Mellencamp keeps them dancin’
Meridian Centre show coincides with singer’s 67th birthday
Of all the places John Mellencamp could spend his 67th birthday, who’d have thought St. Catharines?
But there he was at Meridian Centre Sunday night hearing the crowd serenade him with “Happy Birthday” all through the night. He responded with a simple thanks — no cake, no big deal — while declaring “being my age qualifies me to talk about old times.”
Which he did with humorous tales about his 100-year-old grandma, and his own kids, and most effectively on “Cherry Bomb” — the nostalgic anthem that ended the 95-minute show on a poignant note. Mellencamp wrote this song when he was 35, but it suits him more now, swaying on stage with an audience that has been with him for decades. It was a night to remember when groovin’ was groovin.’
Now on the tail end of his Sad Clowns & Hillbillies Tour (he starts another one in February simply called The John Mellencamp Show), Sunday’s concert began with a video on Mellencamp’s career that went on, and on, and on for a full 25 pointless minutes before he hit the stage. It was so long it had opening credits, and after 15 minutes no one was really watching. The show would be much better served with an opening act than this prolonged YouTube clip.
After that awkward start, Mellencamp strolled on stage in a dark jumpsuit, looking like he just painted someone’s house. And instead of one of his classic rockers to start, he set the mood with the bluesy “Lawless Times” and “John Cocker,” followed by the marvellous “Minutes to Memories” — one of his hidden gems from the ’80s.
He didn’t roll out one of his hits until the fourth song, the still wonderful “Small Town.” It teed up a middle portion of the show in which Mellencamp mixed pristine versions of crowd favou-
rites (“Lonely Ol’ Night,” “Check It Out”) with gut-punch songs about getting old like “Longest Days.” For every footstomper he wrote, Mellencamp has these sobering reminders that there’ll “come a day you’ll get sick, and won’t get better.”
Mellencamp’s band disappeared for a full four songs midway through, a stretch that included — to the disappointment of some, no doubt — an acoustic singalong to “Jack & Diane.” It at least earned a laugh when Mellencamp chided the crowd for muffing the lyrics: “You guys jumped the verse!”
But that lull sets up a strong finish, loaded with rave-ups such as “Crumblin’ Down” and “Authority Song,” though it was “Rain on the Scarecrow” and “Pink Houses” — two enduring anthems of the American dream gone sour — that the show hit its emotional peak. Now, when Mellencamp sings “Ain’t that America, we’re something to see baby,” you can’t help but wonder if it means something different than it did 35 years ago.
There were complaints, of course. No “Hurts So Good.” No “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” Not even an encore. With just 17 songs
(and one instrumental), Mellencamp can’t possibly deliver everyone’s ideal show. But what he brings goes beyond the set list: Not just classic rock but classic
Americana.
Life goes on, as he says. But this thrill isn’t gone yet.