Farm Aid 2012

The Venue - Hershey Park Stadium.

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals.

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse.

Gah did I love Farm Aid. This was my first time going and I can't wait to go again. The day was long, super hot, then cold, beer and food lines were long--seriously like the wait was way over an hour, but in the end it was all worth it. The music was amazing and the atmosphere was perfect.

We drove out to Lancaster on Friday morning and spent the night at my friend Kaitlyn's house. We had a great dinner at the Lancaster Brewing Company and went to a couple local bars. The next morning we drove the short drive to Hershey Park. There was this "Homegrown Village" right at the entrance--this had local food, farmers, various farmers organizations, and other fun activities and workshops. Kev and I both thought it would be a bit bigger than it was, but it was still a good way to pass the time before the concert. There was food and beer inside the venue, but not enough.

The day started with some smaller bands I've never heard of, then Lucas Nelson played (son of Willie), Pati Young (wife of Neil), Jamey Johnson, Grace Potter, Jack Johnson, Kenny Chesney, then the four men of Farm Aid, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Willie Nelson. They were all amazing in different ways. I've never seen Dave play solo before and just with Tim Reynolds--talk about a guitar god. John Mellencamp's voice was raspy, so he didn't sound the best, but when he played 'Pink Houses' no one seemed to care. Neil Young was so surprisingly with it--not that I was expecting some old man to be up there, but he looked and sounded unreal. He did his own thing and must have said "I want to love you" into the mic at least 32 times, but come on, it's Neil Young. Willie was a little off while he was onstage with the others, but when it was his time, he rocked it. He played all his signature songs and an old gospel hymn as the finale.

All-in-all, I'd go again. Kev and I talked throughout the day on what we would do differently next time; like tailgate, not go in as early, bring a backpack with essentials, and try to get a big group to go--not that we didn't have a great time with the two of us, but a group would be fun!