To Wilson and the other young folk, Petty is a rock icon. Petty knows this, serving up a blue-plate special of his greatest hits. But then, as is his custom, he throws a couple of curve balls some odd covers, a Traveling Wilburys tune (a sublime End of the Line) old album tracks and a guest star, Steve Winwood.
Its pretty much the standard show, and the set list varies microscopically from Petty and Winwoods visit to Tampa last week. When Petty introduces Winwood to the crowd, they cheer because they figure any friend of Toms is a friend of theirs. But Winwood, who has taken long hiatuses from performing during his career, is largely unknown to these folks. He plays crisp guitar on Cant Find My Way Home, then moves to the organ and, with Benmont Tench bumping asses with him on the keyboard bench, gives a wonderfully frenetic and demented performance of Gimme Some Lovin. As they proved when they toured with Bob Dylan back in the 1980s, the Heartbreakers are an incredible backing band.
But poor old Tom cant win. He has perhaps the best pure rocknroll band in America. They put on a tight, well-rehearsed, crowd-pleasing show every night, and still the critics carp about it. Tonight, he tries stretching out some songs, does and encore (Mystic Eyes), in which Bo Diddley symbolically has sex with Van Morrison, and takes long, daring breaks with the pacing after a barrage of crowd-pleasing hits.
To those critics, I offer a chorus of raspberries and a symphony of guffaws. Tom Petty is a great entertainer and though tight and well-rehearsed, theres nothing sterile about the show. This band plays with joy, with a deep love of rocknroll history and for its audience. Whats not to love?
Ask Wilson. The kid is worshipping at the altar of Petty now, and at one point even turns to me and asks me to be his rocknroll history mentor. Yes, Grasshopper. Ill be glad to.
Acres of kids here today. Some of the best young performers in modern music. But at the end of the night and Im sitting by the campfire outside the tent where several of those young artists are jamming Ive gotta score this day for the geezers. Tom Petty and the rest of his AARP band kicked much ass on stage tonight and showed that theres something about that generation of musicians that still resonates with the young folks. To steal a line from one of Pettys own songs, hes got a heart so big it could crush this town.
William McKeen