With the seventies just around the corner, the Rolling Stones released Let It Bleed.
The first song on the album was called “Gimme Shelter” and remains one of rock `n’ roll’s greatest moments. It’s a song about fear that builds on an amazing melody, gradually adding instruments and sounds until it finally explodes. Highlighted by Keith Richards’ pressured guitar, the song takes the listener on an emotional journey to face the most ferocious terrors and evils that one could imagine.
Terror and evil were on hand at Riverport Amphitheater last Monday, as John Mellencamp had the nerve to play “Gimme Shelter” to open his set.
It certainly couldn’t get any scarier than watching a man in dark slacks and an ironed button-down shirt yelp, “It’s just a shot away.”
After that abhorrent misstep, I wondered what was coming next. Would he butcher “God Save the Queen” or “Kick Out the Jams?” Or maybe he would try to show how rock and roll he really is, by knocking out a countrified version of “Teenage Riot” by Sonic Youth or “Dead Souls” by Joy Division. Thankfully, he stuck to his own material, but it still didn’t make the show any better.
To “Big C’s” credit, as one man in the audience referred to him, John “Cougar” Mellencamp delivered “Jack and Diane”-nearly everyone alive in the eighties has a warm place in their heart for it.
He played it early in the set and still sounds good. The rest of the show, however, faltered miserably, and here is why:
Mellencamp’s songs are all sing-a-longs, relying on a minor chord build-up and major chord explosion during the chorus.
It’s an effective formula to getting songs played and recognized on the radio, which Mellencamp has mastered. Songs like “Crumblin’ Down” and “Hurts So Good,” sound great on the radio because they are dumb, fun and convenient.
You might love hearing “R.O.C.K. in the USA” on your way home from work, but that doesn’t mean you go out and buy his albums so that you can party to Cougar every day.
When he played these songs, they were laced with self-indulgence and excessive showmanship, as Mellencamp shimmied all over stage. The show turned sour when I realized that he actually thinks he’s important and embodies the true spirit of rock `n’ roll.
The stage show and audience coupled with songs like “Key West Intermezzo (I Saw you First)” and “Pink Houses” seemed like they would be perfect inclusions in movies like Runaway Bride and Hope Floats.
All attempts at enjoying the gig came up empty. Singing along would be ridiculous looking. Eventually, I drifted back to my car, even though Mellencamp “Ain’t Even Done With Night.”
The Wallflowers fared much better. The Los Angeles-based rock outfit played a quick eight-song set of favorites that included “Three Marlenas,” “One Headlight” and “Sleepwalker,”
Jakob Dylan and company get grouped with horrible top-40 ready bands like Live, Train and Counting Crows, although they’re much better than that.
They really deserve to be mentioned in the same vein as Cracker and the Jayhawks: bands that write catchy, respectable songs. Even Marilyn Manson admitted that he hums a few of their songs in his head.
Although the Wallflowers can be predictable and a little bland, they have their moments. “Sixth Avenue Heartache” and “The Difference” sounded great, highlighted by some surprisingly boss solos by Michael Ward.
To compensate for some of their mediocrity, Dylan smartly inserted some mammoth covers into the set. While the recorded version of Bowie’s “Heroes” wasn’t thrilling, they rejuvenated the classic by incorporating a 12-bar blues feeling. They closed the set with “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by the Who, a band the Wallflowers opened for last fall at Madison Square Garden. It was tamer than the original, but it still rocked.
Most importantly, it didn’t sound ridiculous and the band looked good playing it.
The next Wallflowers record will probably be no different than the rest of their material.
They’ll keep to their traditional radio-rock formula and be content with that. Although they certainly won’t gain any fans that way, they won’t really lose any either.
They will also continue to play their music with dignity and class, which is something that our l’ friend Cougar certainly hasn’t done.
