About That Time We Went To Farm Aid and A Bob Dylan & The HeartBreakers Concert Broke Out ...

 

 "Maggie's Farm"

Bob Dylan w/ HeartBreakers Benmont Tench & Mike Campbell 

photos by thrasher

 (Click photo to enlarge)

So, about that time we went to Farm Aid and a Bob Dylan & The HeartBreakers concert broke out ...  

While most of our amazing day at the Farm Aid 2023 Concert  was spent enjoying the music, food and people, a considerable amount of time went into speculating on the evening's "Special Guest" -- after Neil Young and before Willie Nelson's final slot.

 

"Special Guest" @ 10:04

One of the 1st guesses we heard early in the day was Bob Dylan, which we quickly dismissed as totally impossible. We also heard Our Sisters suggest The Dirty Knobs (Tom Petty's The HeartBreakers band), although we really weren't quite tuned into that one at the time. But both "speculations" turned out to be pretty spot on. 

While we had been betting on Stephen Stills -- given the slot after Neil and Stills & Young performing earlier in the year at  ‘Light Up the Blues’  and Willie Nelson's 90th Birthday Tribute -- our buddy Jim was saying Eddie Vedder and/or Pearl Jam was the leading rumor.

  Neil Young

 

When Neil Young's set consisted of playing only four songs and a truncated time slot, we began to realize someone big was going to happen.

All day long, the music never really stopped as acts were swiftly moved on and off the stage with very brief set changes.  But after Neil's set, the lights went down, the video screens went off and the chattering of speculation began to rise. Ushers who had been pretty cool all day with cameras and folks dancing in the aisles, suddenly began to challenge everyone for tickets and their assigned seats.

As the roadies went about their work preparing, we began to closely look at the equipment for clues.  The guitars, keyboard and drums were all scrutinized for a hint.   Then a stool was brought center stage.  Someone elderly, maybe?

As we would soon learn, the lyrics are prophetic:

"Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?"

The drama and tension continued to ratchet up even higher as the set change went into 15 minutes and stage screen images of scenic farm landscapes were replaced by a stark, black-and-white photo of a windmill.

 

 

Dylan & The Heartbreakers

 

And then -- without any introduction whatsoever -- a band slowly emerged from the side stage, slowly one by one. We turned to our seatmate Jim and The FarmAidians surrounding us and simultaneously inaudibly exclaimed with looks of disbelief --"DYLAN?!"

Dylan played electric guitar for one of the very few times in roughly 20 years* [see comments below] for the three song set:

• Maggie’s Farm (First Play since 2009)

• Positively Fourth Street (First Play since 2013)

• Ballad Of A Thin Man (First Play Since 2019)

It wasn't until after the brief 3 song set concluded did we learn that this was Tom Petty's band The HeartBreakers that Dylan had as his backup.  With Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, and Steve Ferrone we had just witnessed Dylan & The HeartBreakers.

Dylan sang better than anytime we've ever heard him -- which is what just about what everyone said who never saw early Dylan. He clearly enunciated the lyrics and seemed to enjoy his little solo jams with The HeartBreakers.

Dylan never uttered a word to the crowd and once the 3 songs were completed, he simply walked off the stage. 

In the end, it was we -- the audience -- that was Mr. Jones. Something was happening there, but we didn't know what it was.

Looking back now, it was all somewhat logical.

Afterall, Bob Dylan's comments about family farmers being in danger of losing their farms through mortgage debt at Live Aid in 1985 inspired the very first Farm Aid concert.  And at that very first Farm Aid concert in 1985, Bob Dylan with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, was the first time they played together.

The day was already shaping up to be one of our all time best Farm Aid concerts ever what with Bob Weir, Lukas Nelson, Margo Price, Dave Matthews, Neil, and Willie along with so many other incredible artists. Certainly right up there near the top of lifetime concert experiences.

Obviously, we were not the only one's stunned and surprised by Bob Dylan's appearance.

From Behind the Scenes of Bob Dylan's Farm Aid Surprise | Bassist Lance Morrison explains how the shocking Dylan-Heartbreakers reunion came to be | Flagging Down the Double E’s by Ray Padgett:

Fans were just going nuts. And the secrecy— my sense is there was no rumor even among the attendees. Often with these thing, word leaks out. Someone spots a name on a dressing room door or something. It really seems to have been a shock.

Lance Morrison: Our flight from Indianapolis back into New York, there was a young guy who was in the control truck where they had the sound and the lights and everything like that. When the lights went down, they had no idea what was about to happen.

The actual Farm Aid crew didn’t know?

Lance Morrison: They had no idea. He even asked me, “Who made the decision to turn off all the screens?" Because I guess all the other acts had the screens behind them with the videos going, this big production. And I said, I just think that was Bob being like, "We don't need any of that kind of stuff."

Also I don't think Bob felt like he needed an introduction or anything like that. We just went on without introduction, didn't really speak between songs, and left. When I see videos of it, it definitely sets itself apart from the other acts, just that sparseness.

Given the lack of introduction, did people in the crowd figure it out right away what was happening?

Lance Morrison: The people up close realized that it was Bob and there was a big reaction, then it kept going back into the audience. It took a while for people a little further back to catch on.

But I mean, to be honest, at that point once we hit the stage, I am so focused on Bob it's hard to know exactly what else is going on.

From Cult Following by Ewan Gleadow:

"As far as iconic imagery of the legendary songwriter goes, there is no greater sight than a cowboy hat-wearing guitarist morphing the instrumental layover into a wild, Prince covering While My Guitar Gently Wheeps-like shot to the system as Dylan hits risible elongations of words. 

It works, though. 

That is the beauty of late-stage Dylan.

His reverence and even fear of putting a foot wrong guides him through dangerous patch after dangerous patch, and playing with the words no doubt keeps it fresh.

Does it keep it perfect and tightly wound?

Not exactly, and this Farm Aid 2023 appearance, while for all the right reasons, hears Dylan not quite hang with the all-time performances of his lengthy career. Still, the shock of this trio of songs and the appearance itself does some much-needed heavy lifting."

From The Reporter by BROOK STAAS:

"Bob Dylan’s unexpected appearance was nothing short of magical.

As he strummed the first chords, attendees flew out of their seats, utterly awestruck by the iconic musician’s presence. With every note, he proved that age is but a number, delivering a truly captivating performance. The applause that followed was deafening, with countless hands coming together in heartfelt admiration.

In essence, Farm Aid 2023 transcended the definition of a festival; it was a resonating movement with an age-old message: stand by our farmers, promote sustainable practices, and cherish the soil under our feet."

 "Positively Fourth Street"

Bob Dylan w/ Mike Campbell 

 

See the Full 17 Minute Performance Below:

Also, see About That Time That We Went To A Farm Aid Concert (Farm Aid 2016 - Bristow, Virginia ) ... [and Neil Young stopped concert to point out the shirts we were wearing]

More on Farm Aid 2023 Concert. Also, see more on Bob and Neil.

---

---