A really cool video from 1987 has surfaced of a warm-up Farm Aid gig at a small club featuring John Mellencamp and Lou Reed.
In 1987, Farm Aid III was set to take place on September 19 in Lincoln, Neb. Two nights before Farm Aid III, Mellencamp and Reed performed at a tiny club in Bloomington, Ind.
Video from the show is embedded below. The video’s YouTube description sets the seemingly surreal scene:
“It’s the kind of story you hear all the time, but it never actually happens to real people. September 17th 1987, around 100 people are at the Bluebird night club, in Bloomington, Ind. to see a band called the Ragin’ Texans. Then John Mellencamp walks onstage which he was known to do from time to time at that bar. The evening was a secret warm-up for Farm Aid. But imagine the crowd’s surprise when Lou Reed joined him for a follow-up set that included ‘Sweet Jane,’ ‘Rock & Roll,’ and ‘I Love You, Suzanne.’ Oh, and John Prine went on after them. It’s the stuff of rock legends, which you would never believe, were it not for the camera in audience. Enjoy.”