Neil Young Offers Bust Out & Debut At Farm Aid 30

Farm Aid 30 was held in Chicago last night and featured performances from the likes of Willie Nelson, Imagine Dragons, John Mellencamp, Jack Johnson, Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds. Neil Young played his first set since July and was backed by Promise Of The Real. Young’s seven-song performance at the annual concert to raise awareness for the plight of family farms included a debut and the return of a Harvest classic that hadn’t been played since 1977.

Neil Young and Promise Of The Real started their set with three songs off their recently released The Monsanto Years LP – “Workin’ Man,” “A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop” and “Big Box.” The biggest surprise of the night came next when Young and his band dug into the Harvest track “Alabama.” Young had last performed the controversial song back in 1977, when he dedicated it to Lynyrd Skynyrd as part of a medley with “Sweet Home Alabama” shortly after Ronnie Van Zandt and other members of the Skynyrd died in a plane crash. In Neil’s 2012 book Waging Heavy Peace he discussed his thoughts on “Alabama” – “[the song] richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record. I don’t like my words when I listen to it today. They are accusatory and condescending, not fully thought out, too easy to misconstrue.”

Watch Neil Young & Promise Of The Real’s “Alabama”:

Young’s set also included the debut of a song thought to be titled “I Won’t Quit.” Neil Young and Promise Of The Real kick off a west-focused tour in Missoula, Montana on October 1.

Neil Young & Promise Of The Real Farm Aid Setlist