sorry guys, but it´s this discussion that is stupid not the package or the movie. i often wonder about how people see the relationship between artist and audience, and how people think that they have the right to demand anything just because they pay for a ticket. like "i paid a lot of money for it and therefore he should do this and that...", as if the artist were the employee.
that is ridiculous in my opinion. who are we to say how he should start a show, what songs he should play and how long? it´s his show that we attend and not our show in which he appears as a guest. he is the man and makes the decisions. it´s like paying for a sports event and thinking to be the coach or athlete. if a spectator knows it better, go and do it.

to all people who are so angry because of the film, I can only say that you dont understand Mellencamp´s music. it may be too long, but apart from this, it´s a highly interesting movie with pictures and notes that are rare to see.
after all these years not touring europe, it´s simply a pleasure to see him live on stage again, may it be for one song or one hour doesn´t matter.
van morrison in a bad mood used to play only for 45minutes, who cares? we all saw dylan playing his songs in a way that nobody could recognize them, so what? i am glad they are all different and dont play a concert like a tv show. it´s live and this includes the artist´s feelings as well. i always liked John´s attitude of not fitting in and doing what people expect him to do.this is rock n´roll for me and not playing 3 hours of old hits.

Thanks so much for this report!
reading it touched me nearly as much as attending the shows of these tour. your reflections sum up the feelings of many Mellencamp fans all over europe. after all these years it´s not so easy, but I think the fantastic show brings justice for both artist and audience.
Merci beaucoup!

you are right! Check this out:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of7Y8M2q9ek

let the music do the talking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La6UHjbfrME

in munich something must have gone wrong from the very start.
the doors opened only at about 7:40, then the security checks took too long, only one door opened. at other shows several doors were open, people just showed their ticket and walked in. this must have been a local problem caused by the event.
after entering the venue, people couldnt´not go straight to their seats, but had to wait again "outside" where the drinks and merchandise was, this took another 10 minutes. the stewards said something of "little problems inside", but nothing concrete.
this all made some people already getting upset a little. then the film which would have been ok at about 30-40min, but taking 60min this was too much for the crowd. then the break which at other shows used to be 15-20min, in munich it was 40min. this was the last drop for people to get pissed off. they lost their last dicsipline and showed no interest in the Johnny Cash song which for me is a great intro. but from then on all was wrong.
John and the band must have noticed it, no reaction by a seemingly offended crowd.

in my opinion something must have happened behind the stage, it was all not normal. of course an announcement could have calmed down things, but who knows what was wrong, in life there are things better not to talk about.
despite understanding the reason to get impatient, i think it´s not good to show one´s negative feeling that obvious. why wait so many years, and then react like this?
the songs were great and worth every minute waiting, but munich just didn´t want to get it.

what a show yesterday in stuttgart, that was amazing!!! after the experience one day before it was a relief to see this, a great enjoying crowd, and John and the band at their real best!

a little unrest at the end of the movie, i think it´s a good movie, but too long. the crowd was waiting for the concert to start, but no way of such disrespectful behaviour that happened in munich.
one could see a lot americans from the army, "Coming Down The Road" from wiesbaden. i talked to one who sat behind me, after he complained about the movie. i figured out that he didn´t know that there would be a movie at all, they thought the show would start right at 8:00 like mentioned on the ticket. I think this may be a big problem for many people with the movie.
they had the announcement after the film translated into german, that was good, but for me the problem is the length. anyway...

let´s focus on the performance, that was fascinating again, from the very beginning you could feel that everyone was in a good mood for a great night!
Stuttgart´s "Liederhalle - Beethovensaal" (Hall of Songs - Beethoven room) is one of the best concert halls in the country, foremost classical music but many rock acts as well. the building is real special, and the acoustic is impressive. the music sounds great!
"Roll over Beethoven" was the motto for all!

the setlist did not include any surprise.
John told some familiar stories again, ie the "man on the streets" before "Cherry Bomb". he said "when i was walking on the streets with my girlfriend Meg Ryan, a guy came up..."
"Small Town" had the "new" lyrics again, "married a bunch of girls.."

the audience´s reaction was top, from the beginning the feeling just was right, and after "Rain On The Scarecrow" all bonds were loose, everyone up from their seats and dancing.
the guy he pulled on stage for "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." was great, a funny Eddie-Vedder-lookalike:) he could sing and had his fun up there, great to watch!

I think John and the band as well enjoyed the show a lot, it was a worthy last show in germany.
well done Stuttgart! and well done to the whole band and John! thanks a lot for all the shows, i couldn´t get "NO BETTER THAN THIS"!

no she didnt dance at all, she sat on her chair next to the sound engineer and looked wondering as well about the strange audience.

the band really did their best again, their performance was brilliant and John also was great, though it was obvious that his mood wasn´t the best. this is why "John Cockers" was a highlight for me yesterday, he yelled out "I dont´need nobody", I liked this a lot!

munich is a stupid city, the people there think they are the best in the world, a kind of a wanna-be-high-society. yesterday they definitely didn´t deserve John and the band.
i only can hope that today in stuttgart it will be normal, i know there are real fans here who like myself have been waiting for all these years to see these shows. shows like munich or glasgow shouldnt affect the band, what I read, heard and saw myself about this european tour was totally positive!
hopefully Stuttgart today can add to this overall impression.

for you americans it must be crazy to read this stuff, if anybody is interested in it at all. you are used to sold out stadium tours, John´s a superstar at home and the band is used to stadium atmosphere. but he has his fans here as well, and I only can thank everyone once again for coming over to play here.
I take it as a huge present, it´s like christmas and easter eve on one day!

the show in munich tonight was a little strange, I must say. "Circus Krone" was sold out, on a hot day I expected a great rock´n´roll night, but in my opinion the audience just wasn´t up to the level.
John and the band as always did their best, but the people just didn´t give them the feedback they deserved. I dont know why, and I don´t want to think too much about it. I just felt a little sorry for John and the band.
only at the very end most people stood up, danced and sang along. before it was mostly just sitting and listening. respectful, but difficult for an artist, I think.
John did not tell any stories like he used to before "Save some time to dream", "Jackie Brown", "Cherry Bomb", only short intros for "The West End", "Easter Eve" and grandma-story for "Longest Days".
the shows I have seen before in berlin and london were much more emotional for both band and audience. today was different.
but I enjoyed every song and had my fun!

the setlist was the same as in the shows before.
probably the most worthy note could be that he sang the original "Small Town" lyrics ("...married an LA doll and brought her to this small town...")
dont know if Meg Ryan is from la. she left after "Small Town". in berlin she danced behind the soundboard until the last song.

hopefully tomorrow stuttgart will be more emotional again!

even better! thanks!

and here one more...i realized how difficult it is to hold a camera steady for 5 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRHckGukuUI

here´s a video from the show, John´s just in the dressing room:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oZ0va43-Ck

thanks for this article, it sums it all up very well.
though i like the old rock songs a lot, I prefer the first part of the show, the new songs go so much deeper. the mixture of both is perfect!

another great show tonight in london´s hammersmith apollo!
the usual 2 hour show, setlist as known, "no better than this" missing, "Easter Eve" included, and "Crumblin´down" tonight instead of "The Real Life".

after berlin a week ago, this was my 2nd show, and I enjoyed it a lot again.
the movie was much more appreciated by the london people than by the berlin fans. either the language is a problem, some germans may not understand the words, or london is just more disciplined, I dont know.

the show was fantastic again, the band played a perfect performance, everyone was doing a great job again!
for "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." John again pulled a man on stage, and he was having definitely a good time up there! it was fun to watch, he hardly wanted to go back to his seat at the end.
for the rock songs the whole crowd, almost sold out, was standing and singing, the atmosphere was great!

tomorrow i´ll try to upload some pictures, maybe videos as well, I´m not so good in these digital things, but I´ll try it. and next week it´s germany again, munich and stuttgart...see you then on the road!

great, thanks for the video!

can anyone confirm this setlist?
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/john-mellencamp/2011/vega-copenhagen-denmark-73d37e81.html

especially if they really did this cover version of "Born under a bad sign"?
"no better than this" missing here as well, they didnt play it in berlin the next day neither.
the list misses "Old rugged cross", can´t imagine they didn´t play it before "Rain on the scarecrow".