My 1st John Mellencamp Experience

I never thought I’d get to see John Mellencamp this way, not in some massive arena, but in a 5,000-person venue in Victoria, BC, close enough to feel like he was singing straight us. I’ve loved his music for so long that it felt unreal to finally be there!

I brought a younger friend with me. She didn’t tell me right away, but later she confessed she’d been nervous because she didn’t really know who he was. I laughed when she told me, because she still came anyway, trusting that the night would be worth it.

As the show went on, I kept catching her reactions out of the corner of my eye. Her face changed when the songs started sounding familiar. She leaned in and said, almost surprised, “Wait… I know this one.” Then another one. By the time Jack & Diane hit, she was singing along, completely in it, like the music had reached across decades and pulled her right in.

For me, it was everything I’d hoped for, Mellencamp’s voice a little rougher, the stories heavier, the songs somehow even better up close. The room felt intimate, like we were all part of the same shared memory being made in real time.

We’re excited to announce that he’ll be back at Cynthia Woods Mitchell’s Pavilion Thursday August 6th!

Lana Backman