Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers deliver hits alongside strong new material at Blossom Music Center

Published: Wednesday, September 01, 2010, 11:25 AM     Updated: Wednesday, September 01, 2010, 11:40 AM

Thirty years ago, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers scored a Top 20 single with “Refugee.”

In a recent documentary about the making of the classic “Damn the Torpedoes” album, singer-guitarist Petty admits he didn’t think much of the song at first. With its “Everybody’s had to fight to be free” rallying cry, it went on to become one of his band’s best-loved anthems.

As ever, “Refugee” sounded wonderful in concert Tuesday night at Blossom Music Center.

And for their part, Petty & Co. proved they could still put up a good fight in pursuit of artistic freedom.

Sure, these Rock and Roll Hall of Famers aimed to please with proven quantities, opening with the Byrds-like oldie “Listen to Her Heart” and capping a three-song encore with the ever-popular “American Girl.” In between, “Free Fallin’,” “Breakdown,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and other calling-card hits had fans hoisting beers and singing along.

To their credit, though, Petty and his stalwart companions -- guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, multi-instrumentalist Scott Thurston, bass player Ron Blair and drummer Steve Ferrone -- refused merely to coast on past glories.

The centerpiece of their nearly two-hour performance was an impressive suite of four selections from their latest album, “Mojo,” starting with the rambunctious “Jefferson Jericho Blues.” The latter number was punctuated with bursts of roadhouse harmonica, courtesy of Thurston.

Petty and the Heartbreakers also had their mojo working for “Running Man’s Bible” and “I Should Have Known It.” The best of the new bunch was “Good Enough,” a lilting, slow-burning blues in an “I Put a Spell on You” vein.

For every vintage hit omitted from the set list (“The Waiting,” for one), there was a lost gem such as the jangling “Kings Highway” off 1991’s “Into the Great Wide Open” album.

Petty didn’t say much between songs and he moves a bit more gingerly these days, but he clearly seemed to be enjoying himself, especially when a hoodoo-voodoo cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well” found him shaking a pair of maracas.

“I ain’t pretty and my legs are thin,” Petty sang with his signature drawl, playfully running a hand along his pant leg and stroking a grizzled beard. He turns 60 next month.

Petty and the Heartbreakers had been scheduled to play here in July, but the show was postponed while Campbell recuperated from heat exhaustion.

The wild-haired guitar virtuoso was, in Petty’s words, “in 100-percent health” on this occasion. Campbell was never at a loss for a melodic yet intense solo, particularly at the end of “Runnin’ Down a Dream.”

SET LIST:

Listen to Her Heart

You Don't Know How It Feels

I Won't Back Down

Free Fallin'

Oh Well

Mary Jane's Last Dance

Kings Highway

Breakdown

Jefferson Jericho Blues

Good Enough

Running Man's Bible

I Should Have Known It

Learning to Fly

Don't Come Around Here No More

Refugee

ENCORE:

Runnin' Down a Dream

Carol

American Girl

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers sure know how to work a crowd. The Rock Hall inductee started his band's concert last night at Blossom Music Center with a series of hits before turning to material from their latest new album, the mostly forgettable Mojo.

The mid-show departure gave fans a good opportunity to visit the concession stands and restrooms or simply sit down for a bit.

Petty and the Heartbreakers returned to playing some favorites before wrapping up with bona fide classics like “American Girl.”

“We’re really happy to have made it to Cleveland,” Petty said at the start of the 90-minute show, a make-up date for a concert that was canceled earlier this summer when guitarist Mike Campbell had to take a few days off to recover from exhaustion. “I’m happy to report Mike Campbell is 100 percent healthy.”

The concert began with a mellow “Listen to Her Heart” but picked up with a tongue-in-cheek cover of Fleetwood Mac's “Oh Well,” in which Petty played maracas as he worked the crowd. Campbell’s sinewy guitar drove “Breakdown,” which was extended into a bluesy jam.

Most of the songs from Mojo didn’t really resonate, but “I Should Have Known It” was riveting garage-blues that got the audience back on its feet. Petty returned with “Learning to Fly” and “Refugee” before coming back to deliver a three-song encore.

While the concert was somewhat predictable, there’s no denying Petty’s endurance as a performer. And the always-reliable Heartbreakers once again proved why they’re one of rock’s finest bands. They effortlessly shifted in and out of blues jams without any of the indulgence you get with less-talented groups.

Though the Drive-by Truckers’ opening set wasn’t nearly as epic as the two-and-a-half hour Beachland show they played earlier this summer, the band still managed a gritty set of Southern rock-inspired rawk during their hour-long opening slot. —Jeff Niesel

Were you at the show? Let us know what you thought of it in the comments.

Review: Tom Petty and Crosby, Stills and Nash at SPAC, a nice night for rock ‘n’ roll

RICK GARGIULO/For The Saratogian

RICK GARGIULO/For The Saratogian

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The horses weren’t the only thing drawing people to Saratoga Friday.

A near-capacity crowd came out to catch musical legends Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Crosby, Stills & Nash at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Combined, they have decades of experience and, by the sound of things, it’s easy to understand why these acts have stood the test of time.

CSN kicked off the night with a 90-minute set packed with crowd-pleasing tunes. People pretty much sat through the feel-good performance, swaying back and forth to the folksy sound.

Songs included "Woodstock," "Long Time Gone," "Déjà vu," "Wooden Ships" and "Southern Cross."

They wrapped their set with a double encore of "Love the One You’re With" and the Buffalo Springfield cover, "For What It’s Worth," followed by a massive sing-along of "Teach Your Children."

Unfortunately, many were most likely stuck in the major traffic jam and subsequent lines leading to the venue to catch much of CSN’s performance.

Everyone was in place once Petty took the stage, however, and it was a good thing. It would have been a shame to miss such a spectacular performance.

Even after more than 30 years, Petty sounds amazing, and he and The Heartbreakers just rocked. They are out in support of "Mojo," the band’s first album in eight years.

Petty and guitarist Mike Campbell traded licks all night, each showing off his musical prowess. In fact, all of The Heartbreakers were on top of their musical game.

The more than 90-minute set had just about everyone up, dancing and singing to classics such as "You Don’t Know How It Feels," "Free Fallin’(that one was "for the ladies")," "Mary Jane’s Last Dance" and "Breakdown."

Even the band’s new stuff had fans jamming. They played four songs from the recently released album, including "Good Enough," which Petty referred to as "slow blues," but it was hardly that. Written by Petty and Campbell, it had a hard-edged sound and blazing guitar riffs.

They rocked out the end of the performance with an extended version of "Learning to Fly," where Petty had the crowd repeatedly sing the chorus, followed by "Don’t Come Around Here No More" and "Refugee."

A scruffy-looking Petty smiled throughout, truly drinking in the reception.

The encore of "Runnin’ Down a Dream" and the fan favorite "American Girl" sparked off so much energy, it was sad to see the show end. Clearly, the fans wanted more.

Petty himself summed up the cool late-August evening perfectly when he said, "What a nice night for rock ‘n’ roll." Indeed it was.

RICK GARGIULO/For The Saratogian

Jim James of My Morning Jacket said it himself during his band's opening set. We were all about to have a great time, he assured us, listening to the Heartbreakers. Not Tom Petty, or "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers," as they were always billed in their '80s MTV videos. Just the Heartbreakers.

James may not have been trying to make a point, but a point was made nevertheless. Petty's combo has always been a collaborative project: a band in the truest sense, and often one of the most engaging, if not always the most creative, on the Billboard charts.

But what kind of band are they? Which version of the Heartbreakers would show up at the Izod Center in East Rutherford? Would it be the classic rock group, pitched somewhere between Dylan and the Stones, that made "Echo," that unimpeachable 1999 comeback set? Would it be the Byrds-influenced jangle-pop act that recorded "The Waiting," the gorgeous standout cut from "Hard Promises"? What about the new wave band that once made an album with Dave Stewart? Or the acoustic pop storytellers who cut "Into the Great Wide Open"?

Well, Petty and his pals are pushing a new LP -- the blues-rock "Mojo." The Heartbreakers aren't usually thought of as a blues band, but much of their material is rootsy, and this was the side of the group that they were eager to showcase. Yes, they threw the crowd some candy, playing the pop hits "Free Fallin'" and "I Won't Back Down" from Petty's first solo album, and closing the encore set with the bouncy "American Girl." But for the most part, they aired their bluesier originals, and bluesy reinterpretations of older numbers. During a decidedly un-punk version of "Breakdown," Petty even gave himself a bluesman's spotlight moment; his bloozy quasi-sexual come-ons to the audience felt like items checked off of a grocery list.

 All this blues guitar made the night feel as much like a Mike Campbell show as a Tom Petty concert. Campbell is never mentioned in those "greatest guitarists of all time" discussions that light up the Internet, but he's probably better than half of the guys under consideration. He's got a well-deserved rep for economical playing: he never wastes a note, and he yokes his riffs and licks to Petty's songwriting. Campbell brought out a hollow-bodied guitar for "Mary Jane's Last Dance" (the twelve-strings mostly stayed in the rack) and contributed scalding commentary between the lines; for "You Don't Know How it Feels," he ran his signal through a warbly effect to deepen the song's mild psychedelia. 

But last night, Campbell also got to solo -- and plenty. The Heartbreakers sent some of their fairweather fans scrambling to the concession stands by airing four straight songs from "Mojo." The intrepid who stuck it out were rewarded with some of the night's most revelatory moments. The Heartbreakers tore into "Good Enough," a slow, aching blues song that crested and swelled like Pink Floyd; the song climaxed with a roaring lead by Campbell. "I Should Have Known It" was pure, muscular hard rock, and Campbell laid into the riff like a railsplitter swinging an axe.

It all made for a very good show, but not a great one. Just as "Mojo" is not the Heartbreakers' finest album, blues-rock isn't really the band's best or most comfortable style. Surely they all love the blues, and they play it with conviction -- but Petty is so good at writing FM radio pop-rock, and his group is so good at playing his compositions, that it was hard not to crave the sweeter material. I don't just mean hits like "Don't Do Me Like That" or "The Waiting" -- neither of which were played -- but album cuts like "Even The Losers." Also, Benmont Tench, one of the most colorful organ stylists in contemporary rock, tended to get lost on the bluesier material (although he rallied later in the set; his piano fills on "Don't Come Around Here No More" were pretty dazzling.)

As for Petty himself, he digs marijuana. No effort was made to disguise this. The near-capacity crowd of enablers roared each time he sang "let's roll another joint" in "You Don't Know How It Feels." During "Mary Jane's Last Dance," an image of curling smoke was projected on the video monitors. The frontman paused to take a drag of something or other after "Breakdown." Thousands of fans would have been disappointed if they'd discovered it was only a cigarette.

Openers My Morning Jacket continue to split the difference between polite college rock and proggy, Phish-like jam band lunacy. That makes them better than any college rock band, but not as fun as Phish. Jim James favors a rotating setlist, but at Izod Center, My Morning Jacket played most of their best-known material, including "I'm Amazed," the reggae-funk "Off The Record," and the guitar-heavy "One Big Holiday." The popular Louisville quintet isn't desperate for new fans, but they certainly made some last night.