Entitled rocker John Mellencamp made headlines recently for all the wrong reasons when he walked out on concertgoers who preferred to hear more of his music and less of his politics.
The incident took place in March during an appearance in Toledo, Ohio. Mellencamp abruptly ended the show when an attendee grew weary of a long story he was telling that, according to various reports, was essentially a plug for President Biden — for the record, Mellencamp did return to the stage about five minutes later and performed several more songs.
“Play some music,” the fan called out when Mellencamp brought his grandmother into the story.
With a date coming up this week in the Washington, D.C. area, the Washington Post did a story about the aging rocker. He wasn’t apologizing, telling fans, “Don’t come to my show.”
The newspaper described him thusly:
John Mellencamp is a septuagenarian, a thrice-divorced grandfather and a chain smoker. He’s a liberal activist and a painter who’s never moved out of ruby-red Indiana. He’s a boomer rock star with a bunch of contemporaries in the grave. He’s quit the music business who knows how many times and is back on tour now, offsetting deathless hits like 1982’s “Jack & Diane” (“Hold on to 16 as long as you can”) with death-obsessed latter-day songs like 2008’s “Longest Days” (“Sometimes you get sick and you don’t get better”).
Mellencamp recognizes that he is 72 and “still doing a teenager’s job,” and the man behind the hit “Small Towns” opts to play smaller venues. He also expects a little decorum and says fans should stay home if they can’t behave—rock and roll isn’t what it used to be.
“I do expect etiquette inside of the theater, the same way you would at a Broadway show,” he told the Post. “My shows are not really concerts anymore. They’re performances, and there’s a difference between a performance and a concert. Look, I’m not for everyone anymore. I’m just not. And if you want to come and scream and yell and get drunk, don’t come to my show.”
Case in point, here’s a profanity-laced PSA he delivered last year to “motherf*ckers [who] have to scream and yell” while he’ performing:
As for the incident in Toledo, footage is making the rounds this week on social media.
“What do you think I’ve been doing you c*cksucker,” the singer said in the clip, after the fan asked him to play.
John Cougar Mellencamp, a Biden supporter, throws a tantrum and storms off stage after audience rejects political lecture.
— Clown World (@ClownWorld_) April 16, 2024
“Here’s the thing man, you don’t know me,” Mellencamp added while waving his finger. “You don’t f*cking know me.”
He then asked an aide to “find this guy and let me see him after the show,” in what some saw as a threat of violence.
After threatening to end the show, Mellencamp said, “Tell you what I’m going to do, since you have been so wonderful, I’m going to cut about 10 songs out of the show.”
He them launched into “Jack and Diane,” but stopped in a matter of seconds to walk off the stage, telling the crowd, “You know what? Show’s over.”
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Author: Tom Tillison
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