from the Chicago Tribune:Farm Aid will move to Chicago for a weeklong series of events and concerts to mark its 20th anniversary in September, promoters confirmed over the weekend.
The capstone of the celebration will be announced Monday at a news conference in Grant Park: a Sept. 18 concert at Tweeter Center in Tinley Park headlined by festival mainstays Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Dave Matthews.
In an interview Saturday, Mellencamp also said that at least one other band has already been confirmed for the lineup. "Wilco is playing," he said.
Tickets for the annual concert, which has helped Farm Aid raise $27 million for family farms, will go on sale July 30 at a still-to-be-determined price. More performers are expected to be announced in coming weeks.
"It's my job to go out and grovel," Mellencamp said with a laugh. "I'm putting together a list of bands and I'll be making some calls."
Organizers also are working with the City of Chicago to plan a series of events in the days preceding the concert. These will include a county fair-style educational event Sept. 17 at Garfield Park Conservatory, and also may include smaller shows by major artists at various clubs, performances at farmers markets, school educational events and a film festival.
"My tour is over the week before Farm Aid, so I may just come up to Chicago and play on the street corner again," said Mellencamp, referring to his free street-busking concert in Daley Plaza in 2000.
The singer said he lobbied to have the 20th anniversary concert in New York because Farm Aid hadn't played there before.
"There was quite a bit of discussion, and to be really honest, Chicago was my second choice," said Mellencamp, who continues to make his home in Indiana. "But everybody else wanted Chicago, because we'd played there before, it had been successful, and the venue is big. I love Chicago. For me, it is home."
― teh Nü and Impröved john n chicago (frankE), Monday, 11 July 2005 14:52 (twenty years ago)