John Mellencamp - Manchester Apollo - 01/07/2011

[Rockingbear]

When it was announced that John Mellencamp was to play a handful of gigs in the UK I thought that I would take the opportunity to go and see him before it was too late; the last time he played the UK was 19 years ago! I have to admit that I purchased the tickets prior to hearing his latest album “No Better Than This” which is a very laid-back affair to say the least. John Mellencamp maybe not one of my favourite artists, however, with 1987’s “Lonesome Jubilee” he produced one of my Top Ten favourite albums of all-time and for that alone I was willing to make the short trip across the Pennines.

There was no support this evening, instead a run through of the Kurt Markus produced documentary “It’s About You” that was filmed using a Super 8 camera, resulting in a vintage-style appearance (MTV this was certainly not). For the die-hard fans, whom there were certainly many in attendance, this was a real treat.

A John Mellencamp show is juxtaposed to the last the couple of arena shows that I had attended, namely Journey and Rush. No big theatrical light show and video screens but just simply John and his band on stage playing the music. The new material would have been even more at home in a bar in Ireland whilst the patrons watched on with a Guinness in hand.

The manner of concert was very much in the style of “An Evening with John Mellencamp” and got off to a rousing start with “Authority Song”. For the next eighty minutes, however, things slowed right down with a collection of blue grass/country/roots/folk style tracks taken in the main from John’s most recent album, the aforementioned “No Better Than This”. These songs certainly came across better live than on the album.

The Apollo was not at full capacity, with several empty seats at the top of the theatre from where my wife and I were sat but those in attendance seemed to mainly John Mellencamp devotees. There was definitely a great atmosphere within the auditorium that rose exponentially, in noise levels, following the rendition of “Check It Out”.

John told the crowd how he had written the song “Save Some Time To Dream” following a conversation with his Dad who advised him that he need to slow things down as he gets older. John celebrates his 60th birthday in October but still possesses a remarkable voice. He played this and the next couple of tracks completely solo, just John and an acoustic guitar and approximately 3,000 backing singers for a truly amazing rendition of “Cherry Bomb”.

“Easter Eve” was written about a fight that John and his son got into and took on a whole new dimension in the live arena. A reworking of arguably John’s most famous song “Jack & Diane” followed; interesting adaptation but I have to confess that I prefer the original one. “Jackie Brown” was also very popular with the crowd and I found the “Longest Days” very poignant as John had written it about his Grandmother who had live to 100 and I had just lost my Nan the day before at the age of 94.

The final acoustic number came by way of “Small Town” with its simple but effective lyrics before the band kicked into a full electric set for the last half hour. My wife had not really enjoyed the gig until this point but really got into it for the final six numbers starting with a rip-roaring performance of “Rain On the Scarecrow” (song of the evening for me) followed by my personal favourite Mellencamp track, the glorious “Paper In Fire”.

“Crumblin’ Down” and “If I Die Sudden” quickly followed before John stopped to introduce the band: the great Mike Wanchic on guitar, Andy York on guitar, John Gunnell on electric & upright bass, Dane Clark on drums, Troye Kinnett on accordion & keyboards and the wonderful Miriam Sturm on violin. Accordions and violins are not normally the instruments of choice at a rock concert but work well within this band.

The two-hour set was brought to a climatic finale with old favourites “Pink Houses” and “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” leaving the band to exit the stage to a well deserved standing ovation.

[No Surprize]

Great review RB! Feels like I was there!