A Fans View of one of the shows on the “Cuttin’ Heads” tour

Aug. 28, 2001

Man what a show! The Man was energetic, vibrant, in fine voice, and
quite chatty (for the more recent Jon).  The set-list was pretty much
the same as we've been seeing for this tour:

Gimmie Shelter
Peaceful World
Jack & Diane
Key West Intermezzo
Minutes to Memories
I'm Not Running Anymore
Cuttin' Heads
Paper In Fire
Crumblin' Down
Women Seem
Full Catastrophe
Small Town
What If I Came Knockin'
Authority Song
R.O.C.K. In the U.S.A.
Pink Houses
Your Life Is Now

The show lasted around 110 minutes.

The Wallflowers put on an excellent show, they had their own small
following who stood and danced, singing along. The audience were
entreated to stand and "Do whatever feels good, man" and during their
fabulous Who cover, the rest of the audience finally started coming to
life.

After the equipment changes, the dark stage began to spring to life
too, Andy standing center stage and each band member appearing in the
dark and then highlighted as the lights came up slowly... the air
filled with red rose petals and confetti... eventually as the lights
came up full... there he was... belting out "Gimme Shelter." He was
wearing a blue dress-shirt, unbuttoned at the neck with a pair of navy
blue slacks and looked very fit.

You know... I've been reading about this show on the list for weeks
now but nothing prepared me for the electricity those petals brought
with them... The air was charged... there was a tangible energy both
on the stage and in the crowd.

Them and I were extremely fortunate to have front row, center seats...
Oh my god! I have NEVER been so close.  My emotions were running wild
as I realized I could actually reach out and touch the performers as
they moved about the stage (I didn't, except to shake Moe's hand, at
the end of the show, when he offered to), often stopping immediately
in front of me and dipping as they danced and played.

I know we all have our favorite band members.  I love everyone in the
band, they each have their own brand of personality they add to the
show, but I have to say that Jon E Gee is THE MAN! He has this laid
back personality and a twinkle in his eye (after the shades come off)
as he lays down one of the best rhythm foundations in rock today.
Dane Clark has improved tremendously in the time that I've been
attending Jon's shows and in combination with Jon E they sustain the
heart of the music, often overlooked, so that everyone else is able to
showcase their talent.

At one point, Jon E threw his guitar pick out to me and I wasn't quite
fast enough to pick it up... I think the security man thought Ellen
and I would come to blows over it <wink but after seeing how
determined I was she very graciously let me have it... Thank you
Ellen, that made my night. No problem though, when Jon E saw that we
both really wanted it, he sent out another one so we could each have
one... Sweet.

I see complaints all the time about how the set-list never varies...
but you know... we stood and danced and listened to some of the same
songs for the umpteenth time and they had a distinctly different
flavor during this show... The new music was a refreshing breath of
air among the reworked hits. The song "Cutting Heads" is excellent, I
can't wait to buy the new CD when it comes out.  Much of the show
seemed to revolve around a more "World-beat" flavor than I've heard
from Jon before and I really liked what I heard.

The show rocked from start to finish... tight, rehearsed, and full of
energy.  The only break in the high-energy came during "Women Seem"
which is a wry, humorous look at relationships from the eyes of a guy
who is called when the woman's first choice may not be available but
then she doesn't stick around long... Jon played solo acoustic, on
this song and the audience chuckled appreciatively at the lyrics.
Jon paused a few times to thank the audience for their applause, he
seemed almost overwhelmed at times and was on the verge of speaking...
but didn't.  I called out to him to talk to us, not rudely or
obnoxiously, just asking.  He looked right at me at one point and gave
me this "look" which seemed to say... "I'd really like to but... "
Perhaps he took me to heart I don't know but when the band
introductions came, later, he was conversational.  First when Pee Wee
came out, he started up a little chant... pee wee... pee wee... pee
wee... I think to show how much HE enjoys her being with the band even
though many audiences haven't shown their support... it was cute.
When Mike came out he started cutting up a bit with him...teasing him
about being older, talking about how they went to high school together
but that Mike was a couple of grades ahead of him, joking around about
Mike graduating in '67 and he graduated in 1970 and how old Mike
was... just having a ball, very relaxed. He talked about coming to
Detroit to play, said he'd been playing that venue since 1977 (as a
point of interest Jon has played that venue more than any other
person in history).  He talked about how well they treat him whenever
he's there and how much the Detroit area audiences have always been so
good to him and he loves to play there.  It's the most I had ever
heard him say at one time in a concert and it was very cool.

At the end of the show, the performers lined up along the stage and
Miriam ended up directly in front of me... I looked up and she was
looking me directly in the eye so I said, very loudly, "Miriam, Uncle
Bill loves your belly button," she obviously heard me and knew what I
was talking about... she blushed... profusely and Jenn Christy, who
was standing next to her, turned and pointed at her said something,
they exchanged a knowing look and they were giggling like some 12 yr
olds who'd just been told a boy had a crush on them... So... Uncle
Bill.... I did my part, she knows you're out there man!

We'd been hearing about the postcards at the show for a few weeks
now... and questions about the release date of Cutting Heads.  At the
show last night there were two "different" postcards... The first was
the one everyone's been picking up from their seat, the one with a
plain white back on it and "Coming This Fall" printed in the upper
left corner. The second is printed on both sides... the same front
except it has "Coming October 23rd" in the upper left corner... and a
picture of the racing car on the back with the www.mellencamp.com at
the bottom in big letters. I hope this is news to everyone, a firm
date, finally! The quality of the second card is much better, the
card stock is heavier and the picture of the car is awesome. The
posters were all gone by the time we got there :( so maybe I can work
out a trade with someone for a Tiger Jam postcard? Let me know.

Tickets were $52.50 each with $3.00 added as a service charge so they
were very reasonably priced. I have to say, this show was the best
I've seen yet. Thom has seen Jon 26 times and even HE said it was
the best HE's ever seen... high praise indeed. The show started at
9:15 and ended just after 11:00. So the show was a bit longer than
some of the other reports we've had too, though it flew by.  I didn't
and don't feel in the least cheated by the length of the show -vs- the
cost of the tickets.

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