Forty years ago, New York City fell victim to a 25 hour black out, Jimmy Carter was elected president of the United States, India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi resigned and the Apple II computers went on sale to the public. There were many other monumental moments during this time in our national and international history, but in the music world – it also brought together several immensely creative and talented musicians that would be forever known as the Heartbreakers, fronted by singer/songwriter Tom Petty.
After making a name for themselves in the state of Florida, Petty and Co. would venture across state lines and be catapulted into the spotlight by headlining major shows in stadiums and arenas, including appearances at the historic and charity-based concerts No Nukes! and Bob Geldof’s Live Aid. Petty has recorded dozens of studio albums with the Heartbreakers, solo-albums and even records with the supergroup, the Traveling Wilburys – that included Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Roy Orbison. Petty and his band was also tapped to back Bob Dylan for a special tour as well.
Continuously gathering accolades while recording and performing for the past forty or so years, Petty has hinted that the current anniversary tour, which stopped at Boston’s TD Garden July 20th, may just be the last one – the last one with the Heartbreakers and subsequent greatest hit-style performances in large venues. This is the lifestyle that Petty has known for most of his life, so it would be hard to believe that he would quit, but if you want to catch the band performing their greatest hits and a handful of gems – this is the show that you want to go to before the summer is over.
Petty along with the colorful and crafty guitarist Mike Campbell, bassist Ron Blair, drummer Steve Ferrone, dueling multi-instrumentalist combination of Belmont Tench and Scott Thurston, and last but not least, the backing vocals from the angelic Webb Sisters, Hattie and Charley – brought the house down in Beantown with an immaculate performance to remember.
Petty greeted the crowd with a Cheshire grin and joked, “I feel a bit of mojo buildin’ up in this room.” The audience ate it up and cheered. Petty then introduced and performed, “the first song that we ever recorded, “Rockin’ Around (With You)” with its infectious harmonies and meaty riffs. Taking a moment to let the mojo filter through, Petty switched guitars and plucked the opening riff to “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” which really got the ball rolling with his fans. It was hard to tell who was louder, Petty with the PA system or the audience singing every single word.
Further on in the set, Petty announced, “Alright, we haven’t done this on in a long time. We’re gonna try it tonight. You might know it. It comes from 1982.” Forrone kickstarted “You Got Lucky” off with a fill and the signature synthesizer sounds bellowed form the PA. The song was not on the initial set list and who knows why it was inserted, but it was killer. Campbell’s Bigsby-driven solos sounded amazing and brought most back to the early eighties in their minds, when they first witnessed the song and video, back when it was on heavy rotation on MTV.
Asking the audience a question, once again, Petty proposed, “We’ve got some singers n the audience. Do you want to sing one together?” Naturally, the crowd went nuts as the band lead into “I Won’t Back Down.” As sweet sounding as the Webb sisters are to listen to, they could have taken a short respite while the audience sang in unison with Petty. During “Free Fallin’” the stage production kicked into full-effect with about 100 illuminated balls dropped from the ceiling, balls that continue to do so throughout the set. On“Walls”, Petty unintentionally added a bit of comic relief when he reached for and almost let his harmonica slip out of his hands during the harp solo. When he was able, he chucked it to the side of the stage, only to have Campbell pick it up again and toss it behind his amps. The psychedelic and trippy hit, “Don’t Come Around Here No More” followed, with a hypnotic background displayed on the triptych of mammoth video screens. An effect that worked quite well. The cool part about what Petty and Co. were doing, was that they didn’t play every song, note for note as heard on the album. There was a lengthy and fun call and response section during “Come Around” before Campbell had another opportunity to lay it down with a way laden solo for the ages.
After an endearing band introduction, Petty kindly offered, “We rarely play this song. But I love it and we’re gonna play it for you.” What followed was a beautiful set of three songs from Walls, featuring “King”, “Crawling” and “Wildflowers” which virtually took the roof off of the garden and instilled a sense of whimsy that made the audience feel that they were at an outdoor festival. It’s amazing what the power of music can do. The illuminated, choreographed ball lights came back in with a vengeance, only adding to the atmosphere inside the arena. The Heartbreakers never slowed down, They kept pumping out the hits with “Learning to Fly”, which found Petty striding around the stage with him arms out each side, “Yer So Bad”, “Refugee” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream” – giving all the air guitar Gods a chance to riff out as well.
Petty and his friends appeared genuinely grateful as they left the stage, only to return shortly after for their encore of a playful and extended version of “You Wreck Me”, which gave each member of the band a bit of the spotlight one last time – including Campbell who noodled around the introduction of “Johnny B. Goode”. And the show would not be complete without the anthemic “American Girl”, which the band sure understood was not to be crossed off of the set list. Hats off to Tom Petty, the Heartbreakers, the Webb Sisters and to the production crew for a night of hits, deep cuts and an all-around great event.
