Search - Farm Aid 20th Anniversary Concert (2005) on DVD

Nearly Three Hours of Organic, Sustainable Music

Stephanie DePue | Carolina Beach, NC USA | 04/25/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The recently released "Farm Aid 20th Anniversary" DVD is nearly three hours of music, starring Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Kenny Chesney, Arlo Guthrie, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Guy and John Mayer, Los Lonely Boys, and More! More! More! Even a brief guest appearance by Illinois Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama, introducing local favorites Wilco (Chicago local favorites Widespread Panic also perform). This DVD catches a live 2005 concert-- the 20th anniversary concert -- at the Tweeter Center,outside Chicago. The sold-out concert featured, as you can see, a great diversity in music. The DVD comes to us in a wide screen, high definition, surround sound stereo format. And, oh, the music it delivers: high-energy performances from some of rock's - and country's - greatest. The album's really a gourmet treat.

Nelson, Young, and 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. They have been members of the board ever since. Matthews joined the Board of Directors in 2001. Farm Aid has raised more than $28 million to support programs that strengthen family farming. A portion of the proceeds from sales of this album benefit its parent organization.

Arlo Guthrie, now a greybeard, gray-haired, much tanned man, wearing shades, delivers a tart, amusing update of his greatest hit from 40 years ago, "Alice's Restaurant;" his reminiscences of meeting the draft board, at New York's Whitehall, legendary in its time among young men of appropriate age, are certainly still resonant. Buddy Guy, an experienced Chicago-style bluesman, ably backed on guitar by John Mayer, who has gone far since this '05 concert, gives us a smoking "What Kind of Woman."Los Lonely Boys give us their own, Latin-pulsed "My Way." Susan Tedeschi and Kathleen Edwards show us that the country category includes young women, and what some of them have been up to; Emmylou Harris reprises her signature "Red Dirt Girl." We then get a popcorn intermission, helpful brief documentary on Farm Aid, before the bigger guns come on.

Kenny Chesney, a hard bodied handsome young guy, gives us some hard-rocking music, including the song "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy." Well yes, I'd have to say I do, can't be surprised at his growing popularity, either. Dave Matthews, no slouch himself in the hard bodied, handsome young department, gives us a couple of the more thoughtful songs for which he's known - that still rock - "Gravedigger, and "Ants Marching." Remarkably enough, he's playing without his amazing band, just one man, his voice and his guitar, holding the attention of the 25,000+ audience. His set is definitely one of the musical highlights of the show, and we'd have to say that it's no surprise that his career has been on the rise since `05 either.

John Mellencamp has been around - remember when it was John Cougar Mellencamp, and don't you forget it-- - but he's still a high-energy guy, nowhere near his "sell-by" date yet. He presents what seemed to me to be the longest set, muscular, and sweaty. The grizzled, Canadian-born Neil Young, has, of course, been around, too. We find him in a thoughtful mood, using his extraordinary voice, backed by a choir, on a churchy "When God Made Me." He's joined by Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris on the meditative "This Old Guitar."

The veteran Willie Nelson's evening-capping set consisted of five/six songs, played medley-style, all together, on a quick roll. I could have done with more. Then again, the show began at 1 P.M., ran eleven hours, and wrapped after midnight, when he finally came on. But his polyphonic, rocking approach to such standards as "Whiskey River," "Crazy," "Night Life," and "On the Road Again" kept them tasty, hot and fresh.

Get the DVD -- and it's good any hour of the day or night.


"

20th Anniversary of Farm Aid brings tons of highlights

Paul Allaer | Cincinnati | 04/12/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First things first: I don't know what Amazon looked at or listened to but the "setlist" that appears on the Amazon information page is completely and totally wrong, period. Rather than the 16 or so songs that are listed there, this DVD brings 29 tracks.

"Farm Aid 20th Anniversary" (166 min.), recorded on Sept. 18, 2005 at the Tweeder Park in Chicago, brings a smorgasboard of artists and songs. It is inevitable that one isn't going to like every single one of them as much. Let me just list a couple of my favorite performances: Buddy Guy (supported by Joh Meyer) on "What Kind of Woman"; Kathleen Edwards on "Ïndependent Thief"; Emmiloy Harris on the hauntingly beautiful "Red Dirt Girl". Dave Matthews' solo acoustic set is quite nice, as is John Mellencamp's 4 song set. But the absolute highlight for me is the two song set on here from Wilco: the acoustic/rustic "Airline to Heaven" (from the "Mermaid Avenue Vol. II" album with Billy Bragg) and "Late Greats" (from "a ghost is born"), just beautiful. (And what a surprise to see none other than then 1st year Senator Obama introduce the band.) Not so good or interesting for me is Kenny Chesney's 3 song set on here, and the 6 (!) song set on here from Willie Nelson. I mean, I like Willie, but 6 songs is a bit much.

The audio quality of this DVD is nothing short of spectecular, if you have the proper 'home entertainment' surround-sound set-up (which I do). In all, this is a terrific audio and visual recollection of Farm Aid's 20th anniversary concert. Highly recommended!"

Concert Video Review

MaxW | Buffalo, WY | 01/18/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This disc was too short. Many of the acts are only shown doing one song. Then a string of two song sets for a while...
I looked up the concert online afterwards and saw that it was a one day festival. Some of the acts with only one song on the disc only had two at the event.
I've seen most of these people live. I've seen them all on video. This disc has performances that rate as among the best I have ever seen.
Willie showed his magic. Also fell on his face, but then he does both. The best live performance I've seen by anyone was him in '94. That was 60 minutes of lurches, 45 of pure magic, then 30 of lurches. Here on this disc he goes back and forth too.
Neil bit, but then he always does. His fame is purely due to the fact that the hippie generation needed another loser stoner to champion their causes. He glowered at the audience, and honked and coughed his way through lame and hokey lyrics.
Dave Matthews pulled it off. I've seen him some 50 times because I grew up with him, more than liked him. It was the party place to be. But I respect him enormously, and enjoyed his stuff at this concert a lot.
Kenny Chesney was off key here and there, and missed a few high notes. One of the articles on the net said this show was just after the marriage fiasco. Odd, because Chesney had more groove in this performance than I have ever seen him pull off, and I've seen him 5-6 times. Add concert videos.
Mellencamp delivered the show I have always wanted to see someone do, but never have. In my opinion it was the penultimate rock performance. He swaggered and acted out the lyrics, and pulled a control trip that had his band shaking their heads and the audience reeling. But when he screamed there was no holding back, no doubt, no limits to his vocal chords. His air punches were on and enormous. His performance inspired the groove for his fiddle player to jam out, and the look he gives her afterwards probably said: "This is what I pay you for." But it was John's groove that made it possible.
Well, it really wasn't John's doing. A good groove started building early in the show. I'd have to go back and watch it again to see who started it. But when one band rocks out, the next is inspired to also rock. This is a video of that in action.
I just rented it from Netflix, but this is going to be one of the very few DVDs I will own. I highly recommend it."