John Mellencamp Community

Mellencamp to play acoustic set at Landmarks debut

Indiana rocker John Mellencamp will play a 30-minute acoustic set April 16 during the grand opening of the Indiana Landmarks Center in downtown Indianapolis.

Indiana Landmarks, formerly known as Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, said in a news release that the mid-afternoon concert will be among several events marking the opening of the center in a 120-year-old former church.

Mellencamp is a longtime friend of Bill and Gayle Cook, the Bloomington couple who are contributing more than $10 million of the $13 million cost of the project. He's scheduled to return to Edmonton, Alberta, in time for a concert later the same day as part of a concert tour of Canada.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110301/ap_en_mu/in_mellencamp_historic_landmarks

OK, it just dawned on me how nearly impossible this itinerary is. John is going to play April 15 in Edmonton and then fly to Indianapolis after the show. His 30-minute performance in Indy is at 4 pm on the 16th, which is 2 pm Edmonton time. He is then going to fly to back to Edmonton for the show that night at 8:30. I don't see how he pulls this off. For those who don't know where Edmonton is, it's not that far from the Arctic Circle. It's so far north that they don't have more than a few hours of light in the winter time. It's got to be at least a six-hour flight from Indy, and then you have to go through customs, get to the venue, etc. It's amazing to me that he's even going to attempt this.

Yes it will be a feat to get back to Edmonton in time but with all due respect this Canadian gal can tell you that Edmonton is a very far cry from the Arctic Circle.  There is over double the land mass from Edmonton north to the Arctic then there is south of Edmonton to the US border.

John's a tough cookie and wouldn't take on something he couldn't accomplish.  I don't think he'd put his fans in jeopardy of missing a long awaited show.

FYI this is a pretty high end event. About $350 a person. That is why we haven't posted about it to Mellencamp.com. It's a fairly private thing even though it has been announced to get attention for the project.

I would love to be at that "acoustic" show.  I will be at the show in Vancouver, BC on April thirteenth though and am really looking forward to it.




Mike   

Futher more he will have to take a dog sled from the airport, and i they only have 5 hours of sun light i should know i live in Calgary

That is crazy. :(

Well???  Did he make it?  How was it? 

He was present for the event, together with his father Richard. More about it in this article (http://www.indystar.com/article/20110417/LOCAL/104170404/Mellencamp-pays-tribute-friend-Bill-Cook-Indiana-Landmarks-opening?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|IndyStar.com) from the Indy Star.

He must have left for Canada right away after this. A woman saw him leave on a private plane shortly after, together with Meg Ryan and her young daughter.

And it seems he made it back in time (http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/decision-canada/Artist+formerly+known+Cougar+delivers/4630012/story.html) for the concert that evening. Wow.

That's great. Very sad about his friend Bill though.

It is sad to hear about John's friend.  As it says in the song, "life is short, even in its longest days".   

Does anyone know how many songs John played and which ones?




Mike

He played two songs: "Longest Days" and "Save Some Time to Dream."

Too bad John could not get to Calgary this tour.

That is why we have not posted about it to Mellencamp.com. This is a very private matter, even if it has been declared access to the project's attention...