by Sean Reiter
John Mellencamp closed out his 2026 “Dancing Words – The Greatest Hits Tour” at Shoreline Amphitheatre on Wednesday night with a concert that packed full of his many top 100 hits and oozing with his Indiana Bad Boy charm. Broken out into two sets with no opening act, the night was a celebration of his diverse catalog that for many in the audience has formed the soundtrack of much of their lives.
Opening with “Lawless Times” – a rollicking, clear indictment of corrupt politics that may never been as true as now, Mellencamp leaned into the horn section and began with a Mardi Gras like New Orleans vibe. He followed it up with two of the biggest, most memorable hits: “Small Town” and “Lonely ‘Ol Night” as the impressive set changed tones in setting multiple gorgeous backgrounds behind him.
Perhaps the best moment of the night came at the end of the first set as Mellencamp – accompanied only by his guitarist Andrew York and accordionist Troye Kinnett – presented a deconstructed “Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)” . He introduced the song – a masterclass in lyrics – with “Every once in a while, God will speak to you in here and it comes really quick.” For me, it was a top 10 moment of at least the last 100 shows I’ve seen.
For the final song of the first set – also presenced acoustically – Mellencamp told the crowd: “I wrote this song when I was 23 years old. This is a little ditty.” The audience roared as he launched into “Jack and Diane” in a giant singalong. Mellencamp stopped the song with mock indignation when the audience jumped to sing the chorus too early. “Timeout! I suppose we are going to have to have the 101 class about songwriting. This particular song has two verses and then goes to the chorus. But you goddamn guys said f#$k it and went right to the chorus before the second verse. It took me all day to write the second verse in my basement when I was 23, so I’m gonna’ sing it!” The audience roared along and sang at full-volume for the rest of the song.
After the set breka, Mellencamp began the second set with a dancey “I Need A Lover” and then “Minutes to Memories” before delivering a very powerful and emphatic Your Life Is Now”. Mellencamp thrust his hands down and stared at the audience every time he shouted the word “Now” in the chorus. It was a moment very reminiscent of his contemporary Bruce Springsteen.
Mellencamp’s funniest moment came later in the second set whne he introduced “Ain’t Even Done With The Night”. I was 13 years old and I had the prettiest girl in Seymour, Indiana. This song came up and me and her got up and slow danced together and when the song ended she came over and sat right next to me and she said “Hey John, what’s that in your pocket” and I said “Well Denise. It’s not actually IN my pocket.”
FarmAid is coming up September 26 and this will be the 41st year in a row since Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Nei Young founded it. The song that seemed to be at the start of it all “Rain On The Scarecrow” was introduced with stories of small farms disappearing as Interstates wiped out small towns and then accompanied with images of fire and barbed wire fences on the screen behind his performance. It was a song that demonstrated Mellencamp’s long-running retention of his moral compass and sense of right and wrong without being overly preachy to the audience. Here’s hoping that he continues to tour as – on this final night of the tour – he and the band sounded terrific and still showed their enormous relevance and audience connection.
