John Mellencamp Community

OCTOBER 30, 2010 - Bloomington, IN - Indiana University Auditorium - No Better Than This Tour Kick Off

Report filed at 2am after the show, please overlook any typos :)

BAND:
John Mellencamp - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar

Mike Wanchic - Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Hand Percussion

Andy York - Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Banjo

Miriam Strum - Violin/Fiddle

Jon E Gee -Hand Percussion, Electric Bass, Acoustic Upright Bass

Dane Clark - Cocktail Drum Kit, Traditional Drum Kit, Hand Percussion, Tambourine

Troye Kinnett - Accordion, Piano, Organ, Keyboards, Hand Percussion

SETLIST
Authority Song
No One Cares About Me
Deep Blue Heart
Death Letter
Walk Tall
The West End
Check It Out
Save Some Time To Dream
Cherry Bomb
Don't Need This Body
Right Behind Be
Jackie Brown
Longest Days
Easter Eve
Jack and Diane
Thinking About You
Small Town
New Hymn
Rain On The Scarecrow
Troubled Land
Paper In Fire
If I Die Sudden
The Real Life
No Better Than This
Pink Houses
Rock In The USA

MELLENCAMP.COM's RECAP BY TONYB & SHARONC
Tonight Bloomington, IN saw the opening of John's No Better Than This world tour. The show was a dramatic change for John. Finding him not only in theaters for the first time in thirteen years but also performing in an "evening with" format with no other act on the bill. John promised in the tour announcement that there would be three distinct segments to the show, acoustic, rockabilly and full rock. The "opening act" was the movie It's About You that was filmed by Kurt and Ian Markus during John's 2009 tour with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. The hour long movie played as people entered the theater and set the stage for John's new album which was recorded during the 2009 tour. Additionally, John had six of his large form paintings on display in the theater's lobby for fans to get a good up close look at.

The show opener, "Authority Song," was stripped down to its rockabilly roots core. The band at the opening consisted of Andy and Mike on hollowbody electric guitars, Jon E Gee on the upright bass, and Dane Clark playing a stand up cocktail style drum kit. A true to the album version of "No One Cares About Me" came second and was followed by the stripped down "Deep Blue Heart." "Heart" spotlighted the early guitar oriented sound with lots of atmospheric ringing chords and a gorgeous guitar solo shared by Andy and Mike.

Troye and Miriam entered on bluesy romp "Death Letter" and the reimaged "Walk Tall" followed, grooving on Troye's old time upright piano sound, it was a highlight of the evening. John turned up the fire on the impassioned "The West End" and closed out the rockabilly set with a crowd favorite, "Check it Out." John transitioned into the acoustic/folky/rootsy segment of the show with "Save Some Time To Dream" and the acapella "Cherry Bomb." "Right Behind Me" off the new record featured the full band and was full of musical twists and turns.

John followed with his only politically orientated comments of the night. He pointed out that all to often the government takes care of the common defense but fails at the general welfare of the American people. He moved on to the similarly themed "Jackie Brown" that found John and Miriam on a darkened stage under a dimly lit spotlight. Simply put, it was a standout moment of the show and the hushed audience paid testament to that.

An emotional "Longest Days" was up next with the full band joining in for "Easter Eve" under a tree lined screen. The new tour lighting was amazingly simple yet beautiful. The stage features a backdrop of an image of an old square like you were in John's beloved Savannah, GA looking out a window. Over the course of the show, from song to song, the backdrop is highlighted in different ways adding shapes and overlays to the background image. The lighting used on the stage and the lights pointed at John and band constantly are changing color and intensity as well, no two songs look the same. The sound of the performance was also amazing. Just as sharp, crisp and clear as you could want for a performance such as this, one that featured many musical subtleties happening at once.

Back to the show run down! John reinvented "Jack and Diane" as a spirited rootsy rave up. The band exited with the exception of Andy who joined John on the nostalgic "Thinking About You" which silenced the crowd who were hanging on John's every word.

John had no trouble in getting the crowd's voices involved as he went into a solo acoustic version of "Small Town" in his hometown of Bloomington. The crowd provided spirited singing filling in the phrase "small town" when John prompted them. Troye and Miriam stepped out to play on the end of "Small Town" and then they brought the acoustic portion set to a close with a revised version of the "Hymn" they developed last year. The new version takes melodic parts from John's songs "Big Daddy of Them All" and "Minutes to Memories" and pairs them with the traditional "Old Rugged Cross."

As the hymn ended John and the entire band re-emerged with Dane on his full drum kit, Jon E. Gee on electric bass and Mike, Andy and John all armed with their electric guitars. They kicked off the rock set with a driving "Rain On the Scarecrow" leading into "Troubled Land" and "Paper In Fire."  A storming "If I Die Sudden" and peppy "The Real Life" continued on finding John and band pounding away in quick succession. John and full band swung into the new "No Better Than This" with dramatic power.

John gave his thank you's to the crowd tipping them that the show was soon coming to an end. He and band rolled in the always wonderful "Pink Houses." As soon as "Pink Houses" ended Dane Clark kicked into a 60's style rock beat. The band joined in with some playful singing and riffing along and John began introducing each band member. John again thanked everyone for coming down and unleashed "ROCK In The USA." The crowd was dancing in the isles and singing along at full volume. At the instrumental break John reached into the crowd and pulled a female fan out of the front row to join him for a series of dances. Once done John directed the crowd to pull out their cell phones and call up their best friend and tell them that John had something to tell them. John grabbed someone's phone and had a little fun with the party on the other end of the line. John then sang the final version dedicated to the people on the phone and took everyone out with one last big chorus. The crowd showered their applause and adoration on John and band as they left the stage after playing for over two hours.

Sounds fantastic. Sure hope he keeps his word when he mentions "world tour" because I would love to see this show.

all i can about last night is O-M-G!!!!!!

i can't remember how many years and how many shows i've been to, but i do know for a fact there has never been one like last night!!

the set list, the arrangements, the length of show, the crowd.....nothing to come close to compare it to!

saw many long time mellenheads and everyone was saying the same thing.

setlist and details have been posted, so i won't go over that again, but i'm tellin' ya, if you are a Mellenhead and you don't have tickets to any of the many shows yet, GET ONE (OR TWO!)  the money and memories will be worth every penny!

and doing it all again tonight, this time from the front row!!!!

still ridin' the high here in indiana!!!!!!

Pictures added to the Mellencamp.com show recap!

Thanks Jeff for the amazing photos.  Kudos to the lighting director for the tour, BEAUTIFUL!!  Especially love the "spotlight" shot of John solo.  Can't wait to take some pics when the tour hits Canada.

(Passed over the setlist notes...want it all to be a surprise!)

Sorry guys... I don't agree.  We, too, have seen John countless times over the years in venues big and small... IU stadium, Evansville, Terre Haute, Louisville, Dallas, the Vogue and the Murat in Indy, etc.... this time from Orchestra three, center stage, row 2.  I was ready to rock - and there was very little rockin done last night.  I realise that John's musical style has changed and that's okay, but I thought he would mix it up a little more.  I didn't even recognize Jack and Diane until he started singing, the tempo and intro was so different. 

I'll pay the big money one more time, but if he doesn't play more of what made him the star we all love, I won't be going again. Come back, John, we miss ya!

I LOVE John and LOVE his various music styles.  Some of the new songs last night (Oct.29) were amazing. His story about his grandmother was so heartfelt and really touched me.  Knowing the story behind the songs is such a bonus when an artist shares.  I really hate to agree with Indianagirl59's comments on wishing John would have stuck to singing his older stuff the way he recorded it.  The crowd around me knew every word to all the old songs and it was fun to see him in Indiana.  I was too ready to rock and he kept going acoustic right when you though he'd cut loose.  He's still adorable and as talented as ever, just wish he would have sung older stuff.  Cut out the movie and play longer.  I was kind of sleepy waiting for John to come on and so were others around me.

Last night was the first time I had seen Mellencamp in concert. It was an incredible performance! The set list was an eclectic mix of all of his music. I love the old stuff but love the new more introspective songs just as much. John is one talented writer & musician and his talent continues to evolve over time. His choice of venue for the opening night of the tour was an exceptional choice. The IU Auditorium in Bloomington, Indiana had an intimate feel to it, both in size and nostalgia since that is where his career first started. It truly gets "No Better Than This"!

"AMAZING" doesn't even sum up the show I saw in Bloomington Friday night!! My two fave LIVE songs were played ("Rain on the Scarecrow" & "If I Die Sudden") and I can now add "Right Behind Me" to that list. As long as I can hear one (or any) of those three songs at every concert I go to, I will be satisfied!  Needless to say, once I had heard those three songs last night, my night had been made....and then I was pulled up on stage by Mellencamp and my wildest dream had come true!! Can't be more thankful for the ULTIMATE concert experience :)

Here are links to my photo album and slideshow from the concert!

http://albums.phanfare.com/isolated/RO8hcnQA/1/4885974 (http://albums.phanfare.com/isolated/RO8hcnQA/1/4885974)

http://albums.phanfare.com/slideshow.aspx?i=1&db=1&pw=RO8hcnQA&a_id=4885974 (http://albums.phanfare.com/slideshow.aspx?i=1&db=1&pw=RO8hcnQA&a_id=4885974)

ENJOY :)

what a memory of a lifetime!  we were there and you looked like you were having the time of your life (i can only imagine that you were! lol)

thanks so much for sharing your pictures, they're great!

Loving the things I am reading about the first couple shows, just gets me more excited for the KC and St Louis shows this coming weekend.  :) 

Zaria513- Whoo Hoo!! That is so cool that you got pulled on stage and got to document your dream come true with those awesome pics. I am sure you are still on cloud 9. LOL  ;)

I hate to break it to Indianagirl and any others who think John Mellencamp is going to rock again but he has said that he is done with that stage in his life.  I believe he has gone on rocking to please others longer than he would have liked to.  He is a singer/songwriter now and if you don't like it don't go see him.  I for one am glad that he finally has the courage to be who he wants to be and ignore the wishes of others.

Great photos - can't wait to see the show in Fort Wayne, IN on 11-16!

What fun photos and cute quotes also!  Looks like you were having the time of your life.   :)

I'm trying to find out how the evening's timetable is going.  Tickets for Nashville say 6:30.  What time does the movie start, and then how long after the movie does the concert start?  Does anyone know?

the movie is scheduled to start at 6:45.  i'd say it was a few minutes after that tho.  not sure how other venues will do it, but in bloomington they held us in the lobby until the last minute and the movie had already started by the time we got through the line.  

after the film, they announced that there would be a 30 minute 'intermission'.  john took the stage promptly at 8:30 friday night, and maybe 8:35-8:40 on saturday night.

i would suggest being in your seat no later that 6:35-6:40 if possible.  i enjoyed the documentary.

i may not have the times down to the minute on the film but i think i have it close, however,  i did take note of the time the concert started.

I don´t understand the critisism about his so-called new style. what is so new about him playing roots-orientated songs? influences of folk, country, blues can be found on any album. early rock albums like Uh-huh were heavily influenced by the Rolling Stones, who themselves were influenced by blues. he has always written honest, true felt songs, this never changed and probably will never change. the feeling and melodies in his songs cannot be changed, the "Mellencamp factor" is always there, may it be a country, blues or rock song.
i envy everybody who was there and wish he brings his NEW songs to europe as well!

I watched as you danced on stage with John and it was so obvious you were having the time of your life!  What an incredible experience and how fantastic that you got to do that at the tour opener!  I'm happy for you!

Your pictures are great, too!  I really enjoyed looking at them!
Kyra

OMG - thank you for sharing the pictures and the "mellen moment!", what a wonderful evening that must have been for you!!

I will be at the Nashville show as well. The ticket says, concert at 8:30, film at 6:45. I don't know if there is any reason to get there early to watch a film. Any suggestions anyone?

it's a documentary about the making of the new cd.  i saw it in bloomington and found it interesting and entertaining