Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Review
July 9, 2008
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

It was a beautiful day. The sun beat down. Tom Petty was at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. Actually, who am I kidding? On July 9th I went to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and it was pouring down rain. But, this could not dampen my excitement about seeing these rock legends. For years, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, keeping almost the same line-up throughout, have released amazing music. As one of rock's steadiest bands, and one of the great American rock and roll bands, they even got to grace the stage at the Super Bowl Halftime Show this year. Not only has his band not changed, Tom Petty himself looks almost just like he did, years ago, on the striking cover of their debut album. The only thing that's changed is he has a beard now.

I made my usual T-shirt stop upon arriving at the amphitheatre. It's definitely the best time to get one, but they didn't have anything smaller than a Large in the shirt I wanted. Strange, huh? So I just ordered it off the internet later, and I'm not quite sure why I'm telling you this. So, after making my usual pre-show stops, except this time while getting soaking wet, I took a seat. Although my Steve Winwood knowledge is comprised of owning the only album of the super-group Blind Faith, I still looked forward to his set. It didn't disappoint either. He had a great funky set and a noticeably great percussionist with him on stage. He even treated us to a smooth guitar solo on one of his last songs.

Finally, the time arrived. The lights went off, and the crowd went wild. The band took the stage in the dark, and they did a quick sound check. All of a sudden the lights flashed on as Tom and Mike beat out the opening chords to "You Wreck Me" and the multiple screens that adorned the stage flashed on, too, with the images of the members of The Heartbreakers playing their hearts out to this 1994 track. It seemed like it just started when it ended, and the lights faded to a dark purple. There was a bit of shuffling about on stage until the lights flashed on, again, revealing Tom with a sleek rain-drop guitar as the whole band went into the classic, "Listen To Her Heart".

Following this track off You're Gonna Get It, Tom reemerged from the dark to greet the crowd with a different guitar. This time it was an acoustic. After an uproar of cheers, the band evoked more by playing one of Tom's biggest hits, "I Won't Back Down", complete with some great harmonies from Tom's exclusive harmony buddy/ multi-instrumentalist, Scott Thurston. The cheers kept on coming when Tom announced immediately after "I Won't Back Down" that they were going to do a track off the seminal Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album, Damn The Torpedoes. "Even The Losers" was played with every bit as much energy as can be heard on the studio version. However, no amount of cheering heard before could equal the cheering after Tom emerged with his iconic Rickenbacker and the band started to play Tom's biggest hit from his first solo album, "Free Fallin'". I, for one, was very glad they did this song early. I was afraid that it would be a closer or an encore song. I'm sorry, but it's just too big of a hit to be as exciting as it once was. This live version, however, was much better than the studio version, and it was enhanced by another cool guitar, Mike's double neck.

This time with a Telecaster, Tom started the next song- a song I think is the greatest example of the talent of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to produce great songs no matter what year. Usually songs made for Greatest Hits albums are terrible, but the new song that graced their famous 1993 Greatest Hits package, "Mary Jane's Last Dance", was, and is, a masterpiece. It was performed brilliantly and we were even treated to a cool wah-soaked guitar solo from Tom, this time, instead of Mike. The crowd cheered at the sight, so the lights flashed on the crowd. Following this epic song, the amphitheatre was filled with the sound of the smooth opening followed by the rough remainder of "Rebels". This one Tom performed with his Rickenbacker, before switching to his acoustic for the Traveling Wilburys tune, "End of the Line". This live performance of the song was significantly different from the performance on the studio version due to the absence of the stars that accompanied Tom on it. Unfortunately some of them are absent from music, completely, like the greatly-missed George Harrison and Roy Orbison.

After he said his "hello" to Georgia, and made the inevitable comment about the heat that it seems every musician that comes here makes, Tom introduced the band. There were the long time Heartbreakers: Benmont Tench on keyboards, Mike Campbell on lead guitar, and Ron Blair on bass. They were accompanied by the newer members: the multi-instrumentalist, Scott Thurston, and drummer, Steve Ferrone. Then, Tom made it a point to introduce one more person, for the second time. He introduced Steve Winwood as he took the stage again, this time with the Heartbreakers. They played Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home", followed by "Gimme Some Lovin'" and the Heartbreakers gave each song a rougher feel. When Steve left the stage again, there was a moment of silence as the usual in-between song dark purple lights shone down on the stage. This was followed by the first and most popular track off Tom's latest solo work, Highway Companion. "Saving Grace" did not disappoint, especially since it was a jammed out version much different from the studio one.

After "Saving Grace", Tom surprised us, again, by inviting another guest up on stage with him. This time it was his buddy from his original and newly re-formed band, Mudcrutch. Tom Leadon took the stage with a shining red ES-335, and the band played "Scare Easy", followed by another great track of their recently released debut album, "Lover of the Bayou". Tom's second and final guest left the stage after these songs. They were good, but one can't help but wonder what we missed that would usually be played during that slot. If it was just "Breakdown" though, I'm O.K. with that. The Mudcrutch songs were followed by "Honey Bee" which was performed with grit, pleasing everyone.

Tom's acoustic guitar emerged again as the lights came on after "Honey Bee". With a smile on his face, Tom began to play his soaring ballad off of Into the Great Wide Open. Live though, it took a different, less polished form and it was great. However, it was up to the crowd to sing the chorus, for a while, as the band took a break and Tom led us on. After the beautifully done "Learning to Fly", the drums burst through the mix, louder, than before with the familiar intro to the semi-psychedelic classic, "Don't Come Around Here No More". It was further enhanced by Mike grasping a sitar instead of a guitar. Although I like this song, it never really did it for me with the studio version. The live version is a very, very different story. Not only did it seem to have more power during the verses and choruses, the outro was fantastic. After a slower chorus they went into the more rock-oriented outro with significant force, as strobe lights made the band and the crowd disappear and reappear, over and over again. It was even enhanced by a brilliant guitar solo from Mike, who traded in his sitar for a guitar, again, during the slower part.

It seemed like almost no time had passed when the band went into "Refugee" as a main set closer. Benmont's keyboards shone as each member was all smiles during the performance. I found that nice and surprising considering I'm sure they've performed that song many more times than they expected to. Before you knew it, the song came to a close, and the lights on the stage went out. Cheers erupted from the crowd as the fans tried to get the band to come out one more time.

And, as usual, it wasn't long before the band came out for an encore. Cheers rang out from the audience as each member got situated with their instrument in hand. After a quick count-in, the speakers exploded with the gritty opening riff to another seminal Tom Petty song off Full Moon Fever, "Runnin' Down A Dream". This was followed by an even more exciting rendition of "American Girl", which ended way too soon, as the song closed and the band left the stage, leaving many yelling "one more!" It was another great show from one of the great American rock bands, and soon they were packed up and running to their next stop. Hopefully the band will keep running down a dream for years to come.

-JJ