John Mellencamp at Prudential Hall

Bruce Springsteen joined John Mellencamp onstage at Prudential Hall

Bruce Springsteen joined John Mellencamp on stage at Prudential Hall to duet on “Pink Houses.” That was a mere few minutes of Mellencamp’s nearly two-hour performance, but the Boss’ brief surprise appearance is where any discussion of the concert must start and end. Mellencamp’s performance was already very good, until Springsteen made the concert unforgettable.

As on last year’s tour, which played at the Beacon Theatre, the evening began with a 24-minute montage of vintage black-and-white clips from classic films: Fugitive Kind (1960), The Misfits (1961), Giant (1956), Paper Moon (1973), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Hud (1963), On the Waterfront (1954) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). The clips, featuring Marlon Brando, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor and other movie icons, highlighted the economic and emotional challenges faced by Midwestern Americans in earlier times. The clips set the motif for the musical performance to come by Mellencamp, a native of Indiana who has long championed the uniqueness of the lives of Midwestern Americans, often as narratives in the panoramas of his lyrics.

The screen lifted to reveal a backdrop that evoked a scene from A Streetcar Named Desire and life-size mannequins in the likeness of the film’s four main characters. Blaring sirens and red spinning lights on the stage and at the soundboard in the audience signaled that Mellencamp and his six-piece backing band were about to begin their set. Mellencamp and his band (violinist Lisa Germano, keyboardist and accordion player Troye Kinnett, guitarist and mandolin player Mike Wanchic, guitarist Andy York, bassist John Gunnell and drummer Dane Clark) took their stations and began playing “John Cockers.”

Rather than promoting his 25^th and most recent album, Orpheus Descending, released on June 16, 2023, the evening’s career-spanning repertoire included familiar hits from the 1980s as well as under-the-radar gems. Now singing at age 72, Mellencamp’s vocals were more raw and gruff than when he was a hit maker, yet his singing remained clear and passionate, and his dynamic stage movements added dynamite to his delivery. The arrangements, especially with soaring injections by Germano on violin, Kinnett on accordion, and Wanchic on mandolin, drove the Americana authenticity with electrifying rock and roll current. Curiously, however, the set included only one song, “The Eyes of Portland,” from Mellencamp’s most recent album.

About the middle of the concert, Mellencamp stood on stage alone, holding his acoustic guitar. He related a harrowing experience that inspired “The Eyes of Portland.” As he began singing, in the stillness of the solo performance, he eloquently punctuated his critical lyrics. “The fallen and forgotten, who are down on their knees/Living here in the gutters in this land of the free” and “All of these homeless, where do they come from?/In this land of plenty where nothing gets done.”

Mellencamp then told an endearing recollection of a scolding he received from his grandmother about his smoking and cussing. She warned him that life was short, “even in the longest days.” Andy York then joined Mellencamp on electric guitar as the duo performed “The Longest Days.”

Mellencamp has said in interviews that he could never get the desired band sound for “Jack & Diane.” He concluded his acoustic mini-set by performing his biggest hit solo. Within seconds, he had a chorus of a few thousand fans singing along loudly, nearly drowning out his own amplified vocals.

As Mellencamp and the audience concluded “Jack & Diane,” he introduced a recording of actress Joanne Woodward reciting the lyrics to Mellencamp’s song “The Real Life” and walked off the stage. Germano and Kinnett provided the accompanying music to Woodward prosaic reading. Mellencamp and the full band then returned to rock, performing “Rain on the Scarecrow”, “Lonely Ol Night”, “What If I Came Knocking,” and “Crumblin’ Down,” which included a jam with a snippet of Them’s “Gloria.”

This was when Mellencamp told the audience he was inviting onstage “one of the greatest songwriters of our times, Bruce Springsteen.” Springsteen contributed to Mellencamp’s last two studio albums, 2022’s Strictly a One-Eyed Jack and 2023’s Orpheus Descending, but the two heartland rockers did not perform a song from either of those albums. Instead, a guitar-less Springsteen joined in the vocals as the band detonated an explosive “Pink Houses.” Towards the end of the song, Springsteen draped an arm around Mellencamp’s shoulders as they sang the final verse and chorus together. Springsteen was barely audible for most of the song, yet the sheer excitement of his surprise appearance thrilled the cheering audience.

Springsteen left the stage at the moment when Mellencamp and his band usually leave, but this time Mellencamp and his band stayed on stage for the usual encore of “Cherry Bomb” and “Hurts So Good.” The performance thundered, even while many in the audience were still reeling from having seen Springsteen perform. What a night!

For the record, Springsteen reportedly has performed at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark four times since it opened in 1997. The first three times were at New Jersey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. This appearance at John Mellencamp’s show at Prudential Hall was Springsteen fourth appearance at NJPAC.

The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music will honor Mellencamp at its second annual American Music Honors event on April 24. The institute, which is dedicated to preserving the legacy of Bruce Springsteen and celebrates the history of American music and its diversity of artists and genres, selected Mellencamp, Dion DiMucci, Jackson Browne and Mavis Staples as this year's honorees. The ceremony will be at Monmouth University’s Pollak Theatre in West Branch, New Jersey. Springsteen will be among the presenters.

Setlist

1. John Cockers

2. Paper in Fire

3. Minutes to Memories

4. Small Town

5. Human Wheels

6. Jackie Brown

7. Check It Out

8. The Eyes of Portland

9. Longest Days

10. Jack & Diane

11. The Real Life (Joanne Woodward spoken word)

12. Rain on the Scarecrow

13. Lonely Ol' Night

14. What If I Came Knocking

15. Crumblin' Down / Gloria

16. Pink Houses (with Bruce Springsteen)

Encore

1. Cherry Bomb

2. Hurts So Good

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The Manhattan Beat reports on New York City's live music circuit. All articles are written by Everynight Charley Crespo. All photographs are taken by Everynight Charley Crespo, except when noted otherwise.

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