John Mellencamp still R.O.C.K.S.

It's kind of embarrassing that I'm just now writing about seeing John Mellencamp in concert. As you can guess from prior posts my hubby and I love live music. 2011 was a great year for us to see some really amazing concerts. We saw seven concerts last year. Seven!

Mellencamp was our first concert in 2011. It was the first time I'd ever seen him live. I have loved Mellencamp's music since the summer of 1979. The songs "A Little Night Dancin'" and "I Need a Lover (that won't drive me crazy)" played frequently on the radio. I remember the songs playing as I drove home from friends' houses. The car windows were down and the breeze tickled my arms as I listened to the newest, hottest singer on the airwaves.


(Image Source)

The albums "Nothin' Matters...", "American Fool" and "Uh-Huh" were all released in quick succession and each one had a song that was to die for. Hubster and I used to love to sing "Play Guitar". The advice is actually pretty good: "Forget all about that macho shit and learn how to play guitar."

Hubs and I thought that Mellencamp's music just kept getting better. The albums Scarecrow ('85) and The Lonesome Jubilee ('87) were in a class by themselves. All through the '80s, I said, "If Mellencamp (after we all knew his real name) comes to my town, I have to see him in concert".

Little did I know that in just twenty-four short years I would have that opportunity! But, MAN OH MAN, was it worth the wait.

By 2011 I had perfected my skills of getting on the right lists to be able to find presale tickets. I had perfected my ability to sit and watch the hourglass on Ticketmaster telling me not to "refresh" or I would lose my place in the virtual line. I had perfected getting my payment information into the required screens before the time expired. All of these skills were learned and practiced so that I could arrive at this (that) moment. The moment when I would see John Mellencamp perform. AND, added bonus, see him from the front row!

My husband was cooler than I was when we were at the concert. He was calm enough to take the photos of Mellencamp on stage that I've posted here. I am not proud to say that I was a fangirl that sat there stupidly with my iPhone videoing for as long as I dared.


Source: Kimberly's iPhone

OMG, there were a couple of times that he came to sing right in front of me AND he stared right in my eyes! No, I didn't think we had a cosmic connection. If anything he was probably thinking, "What is with that woman on the front row? She is just sitting there with a stupid grin on her face".

To give you a flavor of the concert, here is the set list:  Authority Song / No One Cares About Me / Death Letter / John Cockers / Walk Tall / The West End / Check It Out / Save Some Time for Dreams / Cherry Bomb / Don’t Need This Body / Right Behind Me / Jackie Brown / Longest Days / Jack & Diane / Small Town / 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.

As an added bonus, I'm including a video of John dancing. (Should I call him John? Or Mellencamp?)  The video below is from my iPhone. Just a little snippet to see how good he is. ENJOY!