![]() Moving about in his familiar hustle he chewed gum, cussed, slapped hands with audience members, and when he got out onto the stage right wing everyone in the orchestra section stood for the rest of the evening. Railroading through the next three hits #’9 ‘Paper And Fire’, #14 ‘Minutes To Memories’, and #6 ‘Small Town’ his all familiar voice displayed somewhat more rasp than in years gone by but by no means lacked any of it’s original steaming drive. The order of the setlist would reveal it’s meaning to a contemplative and constructive thinker such as myself. The symbolism of the movie’s backdrop set-up a metaphor for the human condition and the power of desire as the driving force behind the characters' action. John gets an ‘’A+’ for creativity on the set! At precisely 8:30 John took the stage and the concert kicked off into what would be an hour and fifty-five minute eighteen song set divided into three parts beginning with his 2008 unreleased as a single ‘John Cockers’. ![]() The drum kit was set center stage with the words ‘JOHN MELLENCAMP Bloomington Indiana’ on the drumhead. Fiddle and accordion with keyboards were on the left, guitar and bass to the right. Vintage mic’d Fender amps on the floor ran across the stage tilted upward. There were life-sized mannequins of the motion picture’s four major characters with large amber-hued spot lamps, some standing some suspended with Edison bulbs providing ambiance stag-wide. The screen lifted revealing the set, it was a backdrop of Street Car Named Desire’s Kowalski’s New Orleans apartment. At last during ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ the lights went down to the wail of sirens and a drum roll with flashing red lights coming from the stage wings. By now a full half hour had passed and shouts erupted from various pockets in the audience, ‘Let’s Go’, ’Stop’ and ‘Boo’. As each reel progressed into the other beginning with ’The Fugitive Kind’, then ‘The Misfits’, ‘Giant’, ‘Grapes Of Wrath’, ‘Hud’, and ‘On The Waterfront’ the natives began getting restless. Turns out the chosen clips had been inspirations for lyrics of some of his best known songs. a combination of classic black and white film clips interwoven with Mellencamp interviews rolled on the screen. The stage was concealed via a blank screen and black curtain combination exposing only the seven front monitors and two guitar pedal boards until showtime. My seats were balcony first row direct center obtained on the presale. The 78 date ‘Live And In Person Tour’ had arrived at the Peace Center in Greenville and was bound to engender a number of hits and Heartland Rock standards as well as some brand new material. The now 71 year old singer-songwriter has amassed 25 studio albums with 29 charted singles in addition to surviving a heart attack in 1994 in addition to his second marriage’s divorce in 2011. Knowing I could never recreate the first experience I stepped into the evening completely openminded. ![]() Friday would be my second time seeing the Rock And Roll Hall Of Faming Grammy winning Hoosier LIVE. The experience of that show had much to do with where I was at in life at the time: a young, long haired, white t-shirt and jeans, guitar playing rock ’n’ roll wanna be. It was the timeframe where he dropped the Johnny Cougar and adopted the Americana persona with wide open stage, high energy level, long hair and reflective lyrics. It wasn’t even one of my my top 15 bands, but Mellencamp back in 1987. It was not The Stones or The Who, Clapton or Beck, Springsteen, Dylan, or McCartney. John Mellencamp: 5/19/23 “When friends ask me what my all time favorite concert was my answer typically brings a look of bewilderment to their faces.
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