John Mellencamp Community

I can't believe no one has posted about the Omaha show.  It was high energy and wonderful.  Saw the show in KC in November and this was markedly better.  Another couple we met as we were checking out of the hotel saw the KC show and this one and agreed that Omaha was better.   Seemed to last longer; more John talking; band rocking.  The bar was outside the auditorium unlike in KC; so, thankfully there was no bar noise.  Guy pulled up to sing Rock did a good job with the lyrics.   Saw he signed an album cover for a woman in the front row during the final bows.   And the film, it is much more interesting the second time around.  I'd netflix it if it were available. 

Here's a review from the Omaha paper: http://www.omaha.com/article/20110428/GO/704289801/-1

I hope he will go back out on the road when he gets back from Europe.  It's two hours of pure bliss for me.

Jane

I was there, too, and it was another strong performance by John and the band (which is just about the best band in all of rock music), but the acoustic set was ruined for me by jackasses sitting around me talking and shouting during the songs. As John set up "Jackie Brown," he said said he wrote it in 1987 and some guy two rows in front me of stands up and says, "He said 1987, this is going to be a classic" or something to that effect and got everyone to stand up around him. Of course, it turned out not to be a song they have heard of so they eventually sat down, but the performance of one of my favorite JM songs was ruined at that point. Once the rock set started, the music was so loud that you couldn't hear these assclowns anymore and the show was much more enjoyable. It's a shame that people pay $90 for tickets and the show is just an afterthought to them. Almost like background music. Really sad.

"John Cockers" is really a highlight of the show right now, and John has dropped "Right Behind Me" and "No Better Than This," so the set is down to 22 songs from the 24 songs he performed on the first two legs of the tour. He also addressed the crowd right away, after the second verse of "Authority Song" and introduced himself and told the crowd "if you're waiting for a song, be patient it's likely to come up." When introducing "Easter Eve" he said something like, "My son Hud has won four Golden Gloves boxing tournaments, which means he could whip the old man's ass. This song is about a night we had on Easter a few years ago." I'm sure that's just a story and not true, but he played it like it was. The guy he pulled up on stage for "R.O.C.K. in the USA" really took advantage of his 15 minutes of fame and roamed the stage and worked the crowd a little bit. It was funny.

John ate before the show at a place called the Omaha Chophouse, which is one of Omaha's finest steakhouses and is located inside the downtown Marriott hotel.

Totally agree...."Best band in all of rock music!
Their cohesive unit is one of the finest
there is in the USA today!