John Cougar Mellencamp - Hammersmith Apollo
Went along with Justin, Nick and Sarah to check out the John Cougar Mellencamp show at the Hammersmith Apollo. The show was billed as "an evening with..." and actually did a pretty good job of melding JCMs contemporary folk troubadour material with his more popular rock/pop stuff from the 80s and 90s.
Kicking off promisingly enough with "Authority Song" from 1982's 'Uh-huh', the first part of the show saw the band playing more acoustic based instruments, which suited the more recent folky material like "Death Letter" and "John Cockers", although it was good to hear "Check It Out" recast in this folky mode as well.
This led into a short solo acoustic set which featured a great version of "Save Some Time To Dream" from latest album 'No Better Than This', and an acapella take on "Cherry Bomb" that featured more crowd singing that JCM.
The band rejoined briefly for a few songs, including a nice-bluegrass reworking of "Jack and Diane" that was an early highlight. Solo versions of "Jackie Brown" and "Small Town" followed, before JCM was joined by a fiddle and accordion player who took over for a lengthy coda.
This gave some time for the rest of the band to switch to electric instruments, and return to the stage to blast through rockin versions of "Rain on the Scarecrow", "Paper on Fire" and "Crumblin Down". Before the show closed on a massive high-note with "Pink Houses" and "R.O.C.K in the USA".
Strangely, despite still having a little time left on the curfew - the band didn't return for an encore, which was disappointing as it was really with the last few electric songs that the band really started to take flight.
Full setlist:
1. Authority Song
2. No One Cares About Me
3. Death Letter
4. John Cockers
5. Walk Tall
6. The West End
7. Check It Out
8. Save Some Time To Dream
9. Cherry Bomb
10. Don't Need This Body
11. Easter Eve
12. Jack & Diane
13. Jackie Brown
14. Longest Days
15. Small Town
16. Rain on the Scarecrow
17. Paper in Fire
18. Crumblin' Down
19. If I Die Sudden
20. Pink Houses
21. R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
Kicking off promisingly enough with "Authority Song" from 1982's 'Uh-huh', the first part of the show saw the band playing more acoustic based instruments, which suited the more recent folky material like "Death Letter" and "John Cockers", although it was good to hear "Check It Out" recast in this folky mode as well.
This led into a short solo acoustic set which featured a great version of "Save Some Time To Dream" from latest album 'No Better Than This', and an acapella take on "Cherry Bomb" that featured more crowd singing that JCM.
The band rejoined briefly for a few songs, including a nice-bluegrass reworking of "Jack and Diane" that was an early highlight. Solo versions of "Jackie Brown" and "Small Town" followed, before JCM was joined by a fiddle and accordion player who took over for a lengthy coda.
This gave some time for the rest of the band to switch to electric instruments, and return to the stage to blast through rockin versions of "Rain on the Scarecrow", "Paper on Fire" and "Crumblin Down". Before the show closed on a massive high-note with "Pink Houses" and "R.O.C.K in the USA".
Strangely, despite still having a little time left on the curfew - the band didn't return for an encore, which was disappointing as it was really with the last few electric songs that the band really started to take flight.
Full setlist:
1. Authority Song
2. No One Cares About Me
3. Death Letter
4. John Cockers
5. Walk Tall
6. The West End
7. Check It Out
8. Save Some Time To Dream
9. Cherry Bomb
10. Don't Need This Body
11. Easter Eve
12. Jack & Diane
13. Jackie Brown
14. Longest Days
15. Small Town
16. Rain on the Scarecrow
17. Paper in Fire
18. Crumblin' Down
19. If I Die Sudden
20. Pink Houses
21. R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
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