As the minutes ticked toward 8 p.m., a mass of fans bared the crisp, spring, evening air standing along W Riverside Ave of Ball State University's Emens Auditorium as they were ushered through lines of security. Almost all 3,309 auditorium seats would soon be filled to watch acclaimed musician and Indiana native John Mellencamp perform March 22.
Born in Seymour, Indiana, Mellencamp has been releasing music since 1976. The Grammy-award winning artist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is known for his Americana or roots rock style music with lyrics about the everyday man. His Emens Auditorium performance was one stop on his “Live and in Person 2024” tour.
Jared and Jodi Birch waited patiently in the farthest security line, excitedly anticipating the show. The couple had made the drive north from Hagerstown for a “date night.” While they had never seen Mellencamp perform before, Jodi said she was an avid fan of live music and was looking forward to the concert. Jared said Mellencamp was a part of his experience growing up in Indiana.
After the large crowd filed into the auditorium and found its seats, Mellencamp’s concert began. Instead of the traditional opening band before the main performance, the acclaimed musician’s performance was preceded by a series of clips of black and white films from the Golden Age of Hollywood: “The Fugitive Kind,” “The Misfits,” “Giant,” “Grapes of Wrath,” “Hud” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Police sirens sounded and red beacon lights positioned in each corner lit up the auditorium as Mellencamp and his band finally took the stage at just shy of a quarter ‘til nine, opening the show with the song, “John Cockers” from his 2008 album, “Life, Death, Love and Freedom.”
The stage was decorated with heavy yellow lighting, a backdrop of a French Quarter street scene from the final film in his opening movie set, “A Streetcar Named Desire” and four mannequins resembling “Hollywood heroes” on stage, which the singer-songwriter did not address. Mellencamp was fashioned in a pair of blue coveralls, a nod to his support of the American farmer, and the performer could be seen lighting up a cigarette during his show.
After performing the fourth song on his setlist, “Small Town,” Mellencamp introduced himself to the audience, letting them know he would be playing a little bit of everything: songs they knew, songs they didn’t, songs they could sing to and songs they could dance to.
The Emens Auditorium was filled with a conglomerate of sounds, from guitar, bass and drums to accordion, harmonica and violin. Introducing his band members to the audience, Mellencamp shared that he had been playing with his guitarist Mike Wanchic for 50 years.
After playing, “The Eyes of Portland” from his 2023 album, “Orpheus Descending,” Mellencamp advised his fans to be nice to each other, “so that the time we have here on Earth is our time.” While the artist actively spoke between songs in his 2023 IU Auditorium show, bluntly urging people to not stress the little things in life, his Emens Auditorium performance featured very little banter with the crowd.
As Mellencamp walked off stage, violinist Lisa Germano came to the microphone to welcome the next song, “The Real Life.”
“This is not your typical rock concert,” Germano said. “It is more of a performance.”
“The Real Life,” featured the audio of spoken word from Joanne Woodward, a longtime friend of Mellencamp, accompanied by soft musical notes played by bandmembers. Germano explained that Woodward is now 94 years old suffering from Alzheimer's and hasn’t spoken in years. Mellencamp decided to play the song in tribute to his good friend.
After saying that the performance of his 1987 song “Cherry Bomb” would be the last for the night, Mellencamp decided to play one more, his 1983 Grammy-award winning song “Hurts So Good.” The musician brought up a young girl from the pit on stage, singing the lyrics into the microphone with support of the audience singing along.
The auditorium crowd emptied out into the lobby, waiting in line to purchase merchandise, art and making their way out the door for their journey home.
Dustin and Amy Fohl of Connersville were in line to purchase their Mellencamp T-shirts. The couple said they both enjoyed the show and Amy said this wasn’t her first time seeing Mellencamp live.
“I saw him in 1988 at the state fair,” Amy said. “Tonight's show was a little bit different; you know we are all older, but he still sounds great.”
The couple said they loved “all of it,” although the performance of his song “Jack and Diane” was their favorite. The Fohls said they would definitely see Mellencamp again.
While Mellencamp is particularly known to have a fan base from the Baby Boom generation, concertgoers of all ages were dancing in the crowd, singing along to the classics. Families young and old enjoyed the show, reminiscing and taking pictures with friends in the lobby as they made their way out of the Ball State auditorium.
