John Mellencamp goes 'vaudeville' in exhilarating concert at Palace Theatre
By John Soeder, The Plain Dealer John Soeder, The Plain Dealer
“This really isn’t a rock show anymore,” John Mellencamp mused.
“This is a vaudeville show. We’re a song-and-dance band.”
Rock show or not, this Rock and Roll Hall of Famer from Seymour, Ind., gave the best performance I’ve witnessed from him yet Wednesday night at PlayhouseSquare’s Palace Theatre.
With some 20 albums and more than 30 years in the music business under his (loose) belt -- he kept hiking up his pants -- it would’ve been easy for Mellencamp to phone in just another gig.
Instead, he belted out new material and old favorites alike with an exhilarating sense of purpose and devil-may-care passion, starting with his 1984 hit “Authority Song.”
These days, he’s fighting not only authority, but also the dying of the light.
Mellencamp, 59, contemplated mortality to the tune of “Death Letter,” “Don’t Need This Body,” “If I Die Sudden” and other songs that reduced those chili dogs behind the Tastee Freez to a distant memory.
Still, the occasionally heavy subject matter didn’t preclude Mellencamp from snapping his fingers and dancing carefree around the stage, beneath strings of multicolored lights.
And speaking of “Jack & Diane,” our favorite high-school sweethearts got a twangy makeover with a fresh arrangement.
Guitarists Michael Wanchic and Andy York, violinist Miriam Sturm, keyboardist Troye Kinnett, bassist John Gunnell and drummer Dane Clark provided solid accompaniment.
Nonetheless, some of the most gripping moments found Mellencamp flying solo with an acoustic guitar.
“Save some time to dream
/ ’Cause your dream could save us all,” he sang during “Save Some Time to Dream,” a new ballad inspired by a conversation with his father. Bob Dylan himself couldn’t have delivered a more Dylanesque gem.
Mellencamp performed six tunes from his latest release, “No Better than This,” a profoundly rootsy affair. T Bone Burnett produced the album, although it sounds as if Mellencamp would like us to believe Alan Lomax came across him playing these songs in a field somewhere.
Mellencamp channeled Woody Guthrie for the homespun social commentary of “The West End.” Other new tunes such as “Right Behind Me” and “Easter Eve” also held their own alongside the usual crowd-pleasers, including a no-frills “Small Town.”
After dabbling in numerous other genres, from bluegrass to folk to gospel, Mellencamp was ready to rock out toward the end of the evening with full-throttle renditions of “Rain on the Scarecrow,” “Paper in Fire” and an especially powerful “What If I Came Knocking.”
More than two hours after it began, the show culminated with the one-two knockout punch of “Pink Houses” and “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” During the latter song, Mellencamp cut the rug with a woman from the audience.
In lieu of an opening act, we got to watch “It’s About You,” a new cinema-verite documentary about Mellencamp. The film was entertaining, even if screening it before a Mellencamp concert bordered on too much of a good thing.
Then again, try telling that to the self-proclaimed “dangerous old man” who was the star of both shows.
I dare you.
SET LIST
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 Me
Jackie Brown
Longest Days
Easter Eve
Jack & Diane
Small Town
New Hymn
Rain on the Scarecrow
Paper In Fire
The Real Life
What if I Came Knocking
If I Die Sudden
No Better Than This
Pink Houses
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
http://www.cleveland.com/popmusic/index.ssf/2010/11/john_mellencamp_goes_vaudevill.html
