Photos: John Mellencamp at the Midland

April 6, 2023

Chris Ortiz,

John Mellencamp. // photo by Chris Ortiz

John Mellencamp

The Midland

Monday, April 3

On Monday, April 3, and Tuesday, April 4, the Midland Theater hosted John Mellencamp and his “Live and In Person” tour. This two-night event was filled with the music legend’s hits and… something else. Mellencamp started the night with a half-hour-long video of conversation between Mellencamp and Turner Classic Movie host Ben Mankiewicz.

Mankiewicz stated that TCM sponsored this tour and that Mellencamp had never done a sponsored tour before. However, during the on-screen interview, it became apparent why the two had joined up. Mellencamp wanted to show clips from some of his favorite movies, which included The Fugitive Kind, The Misfits, Giant, Grapes of Wrath, Hud, On the Waterfront, and A Streetcar Named Desire.

It was the characters that Paul Newman, James Dean, Henry Fonda, Jane Darewll, and Marlon Brando would portray that he claimed to know best because they were him, his family, his next-door neighbor—felt he knew them and could empathize with them because they were the same people he grew up around. Mellencamp went on to say that “the songs he wrote were like the characters in the movie.”

The night proceeded with music and storytelling, a solo acoustic rendition of “Jack and Diane,” music theory, and artwork personally painted by John and his son—for sale—starting at $1500.

All photos by Chris Ortiz (Instagram: @fastboyent).