Three months after calling off his summer tour with Crazy Horse due to an unspecific illness in the band, Neil Young returned to the concert stage Saturday evening at Farm Aid in Saratoga Springs, New York. He was backed by his new group the Chrome Hearts, which features organist Spooner Oldham, guitarist Micah Nelson, and the Promise of the Real rhythm section, bassist Corey McCormick and drummer Anthony LoGerfo.
Their abbreviated set kicked off with a trio of songs from Harvest Moon: “From Hank to Hendrix,” “Harvest Moon,” and “Unknown Legend.” The latter two were inspired by the late Pegi Young, and Oldham was a pivotal part of her backing band the Survivors in the final years of her life. (He also has a long history with Neil Young.) It was the beautiful way to honor her memory.
Young then sat down on the piano to perform the nostalgic “Journey Through the Past” for the first time since 2019, followed by Farm Aid-friendly “Love Earth” from his 2022 LP World Record. His acoustic guitar came back out for a rare full-band “Heart of Gold,” where Nelson expertly recreated Ben Keith’s pedal steel parts from the original on his electric guitar, and then Young strapped on Old Back for a singalong rendition of “Homegrown.” He wrapped up the set with a blazing “Powderfinger.”
“This is something we can to help all the farmers,” Young told the crowd. “When the earth is solid and the earth is healthy, the farmers can really do their thing. Not the corporate framers. Not the factory farmers. Not the farmers with the big offices. The farmers, the real American farmers, all colors, all kinds of people on the earth together, all Americans, working together.”
Earlier in the night, Lukas Nelson and bluegrass band the Travelin’ McCourys played a cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You” before bringing out Del McCoury himself for Willie Nelson’s “Man With The Blues.” Mavis Staples turned her set into a gospel revue with powerful renditions of Staples Singers classics “Heavy Makes You Happy,” “Freedom Highway,” and “City in the Sky.”
Margo Price, Farm Aid’s youngest board member, centered her set around new material like “Don’t Wake Me Up” and “Wild at Heart” before dedicating a cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 1986 deep cut “Ways to Be Wicked” to the the memory of Jeremy Tepper.
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds delighted the crowd with Nineties favorites “Don’t Drink the Water” and “Ants Marching” before bringing out Lukas Nelson, Michael Nelson, and Nathaniel Rateliff to cover “The Weight.” It was a tiny preview of the upcoming Life is a Carnival Last Waltz Tour ’24, which will feature Lukas Nelson on a couple of dates. Rateliff is playing the kickoff event October 17 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles alongside Staples, Trey Anastasio, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Bob Weir, and many others.
John Mellencamp began his segment of the show with his 2008 deep cut “John Cockers,” and then tore through big Eighties hits like “Small Town,” “Paper in Fire,” “Jack and Diane” and, of course, “Rain on the Scarecrow.” Willie Nelson closed out the night by playing standards like “Whiskey River,” “On the Road Again” and “Bloody Mary Morning” alongside his two sons.
The show was the kick-off for an abbreviated tour for Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts. They play at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester on Monday and Tuesday before headlining the Painted Turtle benefit show in Lake Hughes, California, alongside Stephen Stills and John Mayer on October 5.