Farm Aid 20th Anniversary Concert
June 2008 Reviewed by: Joseph Taylor Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Farm Aid has been raising money to help small, family-owned American farms for 22 years. Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp established the organization in 1985, and in 2001 Dave Matthews joined the board of directors. Each year, Farm Aid organizes a concert that gives financial assistance to farmers, but it also helps raise awareness about the battles they fight in order to keep going in a world where factory farms are growing in size and influence. Moreover, it helps get the word out about the advantages of organically grown food, sustainability, and other matters related to health and the environment. Farm Aid’s website is a good source of information about farming and healthy food choices. I was pleased to find that the information there about raw milk, to cite just one example, was well balanced, pointing out both its benefits and risks.

Farm Aid: 20th Anniversary Concert includes a ten-minute documentary about the advantages of small farms and the work farm activists are doing to help keep them financially viable. It’s a small price to pay for more than two and a half hours of music by Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews, plus many others. Things start a little slowly with Kate Voegele (trying too hard) and country singer Shannon Brown (ditto, doing her hit "Corn Fed"). The Supersuckers do a lively, sloppy, and good-natured turn on "Drivin’ Nails In My Coffin" that lifts the energy level -- after the first two acts, it sounds like real music. Susan Tedeschi does a beautiful, gospel-tinged "Lord Protect My Child," and Buddy Guy burns through "What Kind of Woman" with help from John Mayer.

And so it goes. Most acts get one tune each and there are some dead spots. Much as I like Arlo Guthrie, I don’t need to hear "Alice’s Restaurant" again. Dave Matthews does two songs acoustically and, well, it’s Dave Matthews. On the other hand, Emmylou Harris does a lovely "Red Dirt Girl" and Wilco’s two pieces whet your appetite for more. There’s something here for nearly everyone. Jam band fans will enjoy Widespread Panic, and commercial country music lovers will sit through Kenny Chesney (I didn’t).

The three principals for Farm Aid are featured at the end of the DVD. Mellencamp’s strong set of four songs begins with a radical reworking of "Love and Happiness" and continues with "Scarecrow," "Crumblin’ Down," and "Pink Houses." A gospel choir joins Young for a moving rendition of "When God Made Me," and he’s helped by Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris on "This Old Guitar." Nelson tears through a rousing set of six tunes, bringing the disc to a lively close.

Director Lawrence Jordan doesn’t do anything flashy, but he keeps things moving along smoothly and knows where to aim the camera when someone’s soloing. The sound is well-balanced and natural two-channel and 5.1 surround sound. A portion of the sale of Farm Aid: 20th Anniversary Concert goes to the organization’s work.

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