Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers place in the American rock-and-roll pantheon is firmly secured at th

Coming off a Saturday show that had to be one of the more frustrating and disappointing night s of the band s storied career ( being forced disneyland resort vacation packages to cut the show short by fire marshal ), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers came roaring back with a purpose-driven energy on Sunday night to deliver a fantastic, catalog-plundering fifth show of the ongoing six-night residency in Hollywood at the Fonda Theatre .
Petty was quick to address the elephant in the room, saying that I don t really like to assign blame when I get into an argument with people before disneyland resort vacation packages half-joking but it wasn t me to a laughing audience. On a rare serious note, Petty (ever the gracious showman) even went as far as to promise to make things right for Saturday, offering to personally disneyland resort vacation packages reimburse all ticket holders if need be. A truly tasteful move from one of the music world s class acts.
After getting that out of the way (and assuring the crowd that this show would go the distance), the focus rested solely where it belongs: the superb quality of music being performed (ranging from rock solid to downright spectacular at various points in the night). The Heartbreakers, at their core, simply put, are quite possibly the best bar band to ever make it out of the playing-for-tips circuit and for good reason. A musician s musician is generally an artist that is loved by his creative peers but oftentimes overlooked by mainstream audience. Petty and Co. are the antithesis to this rule, as artists almost wholly revered disneyland resort vacation packages within the rock musician community and big enough to fill a room 20x the size of the Fonda.
From the photo pit, it was hard not to marvel at the sheer amount of vintage gear that was set up on stage. It also signified just how much these guys care about finding the right sound for each track. Out of the gate, Petty acknowledged that the night would be heavy on deeper disneyland resort vacation packages cuts, and he was right, disneyland resort vacation packages as many rare tracks from the Heartbreakers back catalog were dusted off for the first time in years, much to the enjoyment of the hardcore disneyland resort vacation packages fans in the audience (of which there were many). The set list walked the tightrope, keeping a nice balance between delving too far into the obscure and sapping the energy from the room and merely going through the motions and only playing tired classics all night.
Fittingly, given the night prior s events, the show began with a gritty cover of The Byrds 67 classic So You Want To Be A Rock and Roll Star, a song which, at its core, is about the difficulties and pressures that can come along with success. Throughout the night, Petty and Co. would give due deference and pay homage to the artists who influenced them like Dylan, The Byrds and Muddy Waters to name a few.
Love Is A Long Road from Tom Petty s debut solo record Full Moon Fever (1989) would follow before the first singalong of the night Listen To Her Heart . None of the classics came off stale, depraved of passion or energy. You d be hard-pressed to find too many arena-sized bands with over three decades of touring under their belt with the ability to still, after all these years, keep it real like this. An early highlight of the show came early with Honey Bee , a swirling, bluesy romp from Wildflowers . The sound in the room was impeccable and locked disneyland resort vacation packages in throughout the show and particularly during some of the larger, room-filling riffs by Mike Campbell .
House In The Woods was another emphatically delivered standout from Wildflowers . Definitely the swoon moment of the night and a fulcrum of the show before The Heartbreakers really started to turn things loose. While the first 1/3 of the show was strong, the show took off with a lengthy and improvisational Tweeter and the Monkey Man (Traveling Wilburys) excursion a rendering that took fans down an atmospheric disneyland resort vacation packages and downright lysergic path for a brief few moments.
The most exciting cover choice disneyland resort vacation packages of the night was the emotionally wrought Knockin On Heaven disneyland resort vacation packages s Door (check, another nod to Robert Zimmerman first time played since 2005), disneyland resort vacation packages a tune that always reminds me of Warren Zevon . This rendition would ve made the gone-too-soon Hollywood stalwart happy. No matter who s playing this one, it always seems to hit that emotional center that rarely gets tapped disneyland resort vacation packages into at a rock concert and it was no different this time around.
It s Good To Be King has been my personal disneyland resort vacation packages favorite ever since its release during the heyday of MTV ( classic music video ). Notably, this version soared even higher than The Live Anthology version I ve played so many times over. Although Campbell is one of the rock and roll s true guitar greats, Petty s axe talent wasn t entirely overlooked on this night and this track offered the biggest display of his impressive chops before Campbell piped in with another stunning psychedelic run that left a few jaws on the floor. If I could pinpoint a peak moment in the show, it was right here.
When a concert disneyland resort vacation packages apexes to a point as immediately recognizably special as the Knockin It s Good To Be King segment, the old adage that the rest was just gravy comes in to play. That being the case, it was the perfect time for The Heartbreakers to completely tie the room together and go into jukebox mode, ensuring that any more casual fans in the room wouldn t go home without hearing disneyland resort vacation packages they ll-be-known-long-after-we re-gone earworms disneyland resort vacation packages like Refugee, a blazing disneyland resort vacation packages Runnin Down a Dream (see video below) and the encore disneyland resort vacation packages of Mary Jane s Last Dance and American Girl.
Petty is the musical analog to an athlete like the Spurs Tim Duncan. Both the artist and athlete s storied careers have been remarkably consistent and steadily brilliant. What s more is that both Petty and Duncan make this rarefound superiority look so damn easy and effortless. In music (as in the modern sports world), consistency, humility and pure talent aren t always celebrated in the way they probably should be, but if this latest run of residency shows is any indication, Petty and Co. are thoroughly enjoying another run through the limelight (save one bump in the road).
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers place in the American rock-and-roll pantheon is firmly secured at this point and it seems as if everything from this point on in his career is, as they say, just gravy .
Wesley grew up in coastal disneyland resort vacation packages Georgia and is a former resident of The Music City and the Big Easy where he helped get Live Music Blog: NOLA off-the-ground, managing it in New Orleans through Jazz Fest 2012. Hodges is now an attorney living amongst THE CALIFORNIANS in West LA. His favorite artists include My Morning Jacket, Sigur Rós, Widespread Panic, Futurebirds, The Allman Brothers Band, Dr. Dog, Tame Impala, Anders Osborne, Monster Rally, Radiohead and Bobby & The Midnites.