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Best National Concert 23.36% John Mellencamp (Memorial Coliseum)*
Others with Votes:
1998 Winner: Aerosmith
1997 Winner: Edgefest
* On the ballot
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In October, Indiana rocker John Mellencamp showed Indiana's second
largest city what he had already shown New York City, LA and the rest of
those big city cool cats. Mellencamp's year-long tour, dubbed the
Rural Electrification Tour, rolled into Fort Wayne and showcased
Indiana's king rocker still deserving of his throne.
Mellencamp helicoptered onto the lawn of the Coliseum just like
President Clinton or NASCAR driver would, and flew back to Bloomington
the same way after the show. I bet Elvis even didn't do that when he
came to Fort Wayne.
The concert was voted the Best Concert of the Year by whatzup readers,
and was a great show. I was there, and have seen him a few times. They
rocked and the crowd was too. Some rock and roll electricity was
circulating through the crowd, with an audible hum.
Anyone got there at the start time printed on the ticket, they saw
opening act Susan Tedeschi, an eventual Grammy Nominee for Best New
Artist. She brought along Derek Trucks, guitarist and son of the Allman
Brothers guitarist Butch Trucks.
And then came showtime.
Maybe no person has more sheer star power among all the residents of the
Hoosier state than Mellencamp. Hey, he arrived by helicopter and landed
on the front yard. Beginning with that moment, he wanted to make sure it
was his house.
During the concert, the band followed his every James Brown-influenced
hand gesture and he danced his James Brown-inspired dance steps, and the
place plain rocked. He blew out "Jack and Diane" as the second song and
didn't let up, throwing Fort Wayne a big city big time performance,
rehearsed, confident and loud. A revamped version of "Paper in Fire" and
a mashing "What If I Came Knocking" where great surprises and a string
of "R.O.C.K in the U.S.A.," "Hurts So Good," "Authority Song" and "Pink
Houses" got everyone wound up before the house lights cranked on and he
closed with two of his best songs, "Cherry Bomb" and "Check It Out,"
under the yellow glow of a lit Coliseum arena.
No encore. That's the show. Back into the helicopter he goes. Star
power baby.
There were old songs, but it wasn't an oldies show. His music has
incorporated some new rhythms and only guitarist Mike Wanchic remains
from the Scarecrow days. But the songs felt vibrant 10 or 20 years
becoming hits.
But it was Mellencamp's solo turn in the spotlight at the midpoint of
the show that was the defining moment. Strumming his acoustic guitar
while he band left the stage, he eased into an acoustic version of "Your
Life is Now", a song from his 1998 self-titled album.
It was the voice grabbed from the forest of the rock band sound and
planted alone, in front of the crowd. A moment respected by the audience
through silence and a song played stirringly by Mellencamp, recast more
as a hymn than an anthem.
It was a powerful and resonating song, sung in the living room, as the
house party quieted for a moment or two.
And what a house party it was. (Rob Nichols) |
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