Last Tuesday, August 24, 2010, I had the good fortune to attend my first Tom Petty concert. I have seen hundreds of bands in my 36 years, maybe even thousands at this point. And there are only a handful left that I'm still dying to see. Tom Petty was definitely on that short list.
So how was it?
Pretty amazing, I have to say.
We had decent seats, not great, not terrible. I went with 7 other people. I ate some french fries. I sat through My Morning Jacket, who although I do like some of their songs enough, were pretty boring live.
But then out came the main attraction - and man oh man, did they deliver! If such a thing as a pop/rock/folk songwriting genius genre exists - I nominate Tom Petty for top of the heap. Better than Dylan. Better than Mitchell. Better than Davies. Every song was a smash (with the exception of 4 songs from his new record and one Fleetwood Mac cover). Not that I didn't enjoy the new tunes or the cover...but the rest of the show was just anthem after anthem.
And Petty is an incredibly engaging performer! Without really doing very much, I might add. Some flowing grand arm gestures and bows (sort of reminiscent of Stevie Nicks - as one of my fellow attendees pointed out). He commanded my attention for a full not quite two hours.
And Mike Campbell is a monster guitar player. The whole band, of course is crazy good, but it really is the Petty/Campbell show.
So what really made this show so good? I think it was hearing THOSE songs performed LIVE. Like knowing finally that those lyrics/songs/riffs that lit up my little rock and roll heart as a kid and continued to do so throughout my life were made by actual people and those people were in the same room playing those very same songs in that same moment that I was drawing breath.
And of course hearing lines like, "I'm too alone to be proud", "There's a freeway runnin through the yard", "Tired of screwing up, tired of going down, tired of myself tired of this town", "Somewhere, somehow, somebody must have kicked you around some. Who knows why you wanna lay there and revel in your abandon."
I could go on listing lyrics that kick me in the gut and make me grin every time I hear them but the list would be endless. Just suffice to say that these are the songs that make me want to write songs. This is the music that shines a light on the wonder and brilliant nature of what it means to be a person. And isn't that what all great songs and great music should do?
SETLIST
* Listen To Her Heart
* You Don’t Know How It Feels
* I Won’t Back Down
* Free Fallin’
* Oh Well
* Mary Jane’s Last Dance
* Kings Highway
* Breakdown
* Jefferson Jericho Blues
* Good Enough
* Running Man’s Bible
* I Should Have Known It
* Learning To Fly
* Don’t Come Around Here No More
* Refugee
Encore
* Runnin’ Down A Dream
* American Girl
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