concert reviews

Live Super Bowl Blog – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

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 Tom Petty at Super Bowl – Here’s my riff on the Super Bowl halftime

7:31pm
Remember when the Super Bowl selection of Tom Petty was getting a bad rap early on  – a couple months ago.  Apathy or even some distaste.  (“Tom Petty?  Wha?”)  I think ‘who else are they going to get?’.  Look at the recent history: Paul McCartney, U2, Rolling Stones, Prince.  That’s the biggest of the big in classic rock.  The only one left is Springsteen, and he must have said no, because he is in the midst of his “Magic” tour. 

Tom Petty is one of the great singer-songwriters in rock music.  Ever.  Quit arguing.

Underappreciated, in an odd way. 
 
Tons of hits, and an enviable May -December fan base.  He has garnered a next-generation of fans as well as anyone in rock and roll.  “Free Fallin’ went a long way towards helping him pick up a second wave of fans.  Even though it was 18 years ago, it gives him a set of fans who are in their 30’s as well as a big 40 and 50-year old groups.
 
But still underappreciated.  He ain’t got the movie star looks for sure; more like the Florida redneck rocker he really is.  I love his integrity, his tunes, and his band.  I am looking forward to this.
 
7:56pm
I saw something on YouTube recorded from a cell phone during Friday’s Petty rehearsal.  I think “I Won’t Back Down” and “American Girl” will be in the set.  He gets about 18 minutes.  Tom said they are approaching it like a 1960’s tour, where five bands used to get about 15-20 minutes to make an impression before getting back on the tour bus and heading to a town like Erie, PA. 
 
8:03pm
Opens with “American Girl”  A song from his first record, and still one of my favorites.  Great story about Roger McGuinn, the leader of the Byrds, who heard the song from his manager  and asked “when did we record this?”  and  had to be told it wasn’t the Byrds but Petty, someone new at the time. 

Cool imagery of the giant arrow going into the heart on the field.  I like it that Petty still uses his older artwork as his branding…the band sounds really good,  though Tom a little nervous to be playing in front of 190 gazillion people, with just four songs to be great. 


FACT: The band opened with this song at Live Aid in 1985, another mega-millions audience.

“I Won’t Back Down” is second.  A nice version  yet not my fave and a little pedestrian, but also one of their more well-known songs.  I think it allowed everyone to settle in – band and crowd…

FACT: Read on a blog that the whole show/stage got set up in 7 minutes.
 
“Free Fallin'”  is third.  Probably his anthem…love it  when he plays the Fender Telecaster guitar. This song is his “Purple Rain” …Like John Fogerty, Petty’s voice is as good now as ever, and sounds more nuanced and he hasn’t lost much…..I love it too that this performance isn’t fake vocals, hidden keyboards, and prerecorded tracks.  It is a great band, playing live, and a pretty good sound mix too.  We can hear all the instruments, and the drums are loud enough to push, but don’t overpower.
 
“Running Down A Dream” comes fourth….and at this point I would rather watch a concert than the game for a while, but this has to be their last song.  Band is loose now, and smiling.    Mike Campbell, the Heartbreakers longtime guitarist, is incredible.  Responsible for much of the trademark Petty sound and is the secret weapon that many forget about.  He is on fire with his guitar work.
 
And it is over. A big jammin’ finish and stage bow.
 
I would say it was just what you would hope from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  It sounded freakin’ terrific, they looked like old guys who can still rock.   The songs were quinessential Petty – rock radio faves for the crowd.  Will be interesting to see the reviews.  They will all be some variation of this:  Sounded great.  They looked old.  It rocked anyway.  Wished they played something else.  Crap like that.
 
Yes, “the Waiting” or “Refugee” or “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” would have been good.  But so would have “Breakdown” or “Even The Losers” or Insider” or “Name Any Song In His Catalog”. 
 
He’s Tom Petty.  It’s 30 years down the road from his first album.  I’m not to worried about saying he did Petty fans proud, and if some say it wasn’t that great, They are wrong. He delivered.  Again. 
 
FACT: I went to YouTube after writing this, and there were hundreds of people who had looked up the songs Petty had played and left comments on those pages. That’s the power of the Super Bowl translating into activity for your brand – in this case the Petty/Heartbreakers brand.  Remember too, someone doesn’t get this far without some marketing sense. Petty just announced his summer tour.  The band comes to Indianapolis July 3 at Deer Creek/Verizon Wireless Music Center.  Tickets are on sale…

Performance – John Fogerty – House of Blues

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John Fogerty
House of Blues-Chicago
May 28, 1997
By Rob Nichols
Where have you been, John Fogerty?
 
With eleven years between new albums, and only sporadic live concert appearances, Fogerty hasn’t been one of rock and roll’s most accessible performers.  Still, an appearance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opening concert in September 1995 proved to be one of the the best two of three performances of the night.   It also gave a hint that the man who bombarded radio with a dozens of great songs in 1969 and 1970 with Creedence Clearwater Revival might be up to something.
 
Celebrating his 52nd birthday at a packed House of Blues show in Chicago on May 28, Fogerty left no doubt as to his ability to get back on his rock and roll bike and take fans on a musical ride.
 
A standing-room only may have not known what to expect from the California singer.  Hadn’t this been the guy who refused for years to play his great tunes because of a long fight with his old label, Fantasy Records? 
 
Fogerty answered that question with an opening salvo of “Born on the Bayou”, “Green River”, and “Lodi”.  An audience request for “Who’ll Stop the Rain” was played immediately, after which Fogerty talked to the happily dazed audience.
“You may have heard I have a new album out”, Fogerty said of his new “Blue Moon Swamp”,  released a week earlier.
  
“Well, this one’s not on it,”  he laughed, before chooglin’ into “Suzie Q” and seguing directly into a ten-minute, blazing version of “I Put a Spell on You”, both the earliest of his CCR smashes. With a Rickenbacker strapped to his back, Fogerty blazed solos worthy of such guitar heroes as Neil Young or Eric Clapton.  Facing his amp for much of the song, Fogerty had his eyes closed and his mouth open. 
 
After slamming the tune to an end, Fogerty turned to the audience once again, and admitted he got lost.
 
“Sometimes, you go, you know, someplace else when you’re playing,” he joked. “But it’s a good place,”  he added.
 
What’s not lost is Fogerty’s one-of a kind voice.  It’s a beautiful foghorn.  He’s a shouter, with lots of emotion, and often sacrifices a word or two for a great scream.  His band, featuring two other guitar players, and including Kenny Aronoff, the best heartland rock and roll drummer alive, push John and wake up the songs that have been played a thousands of times on the radio.
 
The new record, which features Fogerty playing all the guitars, was also treated well, with songs that fit superbly into the show’s pacing.  In addition, a couple new tracks highlight his new-found dobro skills.  A pretty “Joy of My Life”, is one such song, and was introduced as the only real love song he’s ever written.  He dedicated it to his wife, who spent the entire concert dancing and clapping with friends in the balcony.
 
Fogerty brought his opening act, the gospel group the Fairfield Four, back for a pair of numbers.  The group, who opened the night with a 45-minute acappella set, backed Fogerty up during the new song “Hundred and Ten in the Shade” and a killer version of “Midnight Special”.
 
“Bad Moon Rising”, “Long as I Can See the Light”.  Hell, they did ’em all.  Nearly the entire CCR “Chronicle” album, seven off his new record and four from the 1985 release “Centerfield”. 
 
More than two hours after the show started, the man who put the swamp sound through his west coast heart and made AM radio listenable in the late 60’s and early 70’s reminded us why he should be considered one of the very best rock and roll artists of all-time.
 
And he didn’t tell us why.  Like a good teacher, he showed us.
 
The crowd sang along to “Down on the Corner”.  and rocked to “Fortunate Son”. 
 
An encore included the groove of “Proud Mary” giving way to the all-out flight of “Travelin’ Band”, and then Fogerty was gone into the night with a wave, a thank you and a big smile.
 
And it wasn’t clear who had the better night.  A crowd still chattering about the show as they left, or the man from El Cerrito, California who had stayed away a long, long time.
 
Welcome back, Mr. Fogerty.  You’ve been missed.

Mellencamp Rocks Crowd at Historic Columbus Theatre

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Under the guise of recording the pilot episode of a new A&E Bio show called “Back Where We Started”, Mellencamp and his band made creaky, cozy and barely back-to-fire code Crump Theater in Columbus, Indiana their musical bunker for the night.
 
Opened in 1872, The Crump Theatre is like many old theatres throughout the country; it has seen the glory days and they aren’t today. Red carpet with black spots, theatre seats carted in for the occasion, covered by backseat upholstery from a 1960 Chevy, and the giant  “R” and a “P” letters of  the giant “Crump” venue sign out front of the theatre not lighting up.  It’s a legendary Indiana palace in need of some love.
It was perfect.
 
There were no bad views in the place.  The balcony hung halfway over the floor seats. 

Mellencamp brought the show to Columbus, a small city that took things seriously.  A couple city blocks closed off. Key to the city from the Mayor.  TV cameras documenting it all.   Plus a nice little auction of 75 pairs of tickets for the show raised $42,000 for local flood relief.
 
It became an evening that never felt false or posturing.  The show was witnessed by Hoosiers who knew John’s history, mostly ignored the cameras, cheered for the obscure songs, rocked with the new ones and sang the rest.
 
After three beautiful and fun Mellencamp accapella songs from the Columbus North High School Choir opened the show, John walked right out with the band and set the tone.  He informed the crowd that they needed to keep the camera flashes to a minimum because he was told it screws up the video.  Then he added he didn’t really give a crap and the audience could do what they wanted, this was a rock and roll show. 

A killer “Check it Out ” popped up early, along with “Paper in Fire”, and an acoustic set that featured “Minutes to Memories”,  plus a medley of late 70’s, early 80’s songs he never sings (“To M.G. Wherever You May Be”, “Taxi Dancing” and a solo “I Need A Lover”). 
 
It was during the acoustic interlude that Mellencamp admitted he didn’t remember the time they played at the Crump Theatre 30 years ago
 
 “Who remembers 30 years ago?” he said.
 
Following the acoustic set, he roared the band back to life, with drummer Dane Clark and bass player Jon E. Gee building a great groove for the new “Life, Death Love and Freedom”  album cuts.  The songs sounded inspired live, with a blazing “Troubled Land ” the highlight, featuring chunking electric guitars from Andy York and 35-year band vet Mike Wanchic. The tune stood up to the pressure of following the anthemic “Small Town” and  “Rain on the Scarecrow”.

A set closing run of “Crumblin’ Down” “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.”, “Jack & Diane” led to the encore of “The Authority Song”.

Really a remarkable show, made so with a combination of the historic, tiny, character-heavy theatre in the middle of a small town, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer swooping into the joint with a concert and a tv show videotaping in hand, and an audience that knew how to make noise, have fun, and respect the moment.  All without failing to raise the emotion level for Mellencamp to have what looked like a damn good time.
 
It was the small things too. Very little security led to a relaxed, trusting vibe.  One lady in our row got caught before the show by one of the few security guys as she was in her seat, drinking a bottle of Bud Light.  That would have been OK — if they had been selling bottles of Bud Light at the show.  Whoops.  The security man started to come closer to her. 

At the very least, the bottle would be taken and she’d be reprimanded.  Security came nearer.  He reached out to the woman. 

With a “hear ya’ go” nod, a quick smile, and a extended hand, he waited until she poured the beer into the cup, then he took the bottle and was gone.

See? Life ain’t always that tough.

Not with a so-old-it’s-historic venue, a great midwest rock band and, by the end of the night, a bunch of people realizing they had witnessed something unique.

 

Rock and roll done right. Somethin’ to see, baby. 
Rocking at the Crump Theatre, Mellencamp delivered with 90 minutes of sweaty roots rock.
Rocking at the Crump Theatre, Mellencamp delivered with 90 minutes of sweaty roots rock.
For one night, John Mellencamp returned to a place he said he couldn’t remember.  But for the 600 or so radio station winners, auction top-bidders and whoever else could wrangle a ticket for the September 23 show that was not sold to the public, it turned out to be a memorable night of up close, back-to-roots rock, bearing the unique Mellencamp stamp.  Brashness. Compassion. Pride. Middle-finger-extended attitude.  Loud, rough-edged rock and roll.