Johnny Cougar Mellencamp

This year J & I have been fortunate in that we've been able to go see one of our favorite singers in concert twice.  Let's face it, John Mellencamp ain't getting any younger so we have to take full advantage while we can.  Even his core fan base skews sharply to the AARP crowd.  Kinda ironic that a guy who used to be called "Cougar" has female fans that are too old to even be considered "cougars".  "Snow leopards" perhaps, but well past "cougar" age.

Vintage Cougar--the shirt, not me.

With the Sound and the Fury stashed with the sitter, we were off for a night of some serious rock 'n roll (well, as rock 'n roll as you can get with the rocker on the front porch kind of crowd).

Photo taken by Lulu--ergo the up the nose angle.

We weren't in a big hurry to get to War Memorial Auditorium, as Johnny Coug has replaced an opening act with a documentary of his life on the road.  We'd already seen the film in Columbia and since I'm highly unlikely to see a movie without Johnny Depp in it twice, we did what every couple without kids do--went to eat a meal without interruptions and/or fighting (that is, the kids fighting, not us).

Once we got to the auditorium and had our tickets scanned, this was the sight which greeted us:

See, I told you this crowd was old.  The auditorium wasn't willing to roll the dice with waiting for EMT's to come from an ambulance waaaaay outside in the parking lot--they had gurneys in the lobby.  

Other than getting stuck behind the only two women in the whole balcony section who insisted on standing up and flailing about like she was caught on a barbed wire electric fence, the show rocked.  Yes, the Coug is a grandfather, but he sure doesn't look like one (at least not from our seats).  He played the entire two  hours.  He started off strong with "Authority Song" and kept it going until he ended with "Cherry Bomb".  He's not a chatty kinda guy, but that's ok. I come for the music.  I'll watch The View if I want to hear chit chat.  He played old songs, new songs, good songs and a few that I consider bad songs.  I think I may have developed a crush on his fiddle player, Miriam.  Watching her play almost inspires me to break out my own fiddle and figure out how to play it again.  Almost.  

This pic reminds me a lot of our Anthony Bourdain pic.

I'm glad to know that the Coug got my memo about playing my favorite song "Key West Intermezzo", as he added it to the set list since we'd seen him last in SC.   He apparently got other memos from his "Snow Leopard" age fans, as he turned around a lot to give the audience a glimpse of his grandfatherly backside.

Strong opener--"Authority Song"

Good show.  I hope he makes it back a few more times before he retires.  I won't hold the whole Meg Ryan dating thing against him (Seriously?  The "I fight authority" guy dating America's Sweetheart??)