The Farm Aid benefit concert celebrated its 20th incarnation earlier this month with an all-day show that took place on Sept. 18 inside the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park, Ill.

The annual event, which was started by musicians Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp in 1986, is designed to raise money and awareness of family-owned and operated farms as they try to compete with corporate, or 'factory,' farms.

As usual, this year's concert was packed with great performances, some from big names and some from no-names. However, a bit of controversy was thrown into the mix this year as well.

The controversy stemmed from a front-page article that ran in the Chicago Tribune the day before the concert took place. The article aggressively questioned the use of the funds raised by Farm Aid.

In a blunt and, albeit, classic Neil Young response, the rocker stood up at the pre-concert press conference, tore a copy of the newspaper into a dozen pieces and threw them into the first few rows of the press gallery.

Despite all of the hullabaloo, the performances were both musically exciting and crowd pleasing. Staring early in the afternoon, the Farm Aid stage was graced with lesser-known acts like the Supersuckers and up-and-coming country singer Shannon Brown.

The first big name to take the stage was hippie songwriter Arlo Guthrie, whose entire set consisted of an extended version of his hit protest song 'Alice's Restaurant Masacree.'

Next, the crowd was treated to the stylings of an unlikely duo: blues star Buddy Guy and former pop singer/songwriter John Mayer. The duo, which was backed by the Muddy Waters Blues Band, played several of Guy's classic blues tunes to an ecstatic crowd.

Perennial jam band Widespread Panic was the next act to perform, delighting the audience with renditions of 'Surprise Valley' and 'Blue Indian' from their studio album 'Til the Medicine Takes.' The group ended its set by teaming up for a song with Farm Aid board member and headline performer Dave Matthews.

After a short-but-sweet set by folk singer/songwriter Emmylou Harris, which included a beautiful cover of the Bob Dylan song 'Every Grain of Sand,' Tex-Mex rockers 'Los Lonely Boys' took the stage. The band, which was playing Farm Aid for the second time in three years, rocked through a set of blues songs with a Hispanic twist before closing with their hit song, 'Heaven.'

Illinois senator Barack Obama introduced the crowd, many of whom weren't from the Chicago area, to home-grown favorites Wilco. After starting their set with a song written by Woody Guthrie, Arlo's famous father, the genre-busting group launched into many of their own tunes, including 'Hummingbird,' 'I'm the Man who Loves You,' 'Jesus, Ect.,' the fan friendly 'Kingpin' and 'The Late Greats,' the song they closed with.

After a long and relatively uneventful set by country pop star Kenny Chesney, the headliners were ready to take the stage. Consisting of Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews (the Farm Aid Board of Directors), the headlining performances gave a day of great music the proper ending it merited.

Dave Matthews was the first headliner to perform. He took the stage armed only with an acoustic guitar and an amplifier and delighted his throngs of fans with solo-acoustic versions of 'So Damn Lucky,' 'Gravedigger' and 'Some Devil' from his solo album of the same name, and versions of 'Don't Drink the Water,' 'Dancing Nancies' and 'Ants Marching' from his work with the Dave Matthews Band. Matthews closed his set with his signature cover of the Bob Dylan classic 'All Along the Watchtower.'

John Mellencamp performed next. Backed by a drummer, two guitarists, a bass player and a fiddle player, Mellencamp thrilled the crowd by performing a score of his greatest hits. He opened with 'Small Town' and closed with 'Pink Houses.' In between, he let loose with extended versions of 'The Authority Song,' 'Crumblin' Down' and 'Rain on the Scarecrow.' Aside from the music, Mellencamp entertained the crowd with sing-alongs and clapping.

The third headliner to perform was Neil Young, whose set would end up highlighting the event. In place of Crazy Horse, his most famous backup band, Young provided himself with a drummer, an organist, a multi-instrumentalist, a bassist and several backup singers. Taking the stage wearing a dark suit and an even darker cowboy hat, he started his set by paying homage to the victims of Hurricane Katrina by playing Fats Domino's 'Walkin' to New Orleans.'

Next, the 'godfather of grunge' nearly set the stage ablaze with a scorching rendition of his classic song 'Southern Man' that lasted far past the 10-minute mark. After introducing the crowd to a new song called 'When God Made Me' off his new album 'Prairie Wind,' Young picked up an acoustic guitar and broke into an extended version of 'Old Man' as a spotlight turned on next to him, revealing Willie Nelson, who accompanied Young on the song.

Nelson stayed on stage and was joined by Emmylou Harris as they helped Young close his masterful set with the new song 'This Old Guitar,' which saw Young playing a guitar once owned by Hank Williams, and the more established 'One of These Days.'

The long day was brought to a close by Willie Nelson. Taking the stage with his usual backup band (which includes his son), Nelson chugged through hits like 'Whiskey River,' 'Crazy,' 'Beer for My Horses' and 'Night Life' before his son sang a spirited Version of 'Texas Flood.' Following tradition, Nelson brought all of the performers who were still around on stage and closed the show with 'May the Circle be Unbroken.'

Over all, Farm Aid 2005 gave fans a day of energetic and well performed music while raising money and awareness for a wonderful cause. Although some of the sets were too short, almost all of the artists made the most of their stage time. Buddy Guy may have said it best when he told the sold-out crowd, 'We need to do this more often.'