Dr. Rock's Music Adventures: John Mellencamp and Carlene Carter Cash at Mershon Auditorium, Columbus, Ohio on January 30, 2015.

This is the third time I have seen John Mellencamp. Each show has been very good. The first time was the Scarecrow tour at a stop in Cincinnati. The second was the No Better Than This tour stop in Columbus. This show was in support of Plain Spoken.

VENUE: The Mershon Auditorium at the Ohio State University is a terrific performance space with excellent site lines and really good acoustics.

OPENER: The daughter of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, Carlene Carter Cash has been performing for over 50 years. She is in terrific voice now and she sang her own songs, a Carter family song, a Johnny Cash song, and others. Carlene added some interesting stories in between the songs. Her current husband, Joe Green, joined her for two songs. I was happy with the performance and the opportunity to see her in concert.

HEADLINER: John Mellencamp has done a variety of styles over the years. His current band can play them all: the rockers, the acoustic songs, the alt-country, and everything in between. John was in good voice for this show. The band sounded terrific.

Early in the show, there were some real highlights: "Minutes to Memories", "Small Town", and "Human Wheels". Then came an acoustic "Jack and Diane" that really sounded special and unique. Mid show brought Carlene Carter Cash out to sing with John Mellencamp on two songs on the play that Stephen King and John Mellencamp collaborated on. From there on, the show closed with a run of seven top-notch song performances: "Rain on the Scarecrow", "Paper in Fire", "If I Die Sudden", "Crumblin' Down", "Authority Song/Land of 1000 Dances" (wow! -- I kept wishing for a snippet of "Hang On Sloopy" though), "Pink Houses", and then a grooving "Cherry Bomb" that had the crowd up and dancing.

John Mellencamp has matured over the years. His voice, his writing, and his musicianship have all benefited. This show was an excellent example of someone who can play great versions of old and new material later in his touring lifetime.

My rating of the show is 4 out of 5 stars.