John Mellencamp has hit back after a video went viral of him walking off the stage at a concert in Ohio after the crowd heckled him.
On Monday, video surfaced of his concert in Toledo in March showing the 72-year-old singer telling the crowd he can just end the show when someone in the audience yelled at him to stop talking and “play some music” when he was telling stories in between songs, the Daily Mail reported.
“What do you think I’ve been doing, you c********r?’” Mellencamp told the hecklers as fans joined in and booed them.
“Here’s the thing, man. You don’t know me. You don’t f****** know me,” he added. “Hey Joe, find this guy and let me see him after the show.”
Another fan then shouted for Mellencamp to sing “Authority Song” and he replied, “Guys, I can stop this show right now and just go home. Tell you what I’m going to do. Since you’ve been so wonderful, I’m going to cut about ten songs out of the show. Here we go.”
He attempted to sing his most famous song “Jack & Diane,” but the yelling continued. He then announced, “You know what? Show’s over” and left the stage.
Speaking to The Washington Post later, Mellencamp said, “I do expect etiquette inside of the theater, the same way you would at a Broadway show.”
Thoughts & prayers going out to all
the people just now finding out John Mellencamp can be insufferable live.
When he’s wearing the onesie and starts telling stories… Just head for the exit.
pic.twitter.com/PJ2lUuuvQB— Michael Loftus (@MikeLoftusComic) April 16, 2024
“My shows are not really concerts anymore,” he added. “They’re performances, and there’s a difference between a performance and a concert.”
“Look, I’m not for everyone anymore. I’m just not,” the singer continued. “And if you want to come and scream and yell and get drunk, don’t come to my show.”
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There have been mixed reports as to what exactly started the the trouble at his concert. One report said that it started after Mellencamp introduced his song “The Eyes of Portland” by talking about the homeless problem in America and a homeless woman he met in Portland, the Toledo Blade reported.
“Your tears and prayers will not help the homeless,” Mellencamp sang, before the heckling started.
Others online claimed that things got out of hand at Mellencamp’s show when he was reportedly talking about President Joe Biden. However, it later it came out that the singer had been referencing a conversation he had with his dying grandmother.
The band and singer did eventually return to the stage and finish the show, the Blade noted.
