One of the unique powers of an artist is to make people feel and think beyond their normal hum-drum every day existence; to seek and explore the possibilities that lay just below the surface. They can also capture the moments and express our deepest desires, fears, hopes and dreams. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers have been doing this for over 30 years, which is simply amazing considering today's climate of corporate churn-and-burn, game show made rock stars. So, of course, when the opportunity arises to see the Heartbreakers perform live, you take it.
It was a typical humid southern evening in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the Heartbreakers took the stage. I hadn't seen the Heartbreakers live since 2002 which made the anticipation even greater. I kept telling my spouse, who had never witnessed a live Heartbreakers performance, “The energy is beyond anything on any record of theirs you've heard.” And as promised, Tom came out swinging with “You Wreck Me”, which he has been opening with this go around. I knew the opener from previous set lists, but feeling it is a completely different beast. Steve Ferrone's drums were vibrations felt through the concrete of the Ampitheatre floor. The show was off to a furious start as Tom took his jacket off and said, “It's a nice hot evening for a rock n' roll show…we got a lot of songs for you, so we are just gonna get right to it!”
And get right to it they did, launching into a torrid “Listen to Her Heart”. Mike Campbell, still in dreads, which cracks me up every time I see him, had thrown his already soaked jacket to one of the roadies and unveiled a t-shirt that said, “Mudcrutch for President”, referring to the newly reformed original Tom Petty band that released an album in May and did a short California tour. The statement, while hilarious, was more profound than any given intentions on his part I think, given the current political situation in the U.S. The standard “I Won't Back Down” appeared and still speaks volumes about Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers creative, artistic, and personal integrity. Although written in a much different landscape, the Heartbreakers perform it with as much truth and rock n' roll instinct as they did 20 years ago. People were singing along, and Petty was encouraging it. It occurred to me at this point that you would not see that at a Dylan concert. It was almost bizarre, after seeing many Dylan shows, to see a different kind of energy on stage.
Petty's appreciation of his fans is something very real; the audience genuinely gets the feeling at his shows that he is there for the audience. If there is any fault in this, it is that it can border too much on the inane sometimes, with Petty saying, “Thank You” and putting his hands together in appreciation almost as second nature after every song. Petty knows how to work the crowd and his shows are always part circus, part revival, and part rock n' roll show. Some might say he and the likes of Bruce Springsteen pander too much to their audiences, but without an audience, who would there be to play to? The idea is to give the audience everything, and Petty does that on a nightly basis. Set lists may not vary much, but he and the Heartbreakers give everything they have, letting no one down.
The highlight of the evening was “Saving Grace”. This version was a guitar blazing, drum-exploding, heart-pounding, rock n' roll scorcher of a performance. There are few songwriters today who can write a better line as deceptively simple, and painfully truthful as, “… And it's hard to say who you are these days”. Someone commented to me after the show, “Ya know, 15-20 years ago “Saving Grace” would have been a number 1 hit and considered a legendary Petty song,” and they're right. Except for the promotional video and NBA promos done, there was little to no airplay of the single when it was released last year. The music industry, which Petty knows all too well, has changed so drastically in the last 10-15 years; a band like the Heartbreakers can't compete with the likes of current pop tastes.
The rest of the set list was the standard Petty fare - “Learning to Fly”, “Honeybee”, “Refugee”, with a rare appearance of “Face in the Crowd” that was a welcome change of pace towards the middle of the show. The masses were pleased, and one sensed a mellower Petty on stage. A suggestion that was brought to my attention was maybe the battle of the “Last DJ” that he had to take on, robbed him of some of the old fire. Tom has always been one to stand up and say what he feels, right or wrong - but maybe it is the battle (of many in his career) that has finally left lingering salt in the wounds. “Highway Companion” was a great solo album that was barely even recognized, and the only thing to do when you are artists at this stage of the game is to keep on plugging away. Airplay, record companies, the press should not ultimately matter.
I stood applauding during the encore and feeling grateful, just like every time I see this artist that I was able to watch this artist come out and create a painting from a blank canvas that was before the audience. Today's generation is growing up in a culture that does not understand the value of art, of music, of the caliber of artist of a Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers in a society increasingly fractured. As I stood there during the encore, listening to “Mystic Eyes”, Petty says, “…and I wish for just one moment in time everything would be alright.” It may have been a line I had heard him say hundreds of times, but for that moment, everything was alright.
