So, you’re going to see Tom Petty at the Beacon and you want to know what to expect during his residency. I myself am going tomorrow and I would be fascinated to tell you. According to Jim Farber of the Daily News expect extended jams ala fellow Southerners the Allman Brothers and deep album cuts. Heaven for Petty fans no doubt, but how about the indifferent ones like me? I wanna hear the hits, man. I wanna hear “Don’t do Me Like That”.
The Heartbreakers are such a great band that I might very well be wrong , hearing these old pros jam together could well be a revelation, it could well be a Southern Crazy Horse. Or it could be a tremendous bore.
So back to Farber: “Still, the hardness of the evening impressed most. For all their skills, Petty’s band can be – shall-we-say – Southern at some live shows, moseying when you most want them to charge. But here they never let the tension go slack.”
OK, I’ll buy in and if they are jamming on Little Feats “Willin’” and the Allmans “Melinda” –well, I’ll split it with them. “Melinda” is awful obvious but Lowell george isn’t mentioned often enough so good for him. And though, sure, the Byrds opener is a tip of the hat to an obvious influence, I am still not sure I wanna hear “So You Wanna Be A Rock And Roll Star”.
One thing is sure, I’d rather see Petty at Beacon than at MSG –though that reminds me, I once had fourth row to Petty at MSG.
Anyway, listening to a mix of setlists from the tour so far, I have one question: where is “Here Comes My Girl”?? I guess,since the Beacon is so small for an artist this big, Petty wants to use the situation to expand his palette and it appears to be working since the reviews read like testimonials.
My review should be up on Saturday.