Ed Morrissey

One of the best shows I ever attended was in a New York nightclub in 2016, when Herb Alpert performed to an intimate-ish 200 or so people (best guess). He and his wife, former Brasil '66 lead singer Lani Hall, kept us charmed and entertained with lots of stories interspersed throughout the music. It was magical, mainly because Alpert told charming and entertaining stories about their lives rather than rant about politics or other issues of the day.

"Shut up and sing the hits" might be good advice for Mellencamp, in other words, or become more entertaining and charming when talking with the crowd. Isn't "entertaining" supposed to be the point and the purpose?