Review: John Mellencamp eventually hits all the right notes in Peoria show

John Mellencamp could have performed a strictly greatest-hits concert in Peoria. His scheduled two-hour set still couldn't have fit them all in. The 71-year-old Indiana native has recorded more than 20 Top 40 hits in the U.S. since the late 1970s.

On Wednesday night at the Civic Center Theater, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer mixed a handful of hits with some relative obscurities in a slow-burning show that eventually had a near-capacity audience on its feet and singing along.

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There was no opening act. After a lengthy Hollywood movie montage that was mostly ignored, police lights flashed, the curtain rose and Mellencamp and his band — two guitars, bass, drums, keyboards/accordion and violin — took the stage.

It took a while for Mellencamp to engage the crowd. On the opening song, "John Cockers," Mellencamp waited for but didn't receive an audience response.

That changed on the hit "Paper in Fire," where the accordion came to the fore and the audience began to perk up.

The crowd came alive on "Minutes to Memories," and the game was on.

On the opening notes of "Small Town" the audience stood up as one, and began shooting cellphone videos. One especially enthusiastic fan yelled, "Seymour in the house!" — a reference to Mellencamp's hometown, a small city in Indiana.

A few songs later, the crowd stood again for "Check It Out," and clapped along.

An acoustic mini-set followed, with Mellencamp alone onstage with his guitar and harmonica. When he began strumming "Jack and Diane," the audience stood again and, for the first time, mostly sang along. Out came the cellphones again, and this time Mellencamp got the call-and-response he'd sought earlier.

The crowd rarely sat again.

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On "Rain on the Scarecrow," the drums snapped, the guitars shredded and soared, and the bass thundered. One fan yelled, "Giddyup!"

"Lonely Ol' Night" followed to an enthusiastic response.

Mellencamp said little throughout the set, but in a "Crumblin' Down/Gloria" mashup, he made a joke about foreplay: "Most guys have only one play." During the "Gloria" segment, he missed a once-on-a-tour opportunity to customize the lyrics to "P-E-O-R-I-A / Pyoria!" Nevertheless, he played air guitar to applause.

Mellencamp concluded the show with a string of hits: "Pink Houses," "Cherry Bomb" and "Hurts So Good," the latter to a thunderous audience response. Curiously, no one yelled out, "Play all night!"

Or maybe not so curiously. The show came in at the promised two-hour duration, it was a weekday, and Mellencamp is 71.

The lights came up, and the audience filed out happily.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Review: John Mellencamp hits right notes in Peoria show