As the lights went down on the 9,000 plus at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Tuesday night, spirits were high. It had been four years since the people of Fort Wayne had seen Indiana's son John Mellencamp, and that was four years too long in their eyes.
Mellencamp started with an anthem that all those Indiana boys and girls can relate to: "Small Town." He moved through his first set, which seemed to be only for die-hard Mellencamp fans, and I was unimpressed. The sound was great, but the most interaction with the crowd came from the violin player.
Mellencamp finished up the first set with "Walk Tall," and brought on sixties pop icon Donovan Leech to join his band for a set.
Donovan played a decent half hour set, though it was a bit before my time and was like stepping into an acid trip from the early '70s.
As Mellencamp came back onto the stage for his second set, everyone in the arena was on their feet. This set played more like a greatest hits album as Mellencamp played familiar songs that ranged from "Jack and Diane" to my personal favorite, "Hurts So Good," an '80s love anthem that is so much better live than when on record. As much as the first set failed to impress me, the second set sent me to another time and place. When "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." hit the speakers everyone was ready to do some R.O.C.K.-ing out of their own. The crowd was on its feet for the rest of the show.
Although the first set was not as good the expectations I had for the concert, the concert as a whole was more than impressive. Johnny Cougar doesn't fail to impress with his live show. The crowd was into the whole show. THe band weaved flawlessly through song after song, so the crowd could barely keep up. Keeping the high energy along with the band, and keeping up with the songs was the best part of the concert. The crowd's reaction can always be great addition to the show, and one thing that makes any show worth the price of admission.
Mellencamp is one of the few musicians still on the scene today that can transcend generational gaps, and take the crowd out of the arena and place them in a barn in southern Indiana, the same place he was when the music took him away.
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