Mike Wanchic Shares Details of John Mellencamp's Current Tour

John Mellencamp's Dancing Words — The Greatest Hits Tour is something his longest-serving band member has "wanted to do for a long time," even if his boss has long resisted the idea.

But Mike Wanchic, a fellow Indianan who's been part of Mellencamp's band since the Johnny Cougar days of 1976 is confident that his boss "is having fun, too."

"John, with his interest in art and not looking backwards, he was always reluctant to just go out and become an oldies act," Wanchic tells UCR before a recent show near Cleveland. "But for me, this is something I think we owed both the audience and, quite honestly, me too. I love playing these songs. John, he doesn't want to play hits, but they're hits for a reason. In my mind they're hits because they're great songs, beautiful lyrics. They connect with people. And to me it's really important to go out and deliver that."

Mellencamp has previously been outspoken about his enmity towards the kind of show he's done now – and the places (mostly amphitheaters) where he's doing it, though he did return to amphitheaters last year as part of Willie Nelson's Outlaw Music Festival in 2024. He told us as recently as 2022 that, "I just can't do it anymore. I can't go out in front of 10,000 drunk people and play. I'm a musician. I'm a songwriter. You're here to hear music...I'm not here for your folly and your throwing up. I really have no interest in doing that. It's fine if people want to be drunk and dance to music; that's what those places are for. But that's not want I want to do. I don't want to get up there and be a monkey on a string."

Mellencamp's change in tune this year "could just be enough people were whispering in this ear that this was a good idea," according to Wanchic, noting that Mellencamp’s management "has been working on this for years, trying to talk John into it. The result is the love that's being poured onto the stage by the crowd. It's undeniable. You forget how important some of the songs are to people. The reaction's just incredible...and I think that's what every artist is looking for, some conformation and that they are legitimate and this is real and that people love them. I think all those things are coming through in spades. The love is deep.

"And for me that's an important thing. To have that connection between artists and the people that like them, not always being on the fringes of giving just enough to keep the people happy."

R.O.C.K.ing in the U.S.A.

The Dancing Words tour, which began July 8 in Evansville, Indiana and runs through Aug. 12, has returned a number of songs to Mellencamp's playlist for the first time in many years, including "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.," "I Need a Lover, "Thank You," "Your Life Is Now," "Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)," "Love and Happiness" and his hit version of Van Morrison's "Wild Night." Wanchic says he, fellow guitarist Andy York and Mellencamp each made up song lists and compared them to each other. "They matched about 90 percent," Wanchic recalls. "Obviously when you have 20-plus albums and you're trying to present X amount of songs you think people might want to hear, it's a tough order, and we have a lotta lotta songs. But we think we've put together a pretty pointed set list that kinda makes sense."

Watch John Mellencamp Perform 'Wild Night' in Riverside, Missouri

There are a few changes as well, notably in the Rolling Stones-referencing opening to "R.O.C.K." and the rootsier arrangement for the Babyface-produced "Walk Tall" from 2004. And there's been a swallowing of some songs that "in their original form, and given our age that we did them, are somewhat sophomoric — I think those are the ones John kinda always didn't want to play. 'Some girl to thrill me and then go away' [from 'I Need a Lover'] doesn't really hang well these days. Some of the lyrical content, I think, was part of his objection to playing some of these older songs...and just the fear of being perceived as an artist looking backwards as opposed to looking forward."

Putting the Band Back Together

The Dancing Words tour has also marked the return of multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist Crystal Taliefero, who was part of Mellencamp's band from 1985-89 and has been with Billy Joel for years. Violinist Lisa Germano returned in 2022 after a 29-year absence. "God almighty, it is so great," Wanchic says. "[Taliefero] is such a talent, and the crowd just locks onto her. And the same thing with Germano; it was just like a hand slipping into a glove when Lisa came back. And Crystal, bam, I start singing with her and this other young man, Eli Norman, and it's such a joy. And I'm not having to sing female parts anymore; the register for me is just right now, and the vocals are fantastic. This is the most fun I've had with this band in decades."

There's More Dancing Ahead

Wanchic is also quick to refute speculation that the career-spanning, hits-focused approach indicates that this will be Mellencamp's last road trek. "I don't think this is the last tour by any stretch, anything close to it," he says. "We can take this directly into arenas and just carry on, if [Mellencamp] wants, but right now there's zero thought of that." In fact, he says, Mellencamp has already professed an idea for what he'd like to do on his next tour.

"He wants to go out and play, like, 40 theaters next year — and do NO hits, I guess as a counter-balance to this [tour]," Wanchic says with a laugh. "And, y'know, there's so many really great songs that I love that I would really like to play, like 'Theo and Weird Henry' or 'Between a Laugh and a Tear,' 'Mansions in Heaven.' There are some incredibly beautiful songs and cool songs that smack right into my heart. We can never play those in a show like this, but I think the absolute stone, true fans would probably get a real kick out of the kind of show we're talking about."

Wanchic adds that Mellencamp is "halfway through" a new album, a follow-up to 2023's Orpheus Descending — which featured cover art by Mellencamp's son Speck and a co-write with Bruce Springsteen on the track "Perfect World."

"At this point, it's not about selling records," Wanchic says. "This is about legacy and continuing to write and doing what we do. Why should that change with age? John and I were flying on the plane one night, back to Bloomington [Indiana]. John likes to fly in the pitch black; the only thing you can see is the [glow] on his cigarette. He smacks me in the arm when I'm in a daze; I get up and walk over and he whispers in my ear, 'Hey, Mike, you
know this is never gonna end.' So, no, I don't see it stopping, ever."

Watch John Mellencamp Perform 'Small Town' in Tinley Park, Illinois

Remaining Dates on Dancing Words – The Greatest Hits Tour:

July 21 — Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
July 24 — Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center
July 25 — Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 26 — Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
July 29 — Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
July 30 — Charlotte, NC @ Truliant Amphitheater
Aug. 1 — Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Aug. 3 — Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Aug. 6 — Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Aug. 9 — Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
Aug. 10 — Hollywood, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
Aug. 12 — Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre