John Mellencamp Community

Mellencamp plays it straight from the heart

By Jim Washburn
The Orange County Register
April 8, 1986

John Mellencamp goes "Heh, heh, heh" a lot these days. There's a self-deprecating "Heh,
heh, heh" when he nervously basks in a welcoming standing ovation; folksy "Heh, heh, hehs" when he tells small-town stories; uncertain ones when he interrupts his music to make a
speech about the plight of the small-time farmer. But when John Mellencamp goes "Heh, heh,
heh" it sounds with the false note of a bad high school actress doing her imitation of a Midwest grandma. Big deal: Some folks sound like Porky Pig when they eat. Mellencamp's career, though, has been tarnished by artifice in the past, and many at his Forum show Sunday may still have been scrutinizing him, wondering, "Is this guy for real?"

Though Mellencamp is now touted as the Midwest Springsteen, doling out homespun music
and a populist vision in a white T-shirt, it's hard to forget that a few years back he was the guy who let his name be changed, let his career be manipulated into glittery hype, and who had singles lodged in the Top 40 when a Springsteen song couldn't crack that territory.

Now that Springsteen's records go megaplatinum and his shows sell out whole valleys, you
can't help but be a bit leery of another fellow suddenly taking dives into the audience and making speeches about the little guy.

So, is it butter or Parkay? I'd guess the former. Though not yet generating the emotional electricity needed to fill a stadium, Mellencamp put on an excellent, high-powered show that left little opportunity to wonder if it was affected or not. Dry chuckles aside, Mellencamp's performance seemed to come straight from the heart, or at least arrive with a minimum of detours.

His 2-hour, 24-song show opened with the hit "Small Town," celebrating the life Mellencamp
still leads in Indiana. In a set which also included expected earlier hits — "Jack and Diane,"
"Authority Song," "Pink Houses," "I Need a Lover" and "Hurt So Good" — Mellencamp drew
most heavily from his current "Scarecrow" album.

That source also provided the show's high spots. "Scarecrow" is a superlative recording, bristling with well-honed, melodic songs boasting thoughtful, illuminating lyrics and charged
performances. It's such a powerful record, in fact, that Mellencamp and band were rarely able to better the performances on stage.

Two telling exceptions were a relentless, pulsing version of "Blood on the Scarecrow," a scathing depiction of the farmer's plight, and "Face of the Nation," delivered with the ominous drama due a song about a nation losing its "do onto others" ethic.

Aside from some gratuitous running around trying to cover all the territory on the immense stage, the six-piece band and two backup singers provided an excellent, straightforward backing for the songs. The rockers got a spark from Kenny Aronoff's inventive powerhouse drumming. Violinist Lisa Germano added a distinctive touch to softer numbers, such as an acoustic "Pink Houses."

Springsteen has cut such a wide swath in rock that it's nearly impossible for a rocker to avoid
touches of his performance or falling into the genre's other major cliches (Spandex, mousse 'n' synths, etc.). Mellencamp's performance certainly had it's Bruceisms — including a story about growing up, and dancing with a girl pulled from the audience — but most of his singing style and stage moves seemed derived from the '60s soul greats Springsteen also draws on.

Several of those were given a nod in the show's last half-hour, an oldies revival including spirited raveups of the Miracle's "Mickey's Monkey," Bobby Bland's "Turn on Your Love Light," James Brown's "Cold Sweat," "Mony Mony," the Dovell's "You Can't Sit Down" and the Human Beinz's "Nobody But Me." During the extravaganza Mellencamp executed some credible Brownian splits and a tandem somersault with one of his backup singers.

Mellencamp capped the set with "Proud Mary," an odd choice since the song has been worn to the nub by every bar band in the nation, and Mellencamp did little to revive it. The lapse was made up for by a rousing encore of "Under the Boardwalk."

Setlist:

Grandma's Theme (recorded intro)
Small Town
Jack and Diane
Minutes to Memories
Lonely Ol' Night
Rain on the Scarecrow
Between a Laugh and a Tear
Hand To Hold Onto
Rumbleseat
I Need a Lover
Golden Gates
Ain't Even Done With the Night (acoustic)
Crumblin' Down
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
Play Guitar
Hurts So Good
Authority Song
Face of the Nation
Pink Houses
Mickey's Monkey > Turn on Your Lovelight
Cold Sweat
Mony Mony
Nobody But Me > You Can't Sit Down > Land of 1000 Dances
Proud Mary

Encore:
Under the Boardwalk