John Mellencamp brings his Hoosier sound to sellout crowd at Ball State’s Emens Auditorium.

John Mellencamp brings his Hoosier sound to sellout crowd at Ball State’s Emens Auditorium.

By: Kevin Vickery

On March 22nd I was able to see one of my favorite musicians perform at my Alma Mater, Ball State University. When I first heard that John Mellencamp was coming to Emens Auditorium, located on the BSU campus, I was surprised because he normally plays much larger venues so I knew I had to seize this opportunity. 

I’ve seen Mellencamp perform live at least five times throughout the years including shows at good old Market Square Arena in Indianapolis when I was in high school, at The Nashville Convention Center for an unusual acoustic corporate show, and as recently as last Summer during Farm Aid at Ruoff Music Center, which I will always still call Deer Creek. Regardless of the venue or the decade, his performances have never disappointed.

I’ve recently written about his Farm Aid show last August which was basically a short trip through his greatest hits and what was to be expected given the abbreviated set length he had to work with on a show that had so many artists on the bill.  That day he gave the crowd exactly what they’d expect and wanted to hear with no surprises.

The show at Emens was different. It was an actual John Mellencamp gig, showcasing his artistic views and featuring more than just the standard radio hits. Don’t get me wrong, I love the hits. Like most self respecting Hoosiers my age, I grew up listening to Q95 which basically made Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, John Cougar-Mellencamp and eventually John Mellencamp’s music the soundtrack to my life, from youth to adulthood, but like I said, this show offered a little more introspective view into John Mellencamp, the artist.

For starters, In lieu of an opening act, his performance at Emens opened with a collection of classic film clips. For around thirty minutes the crowd was treated to excerpts from black and white movie classics on a big screen that was never used otherwise during his show other than as a backdrop with a still image of a scene from “ A Streetcar Named Desire”.

We all got to see clips ranging from Marlon Brando in 1960’s  “The Fugitive Kind”, 1961’s, “The Misfits”, starring Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, “Giant” from 1956 featuring Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean, as well as clips from Paul Newman in “Hud”from 1963, “Grapes of Wrath” from 1940, “The Real Life” and others. The stage was even adorned with mannequin like statues of some of the actors mentioned above which honestly gave the impression that his 6 piece backing band had an additional 4 creepy dead people just sort of hanging out.  It was a little weird but maybe I’m not artistic enough to fully appreciate the sentiment. Either way, it didn’t distract from the killer performance he and his band delivered.

He opened the show with “John Cockers” from his 2008 Album “Life, Death, Love and Freedom” and it instantly captivated the crowd and put them on their feet.  If you’re not familiar with this song, I’d highly recommend looking it up or at least googling the lyrics.  If you’ve ever felt isolated, alone, or just generally mad at the world, I think you’ll be able to identify with this tune.

While the 90 minute show was of course still filled with the hits you’d expect to hear like, “Pink Houses”, “Small Town”, “Cherry Bomb” and “Rain on the Scarecrow”, he also took the time to play lesser known tracks like his tribute to actresss, Joanne Woodward.  That segment of the show featured the spoken words of Woodward’s “The Real Life” as it appeared on Mellencamp’s 2010 release, “Rural Route 7609” accompanied by violinist, Miriam Sturm and Mellencamp’s 50 year band mate, guitarist, Mike Wanchic.

While Mellencamp was momentarily offstage, Sturm took the time to set up the premise, explaining to the crowd about Woodward’s failing health and why John wanted to pay honor to her in this way as he was old friends with she and her late husband, Paul Newman. It was a nice tribute and I was glad to see them accomplish it in the way that they did.

Having Miriam Sturm speak to the crowd rather than Mellencamp doing it personally seemed intentional, given that only a few nights before in Toledo, OH a heckler interrupted him on stage while he was trying to tell a story about his Grandmother, angering the performer to the point of walking off stage and ending the show. 

Fortunately, the show at Emens had no such incidents. The crowd was both enthusiastic and respectful. Mellencamp spoke very little between songs but seemed genuinely appreciative of his home state’s true fans. 

His band also features Anderson IN native Dane Clark who is literally one of the best and most solid drummers I’ve ever heard along with John Gunnell (AKA Jon E. Gee) on bass and rounding out the rhythm section to absolute perfection.

After the show I spoke with Kevin and Sue-Ellen Anderson of Zionsville, IN who had made the trip to Muncie to see the show and celebrate Kevin’s 62nd Birthday. They had not seen Mellencamp perform since a show at Assembly Hall in Bloomington 33 years ago. On the show Sue-Ellen said, “It’s pretty awesome that a guy like him can still be doing what he loves at the age he is and still  gives respect to the music.” The couple both agreed that “ Check it out” was their favorite song of the night and Kevin added that he, “Enjoyed the way some of the songs were arranged a little differently” and called the show, “A good listen, tonight”.

I would definitely have to agree and not just because his name is also Kevin. I believe the entire crowd of 3,300 Mellon-heads all left satisfied with their Hoosier hero’s performance.

For more information about John Mellencamp’s current tour visit his official website at mellencamp.com

To learn more about upcoming events coming to Emens Auditorium at Ball State University visit their official website at bsu.edu.com

Henry County resident and Ball State alum, Kevin Vickery, is bassist and lead vocalist for The Cousin Brothers. He spent several years working in Nashville for some of the biggest names in Country Music before taking over the reins at his family business. If you have a story idea or an event that you think Kevin should cover, contact him at kevin.makesomenoise@yahoo.com