ferrone of The Heartbreakers (a nod in the direction of Dylan’s ‘85 Farm Aid appearance, one which saw him backed by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers).
“Maggie’s Farm” proved a fitting set opener at Farm Aid, reportedly Dylan’s first time performing it in nearly 15 years.
Saturday’s set was notable for a variety of reasons as it saw Dylan properly lit, on guitar, playing immediately recognizable renditions of his songs.
Campbell leaned in close to Dylan over the course of about 20 minutes, dialed in as he tackled a backing vocal on “Maggie’s Farm.” With the group rounded out by Chris Holt on guitar and bassist Lance Morrison (both of whom perform alongside Campbell and Ferrone as members of The Dirty Knobs), the Farm Aid faithful exploded as Tench struck the iconic opening notes to “Positively 4th Street.”
Saturday’s performance came as a shock to fans, with no rumors circulating on site despite a few recent rehearsals as well as a Friday night soundcheck.
While the rest of Saturday’s artists utilized a pair of screens flanking the stage, Dylan didn’t. Every performer was also introduced – except for Dylan, adding to the surprise, with a ripple moving back from the front row to the general admission lawn section as fans began figuring out what was happening.
Dylan, 82, stood for the entirety of “Maggie’s Farm,” sitting down with his guitar as he moved into “Positively 4th Street” and eventually “Ballad of a Thin Man.”
Never pausing to interact with the crowd, and leaving the stage the moment the set concluded, the incredible Farm Aid surprise was over just as soon as it began, leaving fans to process the moment as crews hastily set up for a closing performance by Willie Nelson and family.
Nelson strummed along early, the inimitable combination of Willie and Trigger driving “Whiskey River” to open the set with “Bloody Mary Morning” soon following.
“Alright, thank y’all very much!” said Nelson, pointing right to son Lukas, who handled the opening vocal on a cover of “Texas Flood,” ripping up a late electric solo during an otherwise flute-fueled affair. Not to be outdone, Willie received a standing ovation for his own acoustic solo, “Texas Flood” standing as a Farm Aid highlight Friday night.
Guitarist Waylon Payne joined for a cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make it Through the Night” with Willie soon trading verses with Mikah during “Die When I’m High (Halfway to Heaven).”
Classics like “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys” and “On the Road Again” followed, with Nelson and company rolling out a full 18 song set which concluded with a star-studded jam.
“It’s a minor miracle to have us all back here together. So thank you for helping us out,” said Nelson, 90, on stage Saturday during the Farm Aid press event. “Thank you farmers for taking care of us and giving us some good food to eat.”
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