John Mellencamp Brings His Protest Songs and Plain-Spoken Anger to Boston's Wang Theatre
The heartland rocker, whose website carries a blistering message about gun control and politicians, is set to play the Wang Theatre on June 10 as part of a 76-date North American tour.
By Ishani Kapalli ·
Visitors to John Mellencamp's website, mellencamp.com, are met with a message that leaves little doubt about his mood. In it, the singer laments that in America alone, 21 people can be murdered and be buried and forgotten within a week, with only a vague notion of gun control legislation left sitting on senators' desks.
He goes on to question what kind of people claim to care about being pro-life under those circumstances. Politicians, he writes, do not care about his readers, about him or about their children, and he closes by wishing everyone a happy summer, since it will be only a short time before it happens again.
That anger is not new for Mellencamp, and it suggests he will have plenty to say when he heads out on a 76-date North American tour in 2023. Few people who have followed his music over the past four decades would be surprised. Since he reclaimed his real surname from the "Johnny Cougar" billing he began with in 1976, he has rarely shied away from a fight, in song or otherwise.
The heartland rocker took on institutional power in "Authority Song," tackled American malaise in "Pink Houses" and addressed the struggles of farmers in "Rain on the Scarecrow." That song appeared on 1985's "Scarecrow," which has now been reissued in a deluxe box-set edition. The album's themes drew him into Farm Aid, the annual benefit concert he launched that same year with Willie Nelson and Neil Young. The event continues, and its 2022 edition took place in September in North Carolina, with Mellencamp at the center of it.
His more recent work has turned more personal. "Strictly a One-Eyed Jack," his 23rd album, arrived this year and includes many reflections on aging and mortality from the 70-year-old songwriter. One example is "Wasted Days," a duet with Bruce Springsteen, which asks how many summers remain, how many days are lost in vain and how many minutes are left.
Boston.com's Peter Chianca, who wrote the piece, joked that he was tempted to tell Mellencamp to cheer up but feared the singer might flick a cigarette at him. Instead, he recommends seeing the musician when he brings his deep catalog of songs, along with what he called plenty of spicy Hoosier attitude, to the Wang Theatre on June 10.
Source: Boston.com
