Farm Aid 2024 was a rousing success, as tens of thousands of fans packed Saratoga Performing Arts Center for a long day of music from more than a dozen artists. Adding in the musicians, backup singers and dancers on stage, nearly 100 different musicians were on hand for this special day of music at SPAC.
At 1:00 pm the Farm Aid entertainment was officially underway on the Broadview Stage at SPAC after a brief introduction from New York Governor Kathy Hochul who noted that more than $80 million has been raised by farmers.
Hochul introduced Kontiwennenha:Wi (goon-dee-one-naw-ha-wee), or “The Women Who Carry Words,” who belong to the Akwesasne community of the Kanienʼkehá:ka (gaw-nyun-geh-haw-gaw), “People of the Flint,” often known as Mohawk.
Together since 1996, the group is made up of Elizabeth Nanticoke, Theresa Bear Fox and Lawentas Nanticoke. Their short set of songs started with a brief monologue that honored the Creator. Songs featured vocal acapella harmonies in both their traditional language and in English, at times assisted by hand percussion.
The first set of the day also revealed the video-installation inspired stage design for the festival – the Farm Aid logo emblazoned above a projection of rolling fields of grain. Projections of straw, peppers, pumpkins and other agricultural images served as a backdrop slideshow of sorts, with accompanying LED scrims on each side, for the entire fest.
The Wisdom Dancers offered a blessing and traditional dance. They were unexpectedly joined by Margo Price who sang a solo rendition of “The Lord’s Prayer.” Price wasn’t originally announced as a Farm Aid performer, but announced her participation in the festival about a month ago during her opening set for Tedeschi-Trucks on August 31.
Protest singer Jesse Welles next took center stage with only a Gibson acoustic. He opened with the highly-entertaining anti-big box song, “Walmart”. The clever lyrics of the subsequently performed “Cancer” and “War Isn’t Murder” immediately called to mind John Prine in the way they mixed observation, humor, and social critique.
Portland-Oregon-based Cassandra Lewis made her first Farm Aid appearance next, and her set was the first of the day featuring a full band. The group dished out a competent set of bluesy Americana highlighted by the opener “Too Much” which put Lewis’ powerful, melismatic voice on full display. Lewis also featured “Some Kind of Love”, a song she called her favorite off of her 2024 Dave Cobb-produced album, Lost in a Dream.
Southern Avenue’s set brought the sounds of Soulsville to Saratoga Springs. The six-piece group from Memphis featured slinky blues guitar work of Ori Naftaly, swirling organ courtesy of Jeremy Powell, and the electric lead vocals of Tierinii Jackson (who in a better world would be a star on the level of Beyoncé). Standout track “Upside” wouldn’t have been out of place in a TTB setlist — and the group seemed to be the best mixed of the show so far, with crystalline, balanced audio on the lawn. The relentlessly swampy riff of “Don’t Give Up” encouraged some audience participation by the chorus and brought closure to one of the afternoon’s best sets.
The laid-back indie-folk-RnB of Joy Oladokun’s “If You Got a Problem” fit the benefit concert spirit with its lyrics of friendship and support. It belongs in the pantheon of put-your-arm-around-me classics like “Lean on Me” and “You’ve Got a Friend”. Oladokun’s smooth vocals, overdriven Fender guitar sound, and intelligent lyrics have established her as a must-see singer/songwriter who can navigate comfortably across a number of genres. Oladokun’s set full of self-described “deep cuts” was introspective and personal. She also played the first notable cover of the day, a stirring take on The Beatles’ “Blackbird”. Additionally, Oladokun mentioned she came from an Arizona dairy farming community, had a tomato farmer for a grandmother, and dreams of one day living peacefully on a farm.
Charley Crockett kicked off his set with “$10 Cowboy” yet looked like he was worth a good deal more in a smart blue denim suit and Stetson. He told the audience he learned how to play this music working on farms in Northern California. His Ernest Tubb-influenced baritone was born to pair with a sweetly singing pedal steel. The Mariachi meets Bakersfield sound of “Run Horse Run” was Western soundtrack-ready pickin’ music of the first order. Crockett is certainly carrying the honky tonk outlaw torch and proved he’s up to the challenge with a sensational cover of Waylon Jennings’ “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” to close things out.
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats wasted no time energizing the crowd with a powerhouse version of “Suffer Me”. A veteran of Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Tours, Rateliff wore a classic “Stop Factory Farming” t-shirt with suspenders, looking like he just stepped off the John Deere. On “S.O.B.”, Rateliff’s blues shouting brought the audience to its feet. The refrains of the horn section turned the lawn into the party it always should be, egged on by Nathaniel’s soft shoe moves. He’s a rave up frontman preacher at heart and his energetic soul is even bigger than his voice and husky frame. Several of the concertgoers I spoke with mentioned it was Rateliff they were here to see, and his status has certainly increased since his last appearance on the Broadview Stage.
On “A Little Honey” Rateliff got behind the keys and the entire ensemble was featured. Together, The Night Sweats make top shelf groove-n-blues music that exudes a level of energy that is hard to maintain. The band is aptly named too: Rateliff sweats through his shirt every gig and puts it all out there, which makes his brand of American music the perfect pairing for a festival about people who sweat for a living everyday.
“Intro” offered a glimpse of ideal Stax soul with a huge B3 swell, booming bass drums, and a great horn solo, accentuated by the percussive voice of Rateliff. In a set that never got old, Rateliff and company brought the house down with “I Need Never Get Old” off his breakthrough 2015 album — a song that at nine years old, already feels like a classic old standard and is always a highlight of a night with the Night Sweats. The first of Farm Aid’s more robust sets closed with a spirited take on “Love Don’t”, another song with boundless rhythmic energy.
Lukas Nelson, often spotted with his rockin’ band The Promise of the Real, went acoustic this time with another famous family band, The Travelin’ McCourys, a traditional bluegrass act that features two of bluegrass legend Del McCoury’s sons, Robbie and Rob. “Ladder of Love”, penned by Lukas was an early highlight. Their set also featured some fine pickin’, courtesy of mandolinist Ronnie McCoury, especially during a surprising take on Adele’s “Someone Like You”.
Father of Ronnie and Rob, Del McCoury, still youthful sounding at 85, made a surprise guest appearance for a rendition of “Man With The Blues”. He stayed on stage to close things out with a gospel classic oft-associated with Lukas’s father Willie (as well as Flatt and Scruggs): “Rollin’ In My Sweet Baby’s Arms”. Lukas and Del sounded great trading verses and then new McCoury’s guitarist Cody Kilby and mandolinist Ronnie traded hot solos of their own, coming to a harmonious close from the high lonesome musicians.
Another 85 year old legend, Mavis Staples, took the stage next. Her gospel power showed no signs of slowing down on The Staple Singers’ classic call-and-response “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me)”.
Staples’ guitarist and bandleader Rick Holstromm did an impeccable job turning his Fender sound into a clone of Pops Staples, notably on the tasty lick on “I’m Just Another Soldier” (in the Army of Love, of course). Staples is undoubtedly a soldier in love’s army – you can’t help being in her presence without feeling good about life. Perhaps that’s what attracts such amazing musicians to her, whether it is her frequent collaborator Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, or Will Lee, longtime bassist in the Late Show with David Letterman band, who held down the bottom end for Staples at Farm Aid. She told the crowd she was bringing some positive vibrations and that she came “to have a good time, so y’all have to get onboard”.
One of the most moving segments of the set was Mavis’ rendition of the uplifting Pops Staples tune “Friendship” followed by the classic civil rights anthem “Freedom Highway”. Staples and Tweedy recently performed the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert after the Democratic National Convention. Her appearance here in support of Farm Aid suggests Staples is just as relevant here in 2025 as she was back in the 60s and 70s.
Farm Aid Board Member Margo Price was on the SPAC stage only a few weeks ago supporting Little Feat and Tedeschi Trucks Band. Backed again by her tight band The Pricetags featuring her husband Jeremy Ivey (rhythm guitar, harmonica) and crack guitarist Jamie Davis. On “Loner”, Davis unleashed a great tele-solo to support Price’s skillful lyrics, delivered like Emmylou with a twist of Loretta.
Keeping track of the covers during a festival like this is always great fun, and Price was the second act to cover Waylon Jennings’ song, “Kissing You Goodbye” with the hilarious lyrics “get your tongue out of my mouth, I’m kissing you goodbye.”
“Never Say Die”, which Price played in Saratoga back in August, was another highlight and fit the night with its Neil Young-inspired “Hey Hey, My My” riff. Some of Price’s set suffered from an odd mix with the bass way loud and the drums a bit down in the mix. Still, Price’s strong voice cut through as the focal point and she looked every bit a ‘70s Opry star in a sequined, bejeweled, burgundy velour ensemble, complete with bell-bottoms. The most powerful segment of her performance came in “Change of Heart” > “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”. During a lengthy string-bending workout from Davis, Margo entered the audience with a bouquet of flowers, handing them out like a fresh harvest bounty as the guitar played.
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds opened with “Save Me” off Dave’s solo album Some Devil. “We’re all human beings” said Matthews, mentioning that a night like tonight is one of those that can give you hope. Then he broke into his classic “Don’t Drink the Water”. Dave and Tim continue to amaze in their ability to sound like a full band with percussive strumming and vocalese to fill out the tracks. During “Don’t Drink The Water” Matthews spontaneously broke into “The Land is Your Land” before returning to the Before These Crowded Streets anthem.
The crowd reaction to the opening chords of “Ants Marching” may well have been the biggest of the fest. Reynolds’ accompaniment was particularly playful and at times the longtime duo sounded like four hands playing the same guitar.
Matthews gave one of the most impassioned political pleas of the night asking the crowd to contact their Congresspeople to hold pesticide and fertilizer companies responsible for potential cancer-causing agents in their products.
To close their set, Lukas Nelson, Micah Nelson, and Nathaniel Rateliff joined Dave and Tim for a star-studded singalong of “The Weight”. The only thing it was missing was Mavis Staples who sang it on the legendary The Last Waltz.
Founding Farm Aid member John Mellancamp opened his set with “John Cockers”, sending his gravelly voice out into the Saratoga night and making it feel everybit like the heartland. His set included all the hits – “ Small Town,” the accordion laden “Check It Out,” the seminal sing-along “Jack & Diane,” the powerful rock ballad “Rain on the Scarecrow” and of course, “Pink Houses.”
Neil Young took the stage, wearing an EARTH shirt with a red flannel that emphasized the middle of the word – ‘ART’ – and opened with “From Hank to Hendrix,” backed for the first time by The Chrome Hearts. The band features organist Spooner Oldham, guitarist Micah Nelson, and a familiar rhythm section from the Promise of the Real, bassist Corey McCormick and drummer Anthony LoGerfo.
Hearing Young’s harmonica is such a familiar and comforting sound – it might as well be the old well-worn scotch plaid flannel of music. “Harvest Moon” was a logical second cut on the Saturday before the official first day of Fall (and one dedicated to the farmers who have a lot of work ahead of them this harvest). Following “Unknown Legend”, Neil headed to the piano to play “Journey Through the Past,” a moving track that seemed melancholic, given the decades he has played Farm Aid with his career in its twilight.
Asking the crowd “What’s your favorite planet?” Neil referenced his EARTH t-shirt, suggesting “If we say it together, the planet resonates.” The result led into “Love Earth,” a song so simple it would find its home in a grade school concert. After all, as Neil said, “That’s something we can do to help all the farmers.”
The classic “Heart of Gold” and more recent “Homegrown” followed, the latter with Neil on electric guitar. And while the crowd cheered for one more – many calling for the always appropriate “Rockin in the Free World”, Neil went back to Rust Never Sleeps to play “Powderfinger”, an apt substitute for a rocking show closer, and this version did not disappoint. From the opening warning bell lyrics “Look out Mama”, Neil and the Chrome Hearts were off and running, pouring gallons of emotion into each verse, and later taking the lead into “Shelter me from the powder and the finger” and stretching it out to build anticipation for the final set of lyrics, a truly rock n roll moment for a man who has hundreds of them in his cache.
Willie Nelson finally hit the stage at 10:10pm and after asking the audience how they were doing, heopened with “Whiskey River” (as always). Working through a set that included “Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer)” and “Bloody Mary Morning” a small power issue halfway through arrived that a made SPAC feel like a big living room, the acoustic song (and puzzled Willie) slightly audible even from the top of the lawn. “Flooding Down in Texas” was sung by Lukas Nelson and featured a great guitar interchange between Lukas and Willie.
The sad yet chuckle-worthy lyrics “If I die when I’m high, I’m halfway to heaven” were the focal point of “Die When I’m High” – sung in tandem with Micah Nelson – followed by “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys”
With David Amram on stage with the band, “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” and “On The Road Again” were performed, as was “You Were Always On My Mind” featuring a nice solo on Trigger despite Willie’s arthritic hands; he really loosened up on this one to plays his Django-esque lines.
Rounding out the closing set were “Just Breathe” (a duet with Lukas & Willie), “Georgia On My Mind” (with a tight Mickey Raphael solo), “Help Me Make It Through The Night” (sung by Waylon Payne), “Everything is Bullshit” (Micah Nelson, channeling Neil Young’s guitar sound), “Last Leaf on the Tree”, “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die”, Mac Davis’ “It’s Hard to be Humble” and finally, with everyone on stage, “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” mashed up with “I’ll Fly Away,” two truly American songs for a truly American musician.
After 39 Years of Farm Aid, the cause lives on and the music lineup is second to none. Enjoy photos from Zak Radick and Derek Java from the course of this incredible day of music.
