Quick Tom Petty revue (last Sat at the Greek). I was sick as a dog with a nasty cold, but damned glad I was there.
Big ol' lovefest, Tom's fan's are adoring. And he thrives on it. A few too many sing-a-longs for my taste, and a couple of his more pedestrian hits dragged (though they were almost always saved by the big finish, Mike Campbell's guitar and a wall of sound).
The Heartbreakers are a terrific band, always 3 guitars going (Tom, Mike and the other guy who Tom introduced as their human swiss army knife -- guitar, keyboards, harmonica and back-up singer (did a fine Roy Orbison imitation on the Willbury tune)), a fine piano player and the rhythm section rocked.
Turned into a fine cover band about 45 minutes in, doing "I'm a Man" and "Oh Well" impeccably.
Stevie came out, for "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (kinda scary lookin', she would have done better just standing at the mike belting it out 7rather than her wierd looking gestures that worked better when she was younger). Then they did "Don't Do Me Like That" with Stevie on vocals, which I liked much better.
The highlight of the show might have been "It's Good to Be King" off of Wildflowers. Mike Campbell was just awesome on it, and Tom too, and it built into a truly grand finish, earned all the way.
They ended (before the encore) with my favorite Petty track, "Runnin' Down A Dream" that just tore the place down. And, to my vast satisfaction, the last song of the night was "American Girl."
Mighty damned fine.
