Loose Leaf Notes

I’ve been following John Mellencamp since he was John Cougar and MTV was actually good.  Mellencamp was born on the same day, month and year as my brother Danny, who died in 2001. Danny, who looked like Mellencamp and had some of the same mannerisms, was a big fan.  In 1998,  he turned me on to Your Life is Now on Mellencamp’s 1998 self titled album, a song that we danced and sang along to in our sister Kathy’s living room during a family
 Labor Day cook-out.  I had mostly been familiar with Mellencamp’s older stuff that played on MTV when he had long hair and I had a crush, so it was good to hear and appreciate his music again.

Joe surprised me by buying tickets to Mellencamp’s Roanoke performance Wednesday night at the Berglund Performing Art Theatre, part of his Plain Spoken Tour.  It wasn’t like I had to be dragged to go, but I wouldn’t have bought the tickets myself.  I thought they were too expensive and we see so much good music in Floyd, as it is.  John (after experiencing his music so close-up, I feel I can call him by his first name) is a seasoned showman (40 years) with just the right balance of bad boy irreverence and heartfelt social conscience, not to mention a legacy of heartland songs that make you want to sing-along and dance, which we did.

I loved the non-Civic Center venue, about the size of the Music Hall in Boston, where I had seen The Youngbloods, Sly and the Family Stone, Van Morrison, Donovon and other ‘60/’70 bands, and not like seeing Led Zepplin at Boston Gardens, which was huge.  It was reported that about 1,800 attended the Roanoke show.  It turned out to be an unforgettable night, one that I experienced through my brother’s eyes, and I kept thinking that my sister Sherry (also a fan) was going to go crazy when she saw the pictures and video clips I got.

It got a little rowdy. Some in the rock and roll crowd with seats near the stage and others who moved up close and filled the aisle, seemed to be playing out Mellencamp’s “I fought authority” song” and giving the ushers a hard time.  There was a “don’t make me come down there” moment from Mellencamp, who requested that people stop fighting and asked if everyone was alright.  “I must have been 27 when I wrote that song. I still feel the same way tonight as I did when I wrote it,” he said as he broke into the Authority Song.

He still chews gum and has the same swag strut that he had in his Hurt So Good video.  He didn’t wear motorcycle chaps like he did during that video but started the show in a suit.  After a brief intermission when he walked Carlene Carter off stage (who opened for him and then joined him in a number), and after a violinist and accordionist played a fine art performance of what we thought were Mellencamp songs, he took the jacket off, rolled up his t-shirt sleeves and even put a thumb in an imaginary blue jean waist loop for a second.

“I don’t even know why I play this song anymore, except I know you guys still want to hear it,” he said about his classic Jack and Diane, giving some background to the story.  There were new songs and a couple from a musical he wrote with Stephen King.  He also told a few funny stories about his family life.

John is a really good dancer, and I kept waiting for him to dance, my favorite part of those old MTV Hurt So Good, Little Pink Houses videos, but I’m pretty sure I heard him say in an interview once that he saw James Brown trying to do a split at 70 years-old and decided he wasn’t ever going to do anything like that.

There were so many highlights. “Thanks for getting me here,” I said to Joe.  I don’t think he minded that I got a crush all over again and that I made front stage eye contact with John Mellencamp.

Your Life is Now, Danny HERE.