Farm Aid

Farm Aid was yesterday. As with most festival type gigs there were ups and downs, but all in all it was a good experience, and I'd like to think we did a little good for the cause (I think Valerie said that the T.V. news said it raised a million dollars, but I don't know if that's official).

Here's a bunch of random thoughts from the show.

The Good:

-Wilco put on the most surprising set of the evening for me. I've never been a fan of theirs, a few songs here and there but nothing that got me too excited. After hearing their set though, I may have to take a closer look.

-Nobody got booed. Sometimes at these events the artists go on tirades that start off about farming and then get political. John Mellencamp and Neil Young have both been booed from the stage before. Nice to see them both stay on topic, though a little disappointed that they didn't rile up the neo-cons, prudes and squares. (Why do people go see artists who are very vocal about their opinions if they don't agree with them? Do they want to get mad? Are they that clueless? I've never understood that.) However, that wasn't why we were there and they both stayed on topic so fair play to them.

-Speaking of Mellencamp, his set was great. Bookended by hits with a few new songs and a rather challenging acoustic number in the middle. Exactly what a festival gig should be. I've always been a closet fan of his, and now I can officially go public (still don't like "Hurts So Good " though).

-Didn't hate Gretchen Wilson.

-Thought the earlier bands made the most of their limited time and may actually check out some stuff by Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses and Will Dailey.

-Neil Young did a country set, and I'd actually heard some of those songs. Nice set.

-Willie Nelson rules. Even with a set that was clearly off the cuff the guy delivers.

-Apparently my brother and I were on channel 4 news in a crowd shot. So that's cool.

The Bad:

-Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis still sucks. It's much better than it used to be, but still not good. The show started at 1:00. We got there before the doors opened at 12:30, and stood in line for over an hour to get in, missing the first three acts. Don't you think somebody there would have the sense to realize that a sold out show with lawn seating (where people bring backpacks and blankets that need to be checked) would require an earlier door time?

-Jason Mraz and Dave Matthews. Both completely boring and terrible. I thought very briefly(and foolishly) that Matthews might deliver a decent acoustic set and that maybe I just didn't like the sound of the band. Nope, still sucked. And Jason Mraz sucked harder. as I've always said, never trust a soccer mom when it comes to music.

-Didn't hate Gretchen Wilson. She was actually fairly entertaining. Not good, but entertaining. And not country music either. Writing songs about rednecks (and being completely stereotypical while doing it), singing with a slight accent and throwing in a little twang doesn't make your songs country. It's pop with a rock/country sheen on it. You can't open with the main riff to "Rock You Like A Hurricane" and call yourself country. You can't be taken seriously either, but that's beside the point. She also included an instrumental version of "The Star Spangled Banner" in her show. It's pure pandering to the lowest common denominator and it's insulting to Hendrix and America. Other than that her set was okay.

-The idiot behind us who kept yelling out inane comments all night, and yelling at people in front to sit down. I got into it a little with him because of how rude he was. His arguments were that he paid for a seat and wanted to sit. He claimed not to like the same behavior at sporting events too. Well, first of all, sports are entirely different than a concert. In games you only stand when something good happens and points are scored, so I'll concede that prolonged standing is rude in that situation. But a concert is a different animal. You do what the crowd does. If I'm at an arena show and the crowd as a whole decides to sit all night and only stand after certain songs and during the encore, then fine, in that case the two or three people who insist in standing are wrong. However, if we all decide to stand and there are a few cranks who get pissy about it, I don't care about them at all.

True concert goers know the score. We go to see our favorite bands not because we just like a good tune, but because we feel a connection to the music/artist. It's part of our lives. As such, standing/dancing/headbanging/air guitaring is a logical and natural reaction. Also, it's been my experience that once the crowd starts standing and getting into the show the band on stage begins to give a better performance. I've seen many shows where the band has chastised the audience for not standing. A rock concert is supposed to make you feel good and be a form of release. So no-one should be upset by people standing and enjoying themselves. If someone stands up in front of you, move your head so you can see. Even better, get up and join in. You just might enjoy it.

-Billy Joe Shaver apparently missed his plane or something and didn't go on when he was supposed to. It's okay, things happen, but it was disappointing. It also led to major pauses in the show as the event still needed to stick to specific times for the Direct TV broadcast. Shaver wound up getting in late and Willie Nelson brought him out during his set for a few songs, so it worked out all right in the end.

-All the people who left once it started getting late (as if 10:00 was late for a concert) and colder (as if we didn't know it'd be upper 50's in October in St. Louis). It's stupid to leave a ten hour festival with one act to go, and disrespectful to boot. You morons walked out on a friggin' legend. Shame on you. Willie deserves better. Prob'ly a bunch of Dave Matthews fans. You know, idiots.


The Funny

Quotes from the stage:

"This song goes out to...well, y'all know who you are."
-Ernie Eisley

"This is our second appearance at Farm Aid. Or as my band calls it, Willie Aid."
-Jamey Johnson

"With all due respect to Gretchen Wilson, is there anybody here who's not a redneck?" (Lots of applause)
-Jeff Tweedy (Wilco)

"I change my guitar after every song and then play the same thing. It's the same, but it sounds different. Showbiz."
-Dave Matthews

Quote from some random girl:

"Who's the douche bag in the hat?" Said loudly to, and as she passed by, Jason Mraz.

So, a decent day at the ol' amphitheater. Got to hear some good music and see some legends perform. The good stuff outweighed the bad making Farm aid a worthwhile experience, and one I'd repeat if the opportunity came up again.