Farm Aid makes its St. Louis debut today at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, and you know I’m there for this bit of history.

Doors are at 12:30 p.m. for the sold-out show, and the first act is at 1 p.m., with Willie Nelson closing out the evening.

– The Blackwood Quartet - 1 p.m.
– Phosphorescent - 1:15 p.m.
– Will Dailey - 1:40 p.m.
– Ernie Isley & the Jam Band - 2:10 p.m.
– Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real - 2:30 p.m.
– Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses - 3:00 p.m.
– Billy Joe Shaver - 3:25 p.m.
– Jamey Johnson - 4 p.m.
– Gretchen Wilson - 4:25 p.m.
– Wilco - 5:05 p.m.
– Jason Mraz - 5:55 p.m.
– Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - 6:35 p.m.
– John Mellencamp - 7:30 p.m.
– Neil Young - 8:25 p.m.
– Willie Nelson - 9:20 p.m.

My live blogging of Farm Aid begins…now.

9:45 a.m. — Heading out to Verizon early for a load of preliminary Farm Aid mumbo-jumbo including media check-in and media lunch. Should I bring my own hot sauce? I hear pork chops are popular at Farm Aid.

10:40 a.m. – Just pulled onto the Verizon parking lot, and feeling very encouraged by the more-than-decent weather.

11:00 a.m. – Media tent on the premises is swarming with hundreds of media from around the country for the press conference.

11:15 a.m. — Willie Nelson, Dave Matthews, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Gov. Jay Nixon, and many more VIPs arrive in front of the media to standing ovation. Nelson is up first. Matthews looks so serious, as if his sleep was disturbed. Hope he has fun today. The overall theme: just say no to factory farming.

11:54 a.m. — Mellencamp says he and Farm Aid founders Nelson and Young had no idea what kind of “kettle of worms” they were opening at the first Farm Aid in 1985 in Champaign, Il. Kettle of worms?

12:30 p.m. — Media lunch, yummy! Oh yeah, and the gates have just opened to the public.

1:02 p.m. – Let the music play. Music has officially started at Farm Aid, though to a scarce early house. Nelson personally introduces the Blackwood Quartet, who have a ‘70s barbershop quartet thing going on.

1:16 p.m. – Nelson introduce Prosphorescent, twice actually in the hopes the second one is more professional, and promises to join the band in its set once his guitar is hooked up. Nelson sings with the band on “Reasons to Quit.”

1:30 p.m. — The live video feed from the concert to the media tent is still not working yet, which is horrible.

1:41 p.m. – Will Dailey rocks out nicely.

2:00 p.m. — Speaking of rocking out nicely, to put it mildly, Ernie Isley gives us a taste why he (as part of the Isley Brothers) is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with songs such as “Who’s That Lady” and “Shout.”

2:19 p.m. — Discovered the hard way that my company-issued aircard for Wifi is a bust, giving me fits now that I have to re-navigate how I’m covering Farm Aid.

2:35 p.m. — About 100 media lunches are left over. Will I look silly attempting to take a bunch home later? Do I care?

3:00 p.m. — My boy Isley stops by the media tent to talk with me. He said it was a no-brainer for him when he was approached after his gig at the Argosy Casino back in August and asked if he would perform for Farm Aid. He said he has much respect for Nelson, Young, and for the cause overall. “This is about family farming, and that intimate connection touched me. It wasn’t corporate,” he said.

3:20 p.m. — Really encouraged that so many people came out so early to check out the non-headlining music.

3:21 p.m. – Farm Aid is officially sold out. Less than 100 seats were available when the gates opened.

3:31 p.m. — Music continues, as acts such as Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses perform.

4:04 p.m. — TV portion of Farm Aid is starting up on DirecTV.

4:19 p.m. — Gnawing away like a hungry dog at my BBQ pork chop sandwich purchased from Patchwork Family Farms, while Jamey Johnson performs impressively. The sandwich is thick and mouth-watering, as I do my delicious part to support family farming.

4:30 p.m. — Wilson is up. You might say she’s “Here for the Party.” Why aren’t more female artists here for this party? Oh, and the live video feed in the media tent is up and running, though it keeps going in and out.

5:18 p.m. — Wilco is up now with ”Bull Black Nova,”, and all of a sudden all seems so right with the world, or at least in this tiny slice of it. Loving Jeff Tweedy’s Laclede’s Landing and Belleville references.

5:52 p.m. – Hearing that my exclusive one-on-one with Nelson is still being worked on, though his interview time is officially done.

6:00 p.m. — Mraz is welcomed to the stage, and opens with “The Remedy.” During his set, he offered the line “there grows the neighborhood.”

6:45 p.m. — Matthews, accompanied by Tim Reynolds, greets the crowd with “Look at you all looking all good” before performing “Funny the Way It Is.” Nelson joins Matthews on stage for “Gravedigger.” Loving Matthews in this acoustic setting.

7:38 p.m. — Not so crazy about this long gap between Matthews and Mellencamp, plus it’s officially chilly out here!

7:48 p.m. — Mellencamp opens with “Pink Houses,” a song I grew up calling “Ain’t That America.” He features his teenage son Speck on guitar, and wraps with “The Authority Song.”

8:45 p.m. — Hands are so cold I can barely type. **rubs hands together furiously in hopes they’ll catch fire **

9:02 p.m. — It’s Young’s turn up at bat with opening song “Sail Away.” He welcomes Nelson on stage for “Homegrown.”

9:30 p.m. — Time to prep filing on my review for Monday’s paper. Gotta sign off the blog for now, but thanks for checking it out.