John Mellencamp with Tom Cochrane and Red Rider - Saskatoon

I don't get to many concerts, but this was a huge "don't miss" for me. I am a huge Mellencamp fan, but more importantly I was a huge Red Rider fan and am still a Tom Cochrane fan.

The boys from Red Rider may have hit their peak in the 80's, but they haven't lost any polish. Kenny Greer is still one of the best guitarists in the industry, from his haunting petal steel on "Lunatic Fringe" and "Human Race" to his blistering leads on "Big League" and "Life is a Highway" he proved he can still pick 'em with the best. Tom Cochrane can still belt 'em out, or he can make you hurt with his soft vocals on songs like the acoustic version of "Avenue A". The one encore was not enough for me, and judging by the crowd they would have been happy to let them play all night.

But that was a little side show warm-up. For most of the largely middle-aged crowd little Johnny Cougar was the reason we showed up. Hate the man for his politics, hate the man for being a corporate sellout, hate the man for accepting the recognition of an establishment he has fought for his entire career, hate him for his stance on racism, but it is really hard to hate him for his music.

From the time he kicked off with "Pink Houses" it was clear that the 56 year old Mellencamp still has the fervour and drive he had when he was Little Johnny Cougar over 35 years ago! The first half-hour was a parade of hits...Paper In Fire, I'm Not Running Anymore, Lonely Old Night and Check It Out. It was a good half hour before we heard Mr. Mellencamp speak a word. This is not a man to avoid a confrontation. After a story about why Saskatoon is important to him and his wife, virtually every lull was filled with venom and vitriol for the establishment. From Bush to racism, to the establishment in general, all were targets and it was pretty clear the Saskatchewan crowd empathized with his liberal leanings of this small town boy from Indiana. The crowd was then treated to some new material from a forthcoming album the best of which was the controversial Jena about the Jena 6's trials. Johnny blasted out another string of hits and punctuated with R.O.C.K. in the USA, Jack and Diane; in the middle of which he had the audience call someone they care for and remind them that "Life goes on...long after the thrill of living is gone"; and an encore of a rocked out 10 minute version of The Authority Song,

With a song repetoire full of hits he was bound to miss someone's favorites. Some notable ommisions were Dance Naked and Hurts so Good, and my personal favorite Key West Intermezzo, but if we all got what we wanted John and the band would have been out there all night.

Definitely 5 wheat sheaves!

Rick

Updated:
Star Phoenix review at Mellencamp's site, or on canada.com