By Mike Klompstra
SMG Management
SMSet to coincide with a highly anticipated new album release, JOHN MELLENCAMP will embark on a 2019 tour of “The John Mellencamp Show” which will feature the rock icon’s classics plus some new material. Hailed by critics and fans alike as one of music’s most authentic and crowd pleasing concert performers, Mellencamp will begin the tour Feb. 7 in his home state of Indiana at South Bend’s Morris Performing Arts Center before stopping in Grand Rapids to play SMG-managed DeVos Performance Hall on Sunday, Feb. 17. Produced by AEG Presents, “The John Mellencamp Show” will start promptly at 8pm and will not have an opening act. Every ticket purchased online will receive a physical copy of Mellencamp’s forthcoming album “Other People’s Stuff” set for release on November 16th by Universal Republic.
Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, September 21 at 10 AM. Tickets will be available at the DeVos Place® and Van Andel Arena® box offices, online at Ticketmaster.com, and charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000. A purchase limit of eight (8) tickets will apply to every order. See Ticketmaster.com for all pricing and availability. DeVos Performance Hall email subscribers will have access to an exclusive presale on Thursday, September 20. Sign up to the email list by September 18 to receive the presale code!
Mellencamp’s live shows have garnered huge critical acclaim with the Hollywood Reporter calling it a “triumphant, career-spanning show” and a “superb performance…still full of fiery defiance” by the Boston Globe. His extensive touring and live shows have solidified the Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer’s place at the forefront of American music for the past 40 years.
Mellencamp’s career in music, spanning more than 35 years, has seen him transition from pop star to one of the most highly respected singer/songwriters of a generation. Mellencamp is incredibly acclaimed; he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a Grammy winner, a recipient of the John Steinbeck Award, ASCAP Foundation’s Champion Award, The Woody Guthrie Award and Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award and more recently, the Founders Award, the top honor assigned by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Additionally, he was recently inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this past June. He is also one of the most successful live concert performers in the world. In 1985, Mellencamp, together with Willie Nelson and Neil Young, created Farm Aid. The social activism reflected in his songs helped catalyze Farm Aid, the concert series and organization that has addressed the struggle of American family farmers for more than 25 years.
As well, Mellencamp journeyed into the darkness of coal mining life in his reverent cover of Merle Travis’ 1946 song “Dark as a Dungeon,” recorded in support of National Geographic’s acclaimed documentary about the mining industry, “From The Ashes,” produced by Michael Bloomberg, former NYC Mayor.
John continues to focus on another facet of his artistic expression: painting. His style has progressed over the years as evidenced by several gallery shows and published portfolios, and in recent years he has increased his output by completing over 100 new works. He had his second solo exhibition this past Spring in New York and has a current exhibit at the famed Butler Museum in Youngstown, Ohio from September 20ththrough January 19, 2019. His highly successful Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibit ran for nearly two years and is now at the Woodie Guthrie Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma from September 1st through January 5, 2019.
Mellencamp continues his journey as the walking embodiment of rock icon; passionate, plain-spoken, and a self-proclaimed rebel. John Mellencamp continues to live and work in Bloomington, Indiana.
