John Mellencamp at Robinson Middle on Wednesday

JOHN MELLENCAMP
WEDNESDAY 4/10. Robinson Middle. 8 p.m. $50-$150.

The 72-year-old John Mellencamp has sufficient enduring hits to maintain as many live shows as he’s acquired left in him, however relying completely on the highly effective nostalgia of ’80s chart toppers like “Hurts So Good,” “Jack & Diane,” “Small City” and “Pink Homes” isn’t how he rolls. Possibly you didn’t notice it, however he’s nonetheless releasing music, with final 12 months’s “Orpheus Descending” — his twenty fifth studio album — hailed as a “masterpiece, of songwriting, performances, and searing, poetic, and blunt messages” by Spin. His voice is deeper and extra ragged than ever, however I’d enterprise to say that it enhances the political urgency of songs like “The Eyes of Portland” and “The So-Referred to as Free” whereas stopping gentler fare just like the deeply lovelorn Bruce Springsteen-penned “Excellent World” from seeming saccharine. Get tickets here. 

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