Farm Aid Setlist and Recap

Here was John's setlist for Farm Aid tonight in Milwaukee:

Full Band:
Pink Houses
Paper in Fire
Check it Out

Acoustic:
Save Some Time to Dream
Cherry Bomb (a Capella)
Don't Need This Body
Small Town/Old Rugged Cross

Full Band:
Rain on the Scarecrow
If I Die Sudden
Crumblin' Down

Notes: During "Small Town," John sang "married an LA doll" instead of "my wife was 13 years old when I wrote this song" for the first time since what, the Dance Naked tour? I wonder if it just came out that way or if it was planned to go back to the original lyric......During "Crumblin' Down," John did the cell phone bit where he has everyone take out their cell phones, takes one from a fan and talks on somebody's phone on stage. He usually does this during "Jack and Diane"....... During "Don't Need This Body," Andy played guitar, Mirium was on violin and Jon E. Gee was on standup bass. Mike, Dane and Troye sang backgroud vocals and clapped along during the final verse.

Thoughts: The performance was outstanding as usual, make no mistake about that, but let's hope this was the final time we see this tired old setlist and format. John has been playing this format of show now since Oct. 2007, in which he opens with "Pink Houses" and then plays two or three other songs with the band ("Paper in Fire" and "Check it Out" are always among them) before doing some solo acoustic songs (again, always the same songs) and then bringing the band back to play the same six songs to close out the show. There's nothing wrong with it at all, and in 2007, it was fresh; here in 2010, its gone stale. This is the third straight year that the Farm Aid setlist has followed this format. It's time for a change, and by all accounts we're going to get it on the No Better Than This tour later this month. Let's hope to God he doesn't change his mind and drop the three separate sets idea to play this format again on the fall tour. In addition, it's time to bag the tired old cell phone bit and the "Cherry Bomb" skit where he asks if everyone wants a new song or an old song, knows what the answer will be, fakes like he's trying to figure out which old song to do, and then sings the first verse and chorus of "Cherry Bomb." It was cool when he did it last year for the first time, now it just seems like a cheesy rehearsed bit.

John remains the best live act in rock 'n roll, and I can't wait for the fall tour, but a setlist overhaul is long overdue. Like I said, I think we're going to get it this fall, and that really excites me.