Thursday, December 30, 1999
Classic Mellencamp fitting finale to '99
BY LARRY NAGER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Wednesday's concert at Firstar Center was the perfect rock 'n' roll finale for the year/century/millennium. And not just because its 48-year-old headliner and 14-year-old opening act gave it an “Old Man 1999” and “Baby New Year” spin.
The rootsy Midwestern sound of John Mellencamp and blues-rocker Shannon Curfman has been a mainstay of the arena for a quarter century, since it first hosted the Allman Brothers, ZZ Top and Led Zeppelin.
But Seymour, Ind.'s favorite son gave that last show even more of a local flavor with his sing-along anthems of life in the small towns on both sides of the Ohio River.
The near-sellout crowd, most around the same age as the singer, loudly identified with such Mellencamp classics as “Jack and Diane,” “Small Town” and “Pink Houses” (the last of which brought Ms. Curfman back to the stage).
Sporting a new, short-cropped butch-cut, Mr. Mellencamp reserved his anthems, opening his 110-minute show with “Dance Naked” and his recent single, “I'm Not Running Anymore.” They're not his best, or best-
known songs, but the faithful audience gamely sang along.
The third song upped the ante and raised the sing-along volume, as former Cincinnatian Miriam Sturm played the familiar “Jack and Diane” riff on her solid-body electric violin.
It was the same fine band as his June show at Riverbend and much of the same set list, but the mood was far more relaxed, as his “Rural Electrification Tour” draws to a close, ending tonight in Indianapolis.
It was a career retrospective, going back to 1982 and his Johnny Cougar days for “Hurts So Good” and featuring 11 of the 14 songs on his greatest-hits CD.
But while he offered his extended raveup on “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” there was also the reflective “Minutes to Memories” from his best album, 1986's Scarecrow, and a solo, acoustic “Your Life is Now,” from the recent — and unjustly ignored — John Mellencamp CD.
His finest moments came when he blended his rock 'n' roll heart with his Midwest soul. “Rain on the Scarecrow,” his anthem about the death of the family farm, rang just as eloquently in the final days of 1999 as it did in 1985. In a year in which Bruce Springsteen's E Street reunion was the biggest story in classic arena rock, “Scarecrow” served as a reminder of how Mr. Mellencamp had resurrected the ghost of Tom Joad a decade before Mr. Springsteen. And, more importantly, how he'd been able to do it without sacrificing his original musical vision.
In her silver-checked plastic pants and clunky black boots, Ms. Curfman looked as if she belonged in the audience of a Backstreet Boys show. But with a fine, 42-minute set that featured her assured, bluesy guitar solos and even more surprising big-blues-mama voice (outstanding on the Band classic “The Weight”), the little girl earned her place onstage.
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