One day you turn around, and John Mellencamp is in his 70s.
While this may be disorienting to wide swathes of his fans, it’s undoubtedly equally shocking to Mellencamp himself.
Although he’s always been possessed of a craggy, old-man-in-a-young-man’s-game energy, he also always begrudgingly carried a bit of the Johnny Cougar sparkle that he’s spent five decades disowning. (His website currently opens to a splash page that’s nothing but a pro-gun control message punctuated with “Politicians don’t give a fuck about you, they don’t give a fuck about me, and they don’t give a fuck about our children.”)
Mellencamp’s 2023 tour, though, absolutely feels like a victory lap, coming as it does on the heels of a deluxe reissue of his landmark Scarecrow album (which he encouraged fans not to buy) and the installation of a permanent exhibit in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honoring his accomplishments.
He’s playing multiple dates in “intimate” venues like theaters rather than arenas, which means that, while he will certainly play a few songs from his latest album, Orpheus Descending, these shows will be chock-full of the songs you know and stories about how they were made.
Bonus: These shows find staunchly anti-sellout Mellencamp finally selling out and having a co-sponsor for the tour. No, it’s not Budweiser or some bank; it’s Turner Classic Movies. How can you not love this man?
8 p.m., Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 18-19, Walt Disney Theater, Dr. Phillips Center, 445 S. Magnolia Ave, drphillipscenter.org, $350-$399.
This article appears in Feb 15-21, 2023.