My Day (and night) at Farm Aid NYC

Despite my reservations about going back to Randalls Island I went to hear some good music on a warm sunny summer day and, just by my being there, to support organic, sustainable farming. Dave, my "On the Road" buddy from High School and I arrived there painlessly around 5 pm. We had to drive because Randalls Island, despite what they say, is really not that accessible without a car (unless you consider a subway and a $5 each way shuttle bus from 125th Street). It turned out that there was very little traffic despite the fact it was pretty crowded after all. Most of the people there were in their 20s-30s which was surprising for a show dominated by oldtimers, but OK.

The festival layout sucked; there were the expensive reserved seats in the front, and the general admission $52 ticket area (which became the $25 ticket area) was in the rear. And there was only one huge video screen for the masses to see the performers. But there was a whole bunch of food vendors with organic fare, like Angus Burgers, Vermont Flat Bread Pizza (excellent), Ben & Jerry's and others, along with the usual Philly Cheese Steaks and Funnel Cake (had some of that). There also were booths about organic farming and free samples of soy milk, organic snacks, yogurt and other stuff. A lot of beer was sold there as well.

The music was well worth the trip.  Warren Haynes was great; John Mellencamp and band were really good; you forget how many fine songs Mellencamp has written. The downside of his set was he gave a big speech about the war and Bush - which was preaching to the choir. Counting Crows were enjoyable although the singer is still annoying. I always loved that song "A Long December," which they did. Everyone performed about eight songs. And I almost forgot: the "great" Dave Matthews did an unmemorable acoustic set which fortunately gave us time to eat dinner. I just don't "get" him nor do I understand why he is so popular, especially with the dead-head-type crowd.

We stayed until the great Neil Young finished his set, the second to last of the day. He played an acoustic set with a his sister singing backup and playing guitar, another guitar player, and Neil. He did "Heart of Gold," "Four Strong Winds," "Too Far Gone (one of my favorites), and a bunch of other songs, some new some old. Neil played a lot of harmonica and surprising didn't wear his usual hat. He gave some inspirational speeches about local sustainable farming versus the big business farms who have to put all these chemicals in to make them profitable, when they are not only poisoning us, and poisoning the planet. Also he went on about how a lot of our fruits and vegetables are now imported from Chile or wherever, which means they have to be picked earlier and shipped here with giant ships or planes which use fossil fuels and pollute the water and air and cause global warming. He fully supports local sustainable small farms.

The single best thing there believe it or not was the Allman Brothers Band. They were awesome. Warren Haynes played slide with them and he is almost as good as Dwayne. They had at least two other guitar players as well including Derek Trucks. I was never a big fan in the day (I was at their first Fillmore East gig) but seeing them nowadays, live, you realize how much they kick ass and play with so much more skill and fire than 90% of these bogus groups today. They are truly exceptional. I can even almost forgive Greg for being a narc and ratting on his roadie in the 1970s (who went to prison for being his heroin deliveryperson) and for marrying Cher. (Greg was great though as a scary scumbag dealer in the 1992 movie "Rush." Check it out.)

We hung out on this "hill," in the tree line on the edge of the "bowl" where people were relaxed and smoking weed all day. We did not stay for Willie's set although he played throughout the evening on a song here and there with other artists. Despite the fact there were cops scattered throughout the crowd it was very mellow.

The weather was great... Shore breezes...you could see the rushing river... the city's twinkling lights... cars zipping by on the FDR... and the porta-pottys. The toilet "Porta-shit holes" were totally gross. I went in one, a super-sized porta-san for wheelchair access, and the floor was completely wet, and the entire toilet was filled to the brim with excrement and garbage. It seemed people were pissing all over the place. When I came out I said to the "kid" next in line "you don't want to go in there." He said he would piss on the wall if necessary, whicj explains the wet floor. Also, there were these portable hand washing stations which ran out of water at like 2 PM but still had soap. Unsuspecting concert-goers were soaping up and attempting to pump out some water, and then walking around pissed off with soapy, dirty hands. A sign would have been helpful.

And then there's the overall poop smell. Randall's Island is host to a large sewage treatment plant on one side which can be smelled all over the island. I am surprised they allow concerts there seeing as how horrible it is when the wind shifts, and the fact that smell is actually molecules from the cause of the smell floating in air. (FYI..Rikers Island also has one too.)

On the way out walking the long march in the darkness to the field where the car was parked there were street vendors selling all sorts of stuff like bogus Farm Aid T-shirts and Whippet balloons filled with Nitrous Oxide. They were right outside the parking lot within 20 feet of mounted policemen, who seemed more concerned with talking amongst themselves.

But overall, the afternoon and evening was fun but kinda of bizarre for old hippies like myself and Dave, who were at the original Woodstock Festival (I was 15 when Dave and I hitchhiked there... that's another story). Even if Farm Aid 2007 was a bit grueling time-wise and crowd-wise, six hours of smelling poop was easier than 3 days of starving and getting wet in the mud. (Remember: don't take the brown acid). In the end it seemed a pleasant time was had by all. You shoulda been there.