Atlantic City - Borgata Show

[sgoodwin]

Just a few comments on John's show....these are all my opinions.

As always, I am grateful to see him whenever possible.   I never tire of seeing him and the
band perform.

As some had stated about his earlier shows....he started at about 8:10 and played until 9:30....so yes, it is short.

I am always thrilled to hear a 'new' song that hasn't been played in a while...so hearing HUman Wheels as the opener was great.  The next song....Troubled Man.....guessing from the upcoming new album was excellent....if it follows this type of theme...we will be happy/more his own stuff.

He then did 3 solo acoustic songs.   I am not fond of Jack and Diane and Small Town by himself...i want to hear a stripped down/acoustic version....but not just 1 guitar.   Probably the best song was LOngest Days ....him and Andy.

What I want to see is what was on that MTV unplugged series....all band members acoustically per se/jamming

He then goes into his classic rockers....ROCK in the USA, Authority Song, Pink Houses, etc....and everyone has a good time.  As in a lot of the shows at the Borgata Event Center (not the Music Box)....a lot of drinking...people moving into other seats, etc....standing in aisles.   I don't like it when they let others from the back stand in aisles.

Like most die-hard type fans...he has a vast repertoire and I wished he'd pull out 2-3 from the past ...whatever they may be.   I too wish he would extend his show 30 minutes....but who am to complain.   I feel like John is a family member who is older and I never know (with all that smoking) how much longer he will be on this earth.  So....whatever he 'gives' in a show I am grateful.   Look around when he plays Check it Out and Cherry Bomb and how happy people are...that's what it's about.

I will continue to see him as much as I can....as he says 'life is too short...even in the longest days".

Looking forward to the new songs.

Steve

[charlene]

  Love to see John also. But this concert was very short. Ended at 9:20 after starting at 8:10. No Encore! So after spending $150.00 per ticket, was a little disappointed. John was awesome as usual, and we drove 3 HRS from Baltimore to see him. My son and I go to see him whenever he performs within driving distance from us. And we will probably continue to. But the concert was too short, only about an hour!

[edhead]

I too, was there last night, and share a lot of the sentiments aforementioned by Steve.

One of the downsides of the internet is no surprises; I had peeked at the set list from earlier shows, and read about the brevity of the show, and because of such lost a lot of my enthusiasm for going.  In fact on the way to AC I said to my wife " I am more excited to see John Eddie than John Mellencamp"  ( John Eddie was playing at Bally's beach bar from 2-6 that day, and he was quite good as always). She was surprised as  she knows JM is almost or at the top of my all-time faves list, and he is one we have traveled far to go see, and usually attend multiple shows per tour.

So we went to the Borgata, me thinking he is just going to "mail in" the show and leave in a hurry.  Well I was pleasantly surprised to see John in fine form and spirits; and my concerns about him mailing it in and /or my apathy were quickly eliminated.

As said, Human Wheels was a good opener,  the new song was ok on first listen, and the show was pretty much the same pace and song arrangements as the last tour(s), so no real surprises.  Yes if you have seen multiple shows you know the “buddy” story all too well, but he added a few things and it is still fun to hear, made even better if you are around people whom have never heard it as they quite enjoy the banter.

We were down front in the “Premier package” seats,  and as usual there were a few people standing and people behind them (next to us) yelling  and poking and pointing for them to sit down.  My opinion is this is rock and roll, not the opera, stand the f**k up!,  but I try to go with the flow and not be the only standee in  a sea of sitters.  Given the choice I will stand and do the lame white boy dance and “play guitar”.  After the whiners gave up (and the standees did sit for the acoustic set) all was good, and like Steve said, just  look around and see how much people are enjoying the show!   Great stuff and I was SO HAPPY to be there (after all I am Mr. Happy Go Lucky  . 

I hate to keep repeating Steve, but he speaketh many a truth:   I too,  always enjoy his shows and will not miss an opportunity to be at one. Sure I would like a longer set, more deep tracks, more stories, etc. etc., but we take what we can get and love getting it.

If I would complain about anything it would be that I don’t believe there were any Mellenheads in the center front section, section 300 the first 7 or 8 rows, I have no facts to back this up but my opinion is they were all comp tickets for frequent gamblers.  I forget what song but everyone was standing except most of the people in the section 300 rows 1-7.  Did anyone from this board get tickets there?

All in all was a great night (and day).  John really seemed to be enjoying himself, and that feeling was shared by much of the audience, especially me!  Let’s hope for a “Plain Spoken” tour, new songs and hopefully a new live show!  

Thanks to Tony and Sharon for all their hard work here (my wife says she saw Sharon walking through the casino)

[jeannehodge]

I overheard folks in those rows talking as I was right on the aisle of 200 so right next to those seats,  and they said they were all comp tickets, they all had white plastic wrists bands.. I didn't hear exactly what was said, but something about 'titanium card holders'. 

[Palmer63]

Listen, I have been a fan of John's for over 20 years. I also was at the AC show, and had the closet seat tickets I have ever had in about the 15 times that I had seen him. I also was a little bit disappointed in this show. I agree with just about everyone's comments on the same show. All of the songs were all old ones that we all hear time and but for some reason I thought this one would be just a bit different. I paid $175 per ticket and I do surely feel that I did not get my money's worth. I wish he could had played a little bit more of a variety. Some old, some newer. I would have loved to had heard him sing "Thank You" and even "America". But I do still give it a thumbs up because regardless, I will always be in love with the man.