Here’s a weird twist in the long and stored career of John Mellencamp (née Cougar): Apparently these days he’s often severely heckled at his concerts and threatens to end the show. It happened last March in Grand Prairie, TX and last May in Cleveland, and it happened again Sunday night in Toledo, as the Toledo Blade reports.

In footage from the show posted on TikTok, Mellencamp, 72, can be seen telling the audience a story between songs. A few seconds in, a voice in the crowd instructs him to “play some music,” leading to some commotion from the rest of the audience. “What do you think I’ve been doing, you cocksucker?” Mellencamp replies. “Here’s the thing, man. You don’t know me. You don’t fucking know me. Hey Joe, find this guy and let me see him after the show.” He then tries to resume the story and is greeted by more heckling, to which he responds, “Guys, I can stop this show right now and just go home.” After a pause for thought, he continues, “I tell you what I’m going to do. Since you’ve been so wonderful, I’m going to cut about 10 songs out of the show.” He then begins to play “Jack & Diane” solo acoustic, but a few seconds into the song, he decides, “Y’know what? Show’s over.”

According to the webzine Out Of The Blue, Mellencamp left the stage, the house lights went up, and the show really did seem to end, but eventually the lights went down again and Mellencamp returned for a few more songs. Watch the heckling incident below.

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