Twice in the past week, I have unexpectedly run into performances by John Mellencamp, a surprise that was nice the first time (when he performed “Pink Houses” at Shea Stadium, as seen above through someone’s T-shirt) and somewhat disorienting the second; yesterday morning Mellencamp played a free concert that aired during breaks in CBS’ The Early Show. The concert began soundchecking at 5:20 a.m.–gotta get ready for the few East Coast viewers that The Early Show still has, after all–and the sound quality was so pristine, I actually thought the music was coming from the hotel room next door to mine. (Which I suppose says something about the sort of equipment CBS can afford.) And his band sounded good! It just would have sounded a lot more pleasant if it hadn’t been, you know, six in the morning. Anyway, at this point I’m awaiting a knock at my door, one that will announce the former Johnny Cougar to show up on my doorstep and hand me a pamphlet about why authority always wins before breaking into song. [YouTube]
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I Can’t Get Away From John Mellencamp
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Little bastard.
When I was young, we lived in Illinois on the Indiana border. I was honestly convinced that crossing the state line would result in running into either Larry Bird or John Mellencamp.
Considering this taping took place in Chicago - it very well COULD have been coming from the hotel room next to you!!!
@TheRunningboard7: Dude, I grew up in Indianapolis and went to Indiana University. On the road between Point A and Point U, you pass one of Larry Bird’s auto dealerships. And the first “tourist-y” thing I did when I got to Bloomington was to drive by John Mellencamp’s house.
So I totes relate.
I’ve driven through Indiana a couple of times. Sweet merciful Jeebus, there’s a lot of corn in that state. It was like, “Corn … corn … corn … corn … corn … Hey, that’s the town where John Mellencamp lives! … corn … corn … corn … “
@Chris N.: Again, living at the point which merges corn-choked IL with corn-choked IN, I was told moving to the Kansas City area would be a flat, corn-choked void. It’s like a hilly, visual paradise up in this, all things compared.
@Rob Murphy: You’d think Larry Bird was the mayor of Terre Haute, or even visits more than once every 5 years, the way he’s treated there.