John Mellencamp
Mohegan Sun
Uncasville, Connecticut
November 16, 2008
Tony Pijar
Since his arrival on the music scene, John Mellencamp was marketed and/or pigeonholed first as a youthful heartthrob, and then more appropriately as we see him now – a mid-western musician hell bent on trying to promote good values, lifting up common folk…in essence trying to preserve Americana in an upside down world with venomous hate being spewed now more than ever before, and with predictably dire results to date. That’s why we need the likes of Mellencamp, Springsteen, Petty and Fogerty around to remind us of what once (albeit not perfect by any stretch of the imagination) and what can be again if we’re lucky.
A Mellencamp concert is what the above is all about; instilling the fact that we are blessed to be Americans and at the same time illuminating the wrongs we have perpetuated over time. That’s why only the likes of Mellencamp can play the likes of “Our Country”, “Pink Houses”, “ROCK in the USA”, “Hurts so Good” and “Jack and Diane” alongside “Rain on the Scarecrow”, “Paper and Fire”, and “Jim Crow.” He continually finds a balance of that which paints a realistic landscape of America that is both pleasant and painful at he same time.
On the ride home, I became introspective as I recalled the words to many of Mellencamp’s compositions. They are truly a reminder of who we are as a people – the good, the bad, and the ugly!