The Day of the Concert
In the early morning hours of Sunday, September 22, 1985, music fans and farm advocates began lining up outside of Memorial Stadium for the first-ever Farm Aid concert.[1] About 78,000 people and 1,200 reporters attended the 14-hour-long concert, making Farm Aid a musical event unlike any other in central Illinois.[2] The Nashville Network aired the concert live, bringing national attention to central Illinois and the struggles of farmers dealing with the repercussions of the Farm Crisis.[3] The concert created a unique musical experience for fans that combined artists and genres, as well as a space for artists and activists to engage in some of the most salient political debates of the time.
The line outside of Memorial Stadium didn’t die down until 10:15 in the morning, but the concert officially started 30 minutes before, at 9:45, with Willie Nelson and Neil Young greeting the crowd and performing “Are There Anymore Real Cowboys?”[4] Nelson continued his performance as the downpour of rain, which lasted until the early afternoon, drenched the crowd. The fans stayed positive and repurposed garbage bags, cardboard boxes, and blankets as makeshift umbrellas.[5] The music rolled on with Bon Jovi, the Blasters, and Foreigner receiving some of the biggest reactions from fans out of all the morning performances.[6] In the afternoon, when the rain stopped and the excitement began to fade the Beach Boys brought the crowd to their feet with “California Girls” and “Barbara Ann.”[7] John Mellencamp gave one of the most relevant performances with songs like “Rain on the Scarecrow,” “Pink Houses,” and “This Old House of Ours is Built on Dreams” which all deal with farm foreclosures and the tough realities of the American dream.[8] B.B. King was a big hit as he performed “The Thrill is Gone,” and Billy Joel was reported to have “brought the stadium alive with ‘Only the Good Die Young.’”[9] The last highly anticipated artist to perform was Bob Dylan, whose remarks at Live Aid had a major impact on the creation of FarmAid.[10] Emmylou Harris and Loretta Lynn also gave very well-received performances, but it was Eddie Van Halen who was crowned the “day’s biggest crowd pleaser.”[11] Although some artists didn’t live up to expectations, like Joni Mitchell, Alabama, and Rickie Lee Jones, many fans, including farmer Mitch Laub, left the concert with “a lot of good memories.”[12]
Many contemporaries were surprised by the wide variety of people that FarmAid attracted. To make sure the issues of farming were a top priority at the concert, the De Moines Register funded a train to bring 500 Iowa farmers to the concert.[13] Judy Tatham of the Herald and Review noted that people of all ages and even families were represented at the concert.[14] Craig and Laura Reiser, who attended FarmAid and were students at the University of Illinois at the time, remembered that students were “very supportive” of the concert and estimated that about half of the University’s students attended.[15]
The combination of country and rock, as well as the on-stage collaborations of many different artists, made Farm Aid a truly unique musical experience. Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times said that “the concert reunited country and rock in a way that we haven’t seen since the ‘50s.”[16] Farm Aid created this reunion with rock bands like X performing on the same stage as country icon Merle Haggard and collaborations between Southern Pacific and Emmylou Harris, Darryl Hall, Bonnie Raitt, and Billy Joel, and Tom Petty and Bob Dylan.[17] Fans got to see other exciting collaborations, like Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Arlo Guthrie, and Willie Nelson.[18] This led reporter Jon Bream to go so far as to say that Farm Aid “was the greatest single day concert on one stage in the history of popular music.”[19]
However, Farm Aid was not without its critics. Many reporters pointed out that B.B. King was the only black musician to perform live, and others questioned why more black artists and blues musicians were not included in the concert. Farm Aid also created a very lively political atmosphere. Some of the ways politics were introduced into Farm Aid included Randy Newman and Joni Mitchell’s performance of satirical songs about nuclear weapons, X’s thinly veiled criticisms of Ronald Reagan, and farm activist Bobbi Polzine addressing the crowd on stage.[20] The most controversial political topic of the day was farm legislation, specifically the Harkin Farm Bill. Many artists used their time on stage to urge support for the Harkin Farm Bill, which was aimed at introducing subsidies and industry controls to protect farmers during the Farm Crisis. This message wasn’t well received by some reporters and legislators who not only disagreed with the effectiveness of the bill, but also thought political discussion on farm policy was inappropriate for a concert.[21]
The concert ended at around one a.m. with fireworks and Willie Nelson making his fifth on-stage appearance. Farm Aid raised about $9 million, but many people connected to the farming community didn’t expect the Farm Crisis to be solved in one day. In recounting his Farm Aid experience, Dave Smith, who worked at an agricultural cooperative in Iowa, said, “I didn’t think it [Farm Aid] would do anything. I think the problem was so large that it was kind of like, this is nice, maybe bring some attention.”[2
Many contemporaries were surprised by the wide variety of people that FarmAid attracted. To make sure the issues of farming were a top priority at the concert, the De Moines Register funded a train to bring 500 Iowa farmers to the concert.[13] Judy Tatham of the Herald and Review noted that people of all ages and even families were represented at the concert.[14] Craig and Laura Reiser, who attended FarmAid and were students at the University of Illinois at the time, remembered that students were “very supportive” of the concert and estimated that about half of the University’s students attended.[15]
The combination of country and rock, as well as the on-stage collaborations of many different artists, made Farm Aid a truly unique musical experience. Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times said that “the concert reunited country and rock in a way that we haven’t seen since the ‘50s.”[16] Farm Aid created this reunion with rock bands like X performing on the same stage as country icon Merle Haggard and collaborations between Southern Pacific and Emmylou Harris, Darryl Hall, Bonnie Raitt, and Billy Joel, and Tom Petty and Bob Dylan.[17] Fans got to see other exciting collaborations, like Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Arlo Guthrie, and Willie Nelson.[18] This led reporter Jon Bream to go so far as to say that Farm Aid “was the greatest single day concert on one stage in the history of popular music.”[19]
However, Farm Aid was not without its critics. Many reporters pointed out that B.B. King was the only black musician to perform live, and others questioned why more black artists and blues musicians were not included in the concert. Farm Aid also created a very lively political atmosphere. Some of the ways politics were introduced into Farm Aid included Randy Newman and Joni Mitchell’s performance of satirical songs about nuclear weapons, X’s thinly veiled criticisms of Ronald Reagan, and farm activist Bobbi Polzine addressing the crowd on stage.[20] The most controversial political topic of the day was farm legislation, specifically the Harkin Farm Bill. Many artists used their time on stage to urge support for the Harkin Farm Bill, which was aimed at introducing subsidies and industry controls to protect farmers during the Farm Crisis. This message wasn’t well received by some reporters and legislators who not only disagreed with the effectiveness of the bill, but also thought political discussion on farm policy was inappropriate for a concert.[21]
The concert ended at around one a.m. with fireworks and Willie Nelson making his fifth on-stage appearance. Farm Aid raised about $9 million, but many people connected to the farming community didn’t expect the Farm Crisis to be solved in one day. In recounting his Farm Aid experience, Dave Smith, who worked at an agricultural cooperative in Iowa, said, “I didn’t think it [Farm Aid] would do anything. I think the problem was so large that it was kind of like, this is nice, maybe bring some attention.”[22]