John Mellencamp Concert Review

It's a funny old world. To use a phrase of his, "When I was a young boy" in the late '60s early '70, I used to read comic books, and of a certain American Indian wrestler named Johnny Cougar who was also an all around hero.

Then as I left my teenage years in the early '80s I became aware of a musician / singer named John Cougar and his songs of the American heartland and more, songs like "Jack and Diane," "Hurt So Good" and "Pink Houses."

Then the guy changed his name to include his real surname and became John Cougar Mellencamp, then in the early '90s he dropped the Cougar to become simply John Mellencamp. Here's hoping he's done with that. Perish the thought that he would follow the same pattern as Prince, The Artist Formerly Known as ... some unpronounceable symbol!

Okay, so trying to stay with it here, this was the third time I've caught Mr. Mellencamp live. The first time, about seven years back, was really incredible. He blew me away. I'd never seen him play a show when I lived in the UK, and I really didn't fully appreciate his back catalog until I came to the US eight years ago.

After that first time seeing him, I went and bought a whole load of his albums, and love the mix of roots-driven rock and all that he had conjured up back then.

The second time I saw him was around 2003 and I was kind of disappointed, to be honest. The show was in the more "investigative" style he was into then, and that really didn't grab me so much.

A couple of years back, though, I had been listening to an old album of his and it tempted me to go and get his career spanning Words and Music release, which filled a lot of the gaps I’d missed. And I was hooked again!

Die hard fans may not agree, but the one thing with Mellencamp that disappoints me is he tends to release an album right around the time that the tour has either already started or right before, so there's really not enough time to get into the new songs before he hits town. I prefer the old days, where you'd usually get at least a month or two before the show to get into a new release and be totally up for the show. (It probably didn’t help much that I had not heard last year's Freedom Road release either.)

So what did Mr. M give us this time around? Well, he came out to an extremely plain stage setup: plain drapes as a backdrop that doubled up as video screens for folks way at the back to be able to see what was going on (when they could get past the flashing music videos that were also being played in sync from time to time with the show.)

He opened with a different version of "Pink Houses" (back to bare bones more or less) before then giving "Paper In Fire" the exact same treatment.

"I'm Not Running Anymore" was next up and wasn't so bad (or was I just getting used to the presentation style of the evening?) Anyway, I enjoyed it.

The next song was his new single, "My Sweet Love." It was an okay song to me, and the crowd was relatively kind to him.

He played it safe next with the proven crowd fave, "Check It Out."

He then dismissed the band and sat up front with an acoustic guitar and provided us a four song set: three new songs and a stripped down version of "Small Town." Hmmm, it's OK, but this wasn't the same John Mellencamp that so impressed me the first time I had seen him those seven years ago. Why? I don't know for sure? I just wasn't feeling it and, to be honest, I thought the crowd in general felt the same way about so many new songs already!

Back on track with the band and "Rain On The Scarecrow" -- that was a good one. Then another two songs I wasn't familiar with. More new material?

He then spoke to the crowd a little, fooling around with old '60s moments "I’m Your Puppet" and "My Girl." I guess we are in Motown, after all!

Another new song, "A Ride Back Home (Hey Jesus)" is next, before he gives us "Human Wheels." Can we get back on track now? The answer is a resounding YES as he's back on the rock track with a ripping version of "Crumblin’ Down" followed by "ROCK in the USA" and set closer, "Jack and Diane."

Throughout the evening, it's apparent to us folks back on the lawn that the sound's not everything it could be. Perhaps that was why I felt a little disappointed, but maybe more so it was because of all the newer songs from the last two years' albums that I simply didn't know. And so, it seemed, that was the general crowd reaction, too.

There was no doubting the full acknowledgment of John's achievements with the reactions to the well known songs. The audience was totally behind them, especially when he came back out for the encore, "Authority Song" bringing his young 13-year-old son out on rhythm guitar to jam at the end.

I remember seeing this with his much deserved recent induction to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame and I know he's been through it with his health, too, but if you smoke, hey, don't you know the risks?

I love so much of his music from over the years, but on this occasion, I felt the show wasn't all it could be.

Just three stars from me and that's a shame, really. John, get the ROCK band out on tour next time! We want to see you truly "Rocking in the USA"!

by Alun Williams