Farm Aid 2019 Highlights - Alpine Valley, Wisconsin

Willie Nelson Joined by Farm Aid Friends
photo by thrashette
(Click photo to enlarge)

Here are a few highlights of our Farm Aid 2019 Concert.


Neil Young & Promise of the Real perform “Throw Your Hatred Down” at Farm Aid 2019 at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin, on September 21.

Neil Young & Promise of the Real

"What Farm Aid Means To Me In 2020" by Neil on NYA in the Times-Contrarian: https://t.co/obETht8u1D#NeilYoung #NeilYoungArchives #TimesContrarian #FarmAid #FarmAid2019 pic.twitter.com/i8a3sUcNsU

— Neil Young Archives (@NeilYoungNYA) September 26, 2019

Willie Nelson w/ Lukas Nelson, Mickey Raphael

John Mellencamp

Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds

This shot by Suzanne Cordeiro from the press event that kicked off #FarmAid2019 gives us the #FridayFeels for sure! https://t.co/FyWBwluLdy pic.twitter.com/XNzkdRSkQ7

— Farm Aid (@FarmAid) September 27, 2019

Neil Young News: 34 Years of Farm Aid: Where Do We Go From Here? https://t.co/EADvKlYsKu @FarmAid @WillieNelson @NeilYoungNYA @davematthewsbnd @johnmellencamp @lukasnelson
@jacmnelson3 pic.twitter.com/TgcshFDMbo

— ThrashersWheat (@ThrashersWheat) September 25, 2019

Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt

Luke Combs

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

Jamey Johnson

View this post on Instagram

This years Farm Aid marked 34 years of standing with family farmers! We had a blast playing. Thanks to our close pals @missmargoprice @iamyolaofficial and @nathanielrateliff for sitting in. But of course the highlight of Farm Aid was having Leon Melgar rock with us! 📸 @joeymartinez

A post shared by Promise of the Real Official (@promiseoftherealofficial) on Sep 27, 2019 at 10:22am PDT

Margo Price

Margo Price

Margo Price

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, w/ Margo Price & Help From A Little Friend

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, w/ Margo Price, Yola, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, w/ Margo Price, Yola, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

Lukas Nelson

Tanya Tucker

View this post on Instagram

@farmaid is always a great time. This year was extra special. Not sure why, but it felt soooo good!!! #farmaid2019 #farmaid #regenerativeagriculture #buylocal

A post shared by C-$🎶 (@coreymccormickofficial) on Sep 24, 2019 at 9:45am PDT

Particle Kid w/ Promise of the Real

Particle Kid (aka Micah Nelson)

Was #FarmAid2019 just one week ago?

Relive that amazing day with our photo gallery: https://t.co/P830DWcxSn pic.twitter.com/YDWZuidror

— Farm Aid (@FarmAid) September 28, 2019

The Band Start Times Were Running Behind Right From The Start
(and that's ok)

Many thanks to The FarmAidians Paul & Renee for making another Farm Aid 2019 weekend possible!

FarmAidians Say F* Off Monsanto/Bayer!

The FarmAidians & The Magic Bus

See you down that road!

Farm Aid Board: Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young & Dave Matthews
Pre-concert Press Conference
photo by thrashette
(Click photo to enlarge)

And thanks Willie, Neil, John, Dave & all artists for all you guys do for The Farmers. It was a beautiful day and we're so glad we could be there with everyone. It was a great weekend, with great folks, for a great cause. ☮️♥️

thrashers

Willie Nelson
#Willie4Nobel
A campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize for Willie Nelson's Farm Aid work has been launched!

Willie Nelson's efforts for Farm Aid deserve a nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Join the campaign by liking the Willie Nelson for Nobel Peace Prize page on Facebook.

Willie Nelson has been helping family farmers for over 25 years decades and has raised awareness of healthy foods while raising funds for the cause.

Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp organized the first Farm Aid concert in 1985 to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land. Dave Matthews joined the Farm Aid Board of Directors in 2001. Farm Aid has raised more than $37 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture. Farm Aid is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to keep family farmers on their land.


John Mellencamp is campaigning to get Willie Nelson a Nobel Peace Prize. The interview took place on SIRIUS XM Willie's Place at Farm Aid 25 in Milwaukee, Wisc.

Thanks everybody for liking Willie Nelson for Nobel Peace Prize page on Facebook!

#Willie4Nobel


Willie Nelson Joined by Farm Aid Friends
photo by thrashette
Farm Aid 2019 Concert - Alpine Valley, Wisconsin - Sept 21, 2019
REVIEW: 34 Years of Farm Aid: Where Do We Go From Here
#Willie4Nobel

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Eddie Vedder & Lukas Nelson + Promise Of The Real Cover Neil Young's "Throw Your Hatred Down": OHANA FESTIVAL (Sept 29, 2019)

Eddie Vedder joined Lukas Nelson + Promise Of The Real to cover Neil Young's "Throw Your Hatred Down" at the fourth annual Ohana Festival, at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, California on Sept 29, 2019.

Neil Young's “Rockin’ In The Free World” closed out the festival with most acts joining including The Strokes, Red Hot Chili Peppers and others.

Eddie Vedder & Lukas Nelson + Promise Of The Real
Ohana Festival 2019

Watch @PearlJam frontman Eddie Vedder guest with @TheStrokes, Red Hot @ChiliPeppers and @LukasNelson & Promise Of The Real during this past weekend's @TheOhanaFest https://t.co/ZH7TQhCWH4

— JamBase (@JamBase) October 1, 2019

From interview with Neil Young on "Mirror Ball world premier with Dave Marsh", August 1995:

Dave Marsh: But one of the clearest and most direct statements on the record is the next thing we're going to hear which is Throw You Hatred Down, which I understand was originally called Throw Your Weapons down.

Neil Young: Yeah, I sometimes mess around with titles for a while and i couldn't figure out which one to use, so I thought I'd just wait until I sang it and see which one I sang first. Because when you're playing, some words work better than others and it's never done and until it's over, you know, it's never finished. And even then, it's not finished because I keep changing it after that anyway.

Dave Marsh: Yeah, well, Throw Your Hatred Down talks about people being divided by their dreams and I think that goes back to the kind of 60s versus 90s versus 70s and 80s or the 60s and the 90s versus the 70s, you know, connecting up to the 70s and 80s sensibility. Am I right about that?

Neil Young: Well, I was thinking about the kids in the schoolyard who are fighting - like just the different ways to go and they're started right there. Just how ... where does it start ... where do we start the conflict? You know, where does it begin? It must begin at birth or something, because conflict is always there. It seems part of our nature, as sad as it sounds. I mean it must just be there ... and I just, you know ... was drifting around in my head trying ... I just had all these images of this ... conflict and people planning ways to overcome evil and evil planning ways to encroach on good.

More on Mirror Ball album reviews, etc.

"Meanwhile in the underworld
The weaknesses are seen
By peasants and presidents
Who plan the counter-scheme
Children in the schoolyard
Finish choosing teams
Divided by their dreams
While a TV screams

Throw your weapons down
Throw your weapons down"

More on Nephew Eddie and Uncle Neil.

Neil Young & Eddie Vedder
(Nephew Eddie and Uncle Neil)

UPDATE: Neil says on NYA that the Neil Young with Pearl Jam concert in Dublin, August 1995 with "Throw Your Hatred Down", has been located. The plan is to screen in Hearse Theater at a future date.

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Comment of the Moment: Neil Young's 2019 Song Setlist Diversity Hits An Alltime Career High

The BIG Setlist
Neil Young + Promise of the Real
Port Chester, New York - Sept, 2018

The Comment of the Moment is from Neil Young's 2019 Song Setlist Diversity Hits An Alltime Career High by Scotsman:

I'll point out that the setlist is so often a crucial part of the art form itself.

Take my favourite example of the Ragged Glory tour in 1991. And we need some context here: this is a tour that was deeply influenced by the then-current Gulf War. Now, take a look at the concluding half of the setlist for an average show from that year.

We have Cortez The Killer, the classic Neil Young story of invasion and destruction, lives torn apart by bloodshed (beautifully performed on this tour). Next up is Powderfinger, another violent invasion. Love And Only Love follows, where a "battle raged on the open page", transitioning into a gritty Rockin' In The Free World where the octave-divided lead guitar is the sound of "bombs falling, buildings collapsing on their families".

The encore consists of some much-appreciated light relief in a call-and-response Farmer John, swept aside by one of the most intense and explosive Like A Hurricane's you will ever hear; this time a story of love (or lust) blown away by a particularly violent, frenzied, man-made storm.

You can clearly see the theme here. Look at the first night of the tour in Minneapolis and you'll notice a different setlist, but one that hadn't yet reached this level of intense focus. A few weeks later in Hartford or West Point, following some experimentation, the tour has found its niche. And you can see how slotting in Sugar Mountain or Old Man would have diminished the effect.

Time and time again, it's not just what is played but what *isn't* played that is significant. A trainspotter-style fan will probably skip the recordings of the 1991 tour entirely; and miss out on some of the most thrilling drama Neil Young has ever had captured on tape.

Another fantastic example is 1989. The early electric shows had Neil playing the brand-new 'Cocaine Eyes', wearing a "Just Say No" t-shirt and concluding each night with a perverted cover of On Broadway ("gimme that crack!") swiftly followed by another song that chronicles the incineration of showbiz glitter, again courtesy of drug addiction.

Later in the year, the acoustic shows would reach their peak with Ohio, dedicated to the "Chinese hero" who had recently stood in front of the tanks at Tiananmen Square, followed by Rockin' In The Free World and a final encore of Powderfinger that casts its (anti-) hero as freedom fighter. One minute Neil is talking to us about the brave guy from China, then he's speaking in the first person, playing that hero's character; speaking as his ghost, or the ghost of someone very much like him.

Yes, these are fairly small details, layers that go beyond the surface. But as we know, small details are what make all the difference. We're dealing with a model train aficionado here: where small details, thoughtful touches, are the whole point. The setlist isn't an obstacle to the art form, it's often an integral part of the art form itself. Even the Mona Lisa sits in a frame.

Scotsman.

Excellent Scotsman and appreciated.

The setlist is the story and agree that Neil isn't just throwing out random songs like a jukebox -- as much as some fans might wish.

As we mentioned, see this analysis we presented back in 2010 on the subject of Neil Young's Setlist Variation.

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Neil Young's 2019 Song Setlist Diversity Hits An Alltime Career High ... yet again

Unique Songs per Year
via Sugar Mountain

Throughout Neil Young's concert career, some fans have bemoaned the lack of song diversity in his setlists from night to night and year to year. (For example, see this analysis we presented back in 2010 on the subject of Neil Young's Setlist Variation.)

Well, along comes 2019 and it's a whole new ballgame because it turns out that thus far this year, we have seen the most diverse setlists of songs ever in Neil Young's concert career. We're talking all time high. We're talkin' "Peak Neil" -- yet again.

This observation all began with a comment on Farm Aid 2019 Concert - Alpine Valley, Wisconsin by Minke:

Sure everybody noticed that – according to Sugar Mountain statistics – this year Neil Young played more different songs than in all previous years of his performing career.

112 songs in 28 shows.

He tops his 1988 record of 104 songs in a year. I am not sure what this means -- it’s only statistics, right? -- but at least it serves to demonstrate how versatile Young is, how much he continues to explore the nooks and crannies of his musical archive, and how much his recent strategy of doing short stints with various (or no) accompanying players is reflected in his song selections.

Apparently, this enables him to dig up different songs for each stint and even each concert, according to mood and taste. The amazing thing is also that he does not stick to the old stuff, but mixes his new songs in, searching for balance in his performance and blending the new with the old. He always has done that, so there is nothing new here. But it is spectacular that a singer and composer who has been around for more than 50 years still demonstrates the vitality of breaking new grounds, confronting his audiences with new songs and revitalized old songs. And he takes full advantage not only of having this huge reservoir of songs, but also of this new touring dynamic (or decreasing touring energy).

What a way to grow older as a performing artist…

Thanks so much Minke.

Actually, no, we hadn't noticed this startlingly factoid. So Minke, this really got us fired up here at TW and we had to know more. So we checked over on Sugar Mountain: Neil Young Setlists and really couldn't figure out how you came up with this discovery after surfing around a bit.

The BIG Setlist
Neil Young + Promise of the Real
Port Chester, New York - Sept, 2018

So we checked with Mr Sugar Mountain himself, Tom Hambleton, and he was just and puzzled, startled and surprised as we were by Minke's discovery. And right away, we have 2 new queries added to Sugar Mountain statistics: (Thanks Tom!)

• Unique Songs per Year
• Neil Young Songs Per Year (some years Neil guests with other artists a lot like 1988 when he played with Dylan)

Some other highlights of 2019 include:

Unreleased songs: 10
Eternity, Green Is Blue, Homefires, I Do, Milky Way, Olden Days, Rainbow Of Colors, She Showed Me Love, Think Of Me, Truth Kills

Debuted Songs: 9
Green Is Blue, I Do, Milky Way, Olden Days, Rainbow Of Colors, Running Dry (Requiem For The Rockets), She Showed Me Love, Think Of Me, Truth Kills

3 of top 5 and 4 of top 10 years since 2015 are when Neil began playing with Promise of the Real. Clearly -- and undoubtedly -- the Nelson sons Lukas and Micah have very heavily influenced the broadening of Neil's concert setlists.

For example, over the course of just 2 concerts in Winnipeg, February 2019:

• 35 total songs
• 28 unique songs
• Wonderin' - 1st concert performance since March 21, 1996
• Distant Camera - 1st concert performance since June 2, 1999

Neil Young + Promise of the Real
Farm Aid 2019 Concert - Alpine Valley, WI
photo by thrashette
(Click photo to enlarge)

Like we (& others) said back in 2015, the Promise is REAL. The Promise is The TRUTH. So don't be denied. Otherwise, just walk on ...

Neil Young
Farm Aid 2019 Concert - Alpine Valley, WI
photo by thrashette
(Click photo to enlarge)

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