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Mellencamp delivers free concert for lunch
Wednesday, August 16, 2000 By Scott Mervis, Post-Gazette Weekend Editor
Here's an idea for how to revitalize Fifth and Forbes: Unplugged in Market Square.
They could start with John Mellencamp. Like they did yesterday.
A crowd of about a thousand fans, who woke up with no idea they'd be seeing John Mellencamp, joined the Market Square regulars in circling the small stage for a surprise afternoon appearance by Indiana's favorite son.
It was the third stop on a guerrilla tour that hit Philadelphia on Friday and Boston on Sunday. Mellencamp's m.o. is to arrive in a town unannounced and simply a pick a spot in a busy urban area. The idea, according to management, is no promotion, no permits, no police -- and if they get kicked out, they'll just move along.
The other beauty of it is that there's no particular reason for doing it.
"I guess I should tell you why I'm here," said Mellencamp, still looking boyish in his trademark white T-shirt, black jeans and dark shades. "I'm not promoting [anything]. I'm just playing for the people. That's all I'm doing. I don't want the newspapers writing that 'he was out promoting his new record.'" He added, "I've charged enough playing over the past 25 years."
Mellencamp, who drew almost 22,000 fans to Star Lake Amphitheatre last summer, played a one-hour acoustic set backed only by fiddle and accordion. The trio pumped it out on a sound system barely fit for a tiny cafe, prompting shouts of "We can't hear!" from the folks in the back, who were also left dealing with the steady flow of buses.
But if nothing else, it was a cool visual experience, right out of one of his vintage videos. For those close enough to hear, it was the kind of intimate Mellencamp set they wouldn't get at an outdoor shed. Wearing a bright red guitar that, like Woody Guthrie's, spelled out his feelings on Fascism, Mellencamp delivered some of his best-loved songs, like "Small Town," "Big Daddy" and "Key West Intermezzo," interspersed with folk rarities like "Spider to the Fly" and "Oklahoma Hills."
As the skies darkened and the wind began to howl, he threw in "All Along the Watchtower" and "Street Fighting Man," two classics he covered on his 1999 unplugged release, "Rough Harvest." At 48, the singer hasn't lost much of his rock 'n' roll swagger. Against those notorious doctors' orders (he had heart problems a few years back), Mellencamp snuck a few cigarettes in between songs. He closed out the set with a low-key version of his anthem "Pink Houses," featuring a crowd sing-along polite enough not to bother anyone in the nearby office buildings.
On either side of him were accordionist Mike Flynn and fiddler Merritt Lear, both 24. Flynn said after the set that he plays around a bit with Mellencamp in their hometown of Bloomington and that the singer-songwriter was looking for a couple of young people to do this tour with him. Flynn called his ex-girlfriend Merritt and she came down from Chicago, where she works as a Web designer.
According to his road manager Harry Sandler, they have three cities left on the tour, part of a family camping trip. Although Mellencamp made no plugs from the stage, this mini-tour can't help but create a buzz for Farm Aid 2000, the 15th anniversary concert Sept. 17 in Washington, D.C. Mellencamp, one of the founders of the benefit for farmers, will appear there along with co-founders Neil Young and Willie Nelson, Barenaked Ladies, Crosby, Stills & Nash and others.
The Pittsburgh show was a pretty good secret until yesterday morning, when the news was leaked on Mellencamp's official Web site. It noted the lunch-time concert in Pittsburgh, but gave no exact time or location, and referred people to a local hotline that was overrun with calls. Apparently, Mellencamp is one of those late-lunch people, because much of the noon crowd would leave disappointed.
WRRK, who helped break the news on the radio, was in Market Square at noon, seemingly ready to rock, with its van blasting Mellencamp tunes. And the act scheduled to play the luncheonette concert, Mr. and Mr$. Funky, a rock duet who recently moved to Pittsburgh from New York, were informed they were getting bumped for something bigger.
Loading his amp into the car, a smiling Mr. Funky, noted, "Hey, it's a good show biz story. I expect Mr. Mellencamp will make it up to me."
Mr. Funky could have played after all because Mr. Mellencamp didn't show up until around 2 p.m. Until that point, the sun-drenched crowd, a good many still insisting on calling him by his old stage name of "Johnny Cougar," was abuzz with all kinds of rumors of where he might be.
It started to look serious when WRRK staff members, who were trying to keep the crowd informed, dejectedly began taking down their banners from behind the stage (Mellencamp obviously was not looking for corporate sponsorship). A little while later, it was clear that something was up when Mellencamp's statuesque wife, Elaine, was seen strolling through the crowd. During the show she would keep their small children, Hud and Speck, occupied with Happy Meals from the McDonald's on the corner.
"This was the right place to be," his tour manager said. "We looked over there," he said pointing to PPG Plaza, "but there was too much concrete. It was already set up here."
Throughout the set, Mellencamp was loose about people taking pictures or bringing gifts (including a hand-painted set of dog bowls) to the stage. He even stayed around to sign some autographs. Although there wasn't much of a police presence, ultimately it did take a few city officers to help free him from the fans and escort him from the Market Square stage.
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