Recap: John Mellencamp Live and In Person at Proctors 3/14/2024

Photos By: Tim Reidy

Words By: Rob Smittix

I made my way to the “Electric City” to see John Mellencamp at Proctors Thursday evening and it was well worth the trip. For me it was the first time I’ve ever had the chance to see Mellencamp live so I was all about it. The show began with a screen of some really cool classic black and white films such as ‘Misfits’, ‘Grapes of Wrath’, ‘Hud’, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and others to set the mood. Then the moment we were all waiting for… the screen lifted up into the heavens and the band appeared from beyond the curtain singing “I ain’t got no friends” (John Cockers Lyrics).

The band came in swinging on the second song for everyone to sing along to Paper and Fire and the hits kept on coming from there. Mellencamp announced that this was not a concert but a rather a performance and I’d say that was certainly the experience. At one point during the performance John told the story about how he became great friends with Joanne Woodward (Paul Newman‘s widow) and she voiced some of John’s lyrics over music which was incredible.  A fun highlight to note: although “Jack and Diane” is one of the most recognizable songs in the world that didn’t stop the entire crowd from singing the chorus prematurely in unison, where the second verse should’ve been. John stopped to correct the audience in a humorous way and started again with the second verse. I was curious if Schenectady was an anomaly in this matter but I discovered this was not the first time that this occurred. It was actually a fun palate cleanser for the audience to laugh at ourselves.

John told stories during the show that really made us think about the little time we have in this life and how we should utilize it. He and his guitarist agreed that you never hear of people dying in a nap, so rather than going to bed to sleep at night, the recommendation is to take naps throughout the day. Perhaps they have discovered the fountain of youth. There were so many times during the performance that we thought that this must be it but… we stood corrected the show kept going and going. What an amazing sing along this was. I guarantee everyone left with a smile on their face and “Hurts So Good” on their tongues.