Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 2017 "40 Anniversary" Tour Thread

I went both nights. He did swap "You got lucky" for "Into the great wide open" on night 2, so a slight set change. I went in knowing what to expect, still enjoyed both shows but it would have been nice to hear "Honey bee" for the "I'm the king of Milwaukee" line as long as they were focusing on the Wildflowers album.

 

That's a bummer, Walls was a personal highlight from the tampa show. One of his best tunes!

 

This is not a criticism of Petty in the least, I'm a fan and the band is great...but everytime I see one of his shows I leave with a greater appreciation of Springsteen, who gets in songs from throughout his entire catalog. Last time I saw Bruce, the first 90 minutes were all songs pre Born to Run...then he played for 2 and and half more hours.

 

i think i was at that bruce show... foxboro... well, he's probably done that more than once, but i remember thinking the same thing. i love petty too, and i caught him in hartford this time around... great show i thought. i don't think many shows are going to fare well compared to what springsteen does every night though.

 

I was reading the tour report in the latest print edition of Rolling Stone by one Stephen
Rodrick. And I was somewhat surprised to see that he called Benmont Tench `the best
keyboardist in American rock'. Huh! I would have chosen either Roy Bittan or Chuck
Leavell, but that's just me.

 

At the risk of sounding snarky or dismissive, does it really matter? In the case of Tom Petty, one of the reasons I allow him a certain degree of distinction from the field in terms of comparison topics is because he's rarely if ever allowed another performer's course to dictate his own. So comparing Springsteen (or whomever) to Petty is surely the same as comparing apples and oranges.

Now in terms of live performances there are really three things to me that stick out to me about Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. First they are probably hands down the most note-perfect perfectionists you will ever see in concert and that has truthfully been their stock in trade almost from the very start. It wouldn't be wrong to say that their shows first and foremost are crafted to highlight the virtually unparalleled musicianship of the band. They don't improvise, they don't posture, they don't make mistakes. They play roughly between nineteen-twenty songs per concert and concentrate on spotlighting those twenty songs in the best light possible.

Second, the songs that Petty choose to play on any given evening are the stars of the show. A few deviations aside, Petty has never allowed either atmosphere or aesthetics to divert his course onstage. As he mentioned in the Martyn Atkins documentary "400 Days" he tends to base his shows around his music rather than sight gags, which is why I'm sure more than a few long-time Heartbreakers fans were taken aback by the extra large video screen the band is lugging around with them on the 40th. That aside, Petty has always communicated with his audience best through his music whether it be blasting through your car stereo or from the stage. He's rarely ever choreographed anything up there (well aside from the time that dragon chased him about) and he's to my knowledge has never been much for grandstanding. In the end, the songs are the stars of the evening.

Third, they are one of the most age-appropriate bands this side of rock and roll. While settling comfortably into middle-age and beyond sounds like a death sentence for a rock and roll band, for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers it somehow has all worked out. Whether it was either by accident or design, Petty has managed to avoid the trappings that so many other of his contemporaries have fallen into as he operates his professional career neither under the illusion that he is still twenty five years old, nor does he see fit to pay tribute to decades gone by as the standard for what the rest of his career should be measured by. If nothing else, Petty over his forty year career has evolved as a performer. In my opinion this is important in understanding why Petty and his band have never made their concerts about waxing nostalgic or trying to make their time up their each night a foolish tribute to bygone youth. They'll play their fair share of hits certainly but they aren't going to revisit material that is no longer relevant in the present day. When asked several years back why he no longer plays "Anything Thats Rock 'N' Roll" in concert, Petty replied "That's a kid playing that song".* It's quite refreshing to be quite honest that in a industry full of aging man-children, we have a man who realizes that he is no longer a child and is quite comfortable having evolved into the present day.

*"Anything That's Rock 'N' Roll" was Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' first hit, charting in the UK even before "Breakdown" and "American Girl" hit stateside. Isn't the band playing Hyde Park tomorrow? Hmmm.....NAH!

 

I think it's a tribute to the amount of artists whose careers Tench has contributed to throughout his forty year career in the industry as well as the diverse nature of the acts he has worked with. His understated nature belies the fact that as far back as 1989, he was already being heralded by those in the industry as the most sought after session musician in Los Angeles. I remember looking into this issue in some depth in the mid nineties and being awe struck as to the resume that Tench had accumulated up until that point not only as a keyboardist but also as a producer, arranger and songwriter. He is truly the Renaissance Man of the Heartbreakers as his work with Petty only scratches the surface as to what has been a remarkable career beginning as a child prodigy to becoming a classically trained pianist capable of performing to a wide range of styles. He is also the Heartbreakers' virtuoso as he has been lauded for both his improvisational skills as well as his well of knowledge as to the history of music where he allegedly can play almost any song spanning roughly a thirty year period of 1957-1980 at the drop of a hat. At the end of the day though, what probably speaks the loudest as to why Tench is so respected among his peers is that he has spent the majority of his career enhancing the work of others rather than using his considerable talents as a vehicle to branch out on his own. Despite both performing on, producing and writing a number of hits for other artists, Tench waited until he was nearly forty years deep into his career before releasing his first solo album in 2014.

 

I don't know how many times I've heard a great supportive keys part in a song, thought "wow, what a tasty part! I think that little wurlitzer stab/hammond organ swell/piano motif kind of makes the song for me, I wonder who played it?" Opened the liner notes and see: Benmont Tench - wurlitzer/hammond/piano

 

Just saw him in Hyde Park. Both him & Stevie Nicks were awesome and to see players like Waddy Watchel & the Heartbreakers play live for the first time was incredible. I was hoping for a few more of the early hits like Listen To Her Heart or Even The Losers, because I doubt I'll get to see him play again but wha they did they was great and no "filler" in my opinion. Also, see them play Stop Draggin My Heart Around with Stevie Nicks was something I didn't think I'd ever get to see. Now I just have Springsteen left on the list of acts I want to see perform live.

 

I remember remarking to myself at the Dublin 2012 show by TP&TH how great it would be if there was a mirror over Benmont's keyboards so that we could see him (properly) in action - I was on the floor (standing). The following night in Cork one of my friends turned to me mid-show and made exactly the same comment.

 

I think Bittan and Leavell are both great but Tench tops them IMHO.I must own dozens of non Petty albums where he plays keyboards and his parts are always imaginative and individualistic as well as being perfectly in sync with the material he is playing.

 

Yes, on re-reading my post, I really should have phrased it better.

Great response as always. Ha! Ha!

 

Here's Stevie with the band, for reference:


This is great. I like the extended, dueling guitar jam between Tom and Mike. The Webb Sisters' backing vocals make the song come alive.

Setlist shows "You Got Lucky" was dropped, while "Walls" and "Free Fallin'" were swapped: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Setlist at British Summer Time 2017

I wouldn't trust "Walls" being there, though, because Tom has a cup on his mic stand where he keeps a harmonica in the key of G (presumably a Hohner Special 20, but I digress) for a solo he plays in the middle of the song. This cup was not clipped to the mic stand at Arroyo Seco, Wrigley or Philly, so keep that in mind.

Of course, @Porkpie can you confirm or deny any of this?

 

17-18 tunes is lame

 

He's by no means the hardest working man in showbiz but I think mcCools post above is a very fair assessment of the Heartbreakers approach and what makes them special despite the autopilot set lists and relatively short performances.

 

Yes, he played Walls. He introduced it as a request, then saying he was the one who made the request

 

In terms of show length, there is an inevitable comparison with his near contemporary Springsteen and the plain truth is Petty has just not kept himself in good physical shape the way Bruce has (but then what proportion of the population can match Springsteen in this respect, at that age?). On the other hand, Pettys voice has weathered the years better than most (including Bruce).

 

Stones put Tom to shame on a set list of what 22 tunes

 

Unfortunately, I won't be able to make any 40th shows but I did get to see them 9 years ago and I count it as one of the top 5 shows in my concert going lifetime.

 

My review of the London gig for Record Collector mag is here

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Live in London

 

The main thing I'm looking forward to are possible live CD releases in the near future. Of course, I'm assuming each of these nights are being tracked and archived for potential use in the future?

 

It would be nice to think this will happen but I imagine they think that has been covered by the Live Anthology. We have had the occasional digital release, mostly to fanclub members. The RSD Kiss My Amps vinyl releases. I would love to see Petty do what Springsteen has done with live archives but it seems unlikely.

 

To those who attended Hyde park; any filming going on?
I sorely miss a Tom Petty live blu ray

 

What's the point? They've made it pretty clear they're going for a "you hear one, you've heard 'em all" approach.

 

I believe Gainesville 2006 was the last live video that he's done. He did Live At Fenway Park, but the problem that one had was really bad camerawork and not the complete show. I have the audio for that one, the band is hot!