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Tom Petty News - March 2001
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March 30, 2001
Just For Fun
- Mike Campbell will play with Dirty Knobs at 14 Below
in Santa Monica again on April 13th. Chuck Rainey, studio musician for Steely Dan, will also
be joining them.
Thanks to Dan Johnson for the info AND the picture! Dan manages a Pink Floyd tribute
band in LA called Which One's Pink? Check out his site at www.whichonespink.com.
Mike Campbell with Dirty Knobs
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Tom Quoted In Billboard Article
- Blind Boys Of Alabama Running Down A Dream - Tom Petty Toured
With The Gospel Act, 'Who Shook The Building Every Night'
BY SCOTT AIGES
`When it comes to having friends who are up high in the pop music world, the Blind Boys
of Alabama are particularly blessed-which may help the gospel singers' crossover dreams
come true.
Peter Gabriel is releasing the Blind Boys' new album, Spirit of the Century, on his Real World
label (see story, page 11). Bonnie Raitt and k.d. lang have recorded with the group. Anthony
Keidis of Red Hot Chili Peppers has turned up at their shows. And Tom Petty invited the Blind
Boys to join him on tour with the Heartbreakers in 1999.
The Blind Boys "did quite a few dates with us-and they were just amazing," Petty says.
"They shook the building every night. I sort of got fascinated with seeing if there was a
crowd that they couldn't just absolutely slay. And it really didn't matter. Every night,
they just tore the place up."
Onstage, Clarence Fountain plays the charismatic front man as he mugs for the crowd.
His voice is equally impressive, switching from tenor to baritone with ease. Every Blind Boys
concert culminates with group member Jimmy Carter running through the audience, shouting
praises. Seemingly propelled by the Holy Spirit, Carter leaps high in the air as stage handlers
try to restrain him. Then, James Brown-style, he breaks free of their grasp and continues
jumping for glory.
Like Gabriel, who signed the Blind Boys to his label sight unseen, Petty had never been to one
of the group's shows when he invited them on tour. He had collected a few of their records
starting in the late '60s. Then in 1998, when his manager, Tony Dimitriades, suggested
having the Blind Boys open for his next Heartbreakers tour, Petty "fell out of my chair,"
he recalls. "I said, "They're around? They're working? Definitely. Get 'em.' "
Petty says that he "just took a chance. It was totally that me and the Heartbreakers wanted
them. I was pleasantly overtaken with how great a show they had, so we kept extending
the engagement." The Blind Boys ended up doing nearly 30 dates with Petty from August
to October of 1999.
On behalf of Spirit of the Century, the Blind Boys of Alabama-booked by the Rosebud
Agency-will perform high-profile gigs with the star backing musicians from the album
sessions, as well as continue touring with their own band.
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Tom Fights Label...Again!
- From The LA Times - To avoid testing the law, record companies have typically
rewritten the contracts of disgruntled stars, offering concessions. Earlier showdowns about the
statute--including cases by Henley and Tom Petty--were averted when the artists were persuaded
to settle out of court for multimillion-dollar advances.
Petty, one of the first stars to tangle with the industry during his late-1970s legal battle with
MCA Records, supports expanding the seven-year statute nationwide and endorses the
concept of forming a recording artist trade group or union. He cautions, however, that
implementing the plan will be not be easy.
"It's really hard to get artists to do anything together for the collective good," Petty said.
"When I was out there fighting my battle, it was very lonely. . . .
"The fact is once you decide to try to set a precedent, you're no longer just fighting the
company that hired you. You're fighting all of them. This kind of thing could end up costing
some very powerful people a whole bunch of money. And these aren't the kind of guys who
just roll over. . . . They keep an entire legal team on staff and attorneys on retainer just to
scare folks like us off. . . . It's going to be a long, hard fight ahead."
Click here for full story
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March 28, 2001
Ticket Pre-Sales
- As many of you already know, Tickets for some of the Mini-Bus tour shows
go on sale tomorrow. I took this ad from the official site. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone!
Tickets will be on sale through Ticketmaster at 11 AM PT/2 PM ET for the following shows:
Corvallis, OR
Sacramento, CA
Concord, CA
San Diego, CA
George, WA
Denver, CO
San Antonio, TX
**IMPORTANT: Don't go to the link until Thursday morning. A Password will be made
available at 11 AM PT/2 PM ET to access the ticket sales page.
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March 27, 2001
Tour News From Pollstar
- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are heading into the great wide open,
firming up a monthlong spring mini-tour before going into the studio this summer.
The revered rocker and his band will play mostly amphitheatres, rolling the show out
May 9 at Corvallis, Ore., for the first of 15 concerts across the West. Stops include
Denver, Houston, Dallas, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, San Diego, and a tour-closing
two-night stand at The Joint in Las Vegas June 1-2.
The Wallflowers will open all shows through May 21. The support act for the duration of
the outing will be announced shortly. While it might seem that Tom Petty's glory days
are in the rearview mirror (he burst on the scene in 1976 with the hit single "Breakdown") he
and the band have a truly loyal following and remain a great live draw.
Their last full tour in 1999 grossed $26.7 million over 63 dates - one of the 15 top-grossing
tours of the year. Their 1995 tour - in support of the acclaimed Wildflowers album - rang up
$27.6 million in box office receipts, and ranked No. 7 on Pollstar's year-end tally.
In between, Petty and the band sold out a 20-show stand at the Fillmore in San Francisco
spanning January and February, 1997 - without the benefit of a new album to promote.
In fact, the upcoming tour will mark the Heartbreakers' first time out in support of its box set,
Anthology: Through the Years, which was released last October.
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March 24, 2001
Mini-Bus Tour 2001
- Ok, I've dubbed this tour the "Mini-Bus Tour". Tom, if you choose to use this on
T-Shirts, I want 50% of the merch cut! I'm kidding (sort of), but I created a page for this tour
that you can get to from the Tour Dates links on the left.
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March 23, 2001
Venue Specifics
- For those making travel plans,
I thought this information would be helpful.
| Date |
City/State |
Venue
(Click name to
go to their site) |
| May 9, 2001 |
Corvallis, OR |
Gill Coliseum
Oregon State University (Click here for map)
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| May 11, 2001 |
Boise, ID |
Idaho Center
16200 Can-Ada Rd.
Nampa, ID 83687
Boxoffice Line: 208-442-3232
Ticket Vendor: Select-A-Seat
208-426-1766 |
| May 12, 2001 |
George, WA
(That town's name cracks me up!) |
The Gorge
754 Silica Road NW.
George, WA 98824
Ticket Vendor: Ticketmaster
206-628-0888 |
| May 15, 2001 |
Denver, CO |
Red Rocks
12700 W. Alameda Parkway
Morrison, CO 80465
Boxoffice & Info Line:
303-295-4444
Ticket Vendor: Ticketmaster
303-830-8497 |
| May 16, 2001 |
Albuquerque, NM |
Journal Pavilion
5601 University Blvd. SE
Albuquerque, NM 87105
Info Line: 505-842-6372
Ticket Vendor: Ticketmaster
505-883-7800 |
| May 18, 2001 |
Houston, TX |
C.W. Mitchell Pavilion
2005 Lake Robbins Dr.
Spring, TX 77380
Info Line: 281-363--3300
Ticket Vendor: Ticketmaster
713-629-3700 |
| May 19, 2001 |
San Antonio, TX |
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Schertz, TX
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| May 21, 2001 |
Dallas, TX |
Smirnoff Music Centre
Fitzhugh & Pennsylvania Aves.
Dallas, TX 75210
Info Line: 214-421-1111
Ticket Vendor: Ticketmaster
214-373-8000 |
| May 24 & 25, 2001 |
Santa Barbara, CA |
Santa Barbara County Bowl
1122 North Milpas Street
Santa Barbara CA 93103
Concert Info: 805-962-7411
Charge by Phone Ticketmaster:
805-583-8700 |
| May 27, 2001 |
Sacramento, CA |
Sacramento Valley Amphitheatre
2677 Forty Mile Road
Marysville, CA 95901
Boxoffice Line: 530-743-5900
Ticket Vendor: Ticketmaster
916-649-TIXS |
| May 28, 2001 |
Concord, CA |
Chronicle Pavilion
2000 Kirker Pass Rd.
Concord, CA 94521
Info Line: 925-363-5701
Ticket Vendor: Ticketmaster
510-625-8497 |
| May 30, 2001 |
San Diego, CA |
SDSU Open Air Theatre |
| June 1 & 2, 2001 |
Las Vegas, NV |
Hard Rock Hotel - The Joint
4455 Paradise Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Boxoffice Line: 800-473-7625
Info Line: 702-693-5583
Ticket Vendor: Ticketmaster
702-474-4000 |
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March 21, 2001
Mini Tour Dates Announced!
05/09/2001 - Corvallis, OR - Gill Coliseum
05/11/2001 - Boise, ID - Idaho Center
05/12/2001 - George, WA - The Gorge
05/15/2001 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks
05/16/2001 - Albuquerque, NM - Journal Pavilion
05/18/2001 - Houston, TX - Woodlands
05/19/2001 - San Antonio, TX - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
05/21/2001 - Dallas, TX - Smirnoff Music Center
05/24/2001 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara County Bowl
05/25/2001 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara County Bowl
05/27/2001 - Sacramento, CA - Sacramento Valley Amphitheatre
05/29/2001 - Concord, CA - Chronicle Pavilion
05/30/2001 - San Diego, CA - Open Air Theatre
06/01/2001 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint (The Hard Rock Hotel)
06/02/2001 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint (The Hard Rock Hotel)
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March 20, 2001
Mini Tour Update I
- Got this email from someone in TX this morning:
Tom Petty is booked into the SFX Amphitheater, San Antonio, TX, for a
Saturday, May 19th show. He will be the first performer in the yet-to-open
20,000-seat amphitheater, which plans a grand opening with his scheduled
appearance in May.
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March 19, 2001
Mini Tour Update
- Ok, I'm not going to put this on the BBS. Basically, because I don't want to
hear the whining. Having worked in an Artist Management office, I can understand Cathy's
hesitation in posting anything on the official site yet. The thing is, tour dates can change
in an instant. The only show I know for sure is going to happen is May 12th at The Gorge.
That's because tickets go on sale on March 24th.
I'm going to list these as TENTATIVE, but these dates may happen:
May 27 and/or 28 - Alburquerque, NM - Don't know the venue
June 1 and/or 2 - Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock (The Joint?)
San Diego and/or Santa Barbara have been mentioned as POSSIBLE dates in early June.
That's all I've heard so far. I will post more info as I get it!
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March 14, 2001
New Chat Room
- I've added a new chat room
(click here). Not that anyone used the old one...
Anyways, it's through MSN Communities. I set it up a long time ago and never used it.
I believe the original tompetty.com chat room used this software. I'm planning to use this for the
Gone Gator mailing list as well, so PLEASE sign up. I apologize to those who have to sign up again.
A couple weeks ago I added a "Current Visitors" counter to the bottom of the pages. If there is more than 1 (which has been
pretty often lately, be sure to check out the chat room!
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March 12, 2001
3 MCA Releases Remastered!!!
- On March 20th MCA Records will be raking in more cash for having had
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers on their label. MCA did the same thing back in October with
Anthology. The COOL thing is that all of the CDs are digitally remastered. The CDs will contain the
complete original artwork and lyrics. In the transition from vinyl to CD, some of the artwork
and all the lyrics were left out of the initial CD packaging. This will be the FIRST time lyrics
will be included with Damn The Torpedoes.
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March 5, 2001
Tom Petty on MTV & VH1 in March
- According to Cathy of the official site, TP was recently interviewed for two shows to air
this month. One on MTV, the other on VH1. No dates and times were given.
Here's the info I found out:
MTV
20 YEARS OF ROCK ON MTV
On-Air Premiere:
Saturday, Mar. 17th
12PM (ET/PT), 11AM (CT)
VH1
No showtimes available for this show... yet. BUT go to: VH1 (click here)
and vote for Tom Petty in:
Celebrity Cameo in a Video - Into The Great Wide Open
I could care less about Johnny Depp's cameo, but it's a TP song, right?
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mtv.com
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Tom Petty's Birthday Banner
- For those of you who didn't know or don't remember, prior to October 20th 2000,
TPRox (Diane) organized for a banner to be flown over Tom Petty's house on his 50th birthday. Several
fans from the official BBS had chipped in to give Tom Petty this gift. Diane had finally received pictures
of the banner this weekend. She asked that I post them here and on the BBS. Thanks to Diane and everyone
who chipped in.
Thanks to TPRox!!!
Go to the pictures section for bigger picture!
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March 2, 2001
Just For Fun
- Mike Campbell played with Dirty Knobs at 14 Below
in Santa Monica into the wee hours of February 24th.
Thanks to Dan Johnson for the info AND the picture! Dan manages a Pink Floyd tribute
band in LA called Which One's Pink? Check out his site at www.whichonespink.com.
Mike Campbell with Dirty Knobs
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March 1, 2001 (February 29th)
Happy Birthday Laura!!!
- Thanks for all your help and photo donations to this site!
Thanks for being such a great friend! Here's wishing you many many more!
So why does this remind me of the commercial where the lady looks at the back
of the card? She probably wouldn't see the Hallmark label on this one, huh?
Pocahontas4tomtom
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GoneGator Mailing List
- I was thinking of starting a mailing list to notify users of any new additions
to the site (Pictures, Tour Dates, News, etc.). We could also use it for ticket swapping "when
the time comes."
If interested, click here!
Yesterday I added a "Current Visitors" line to the bottom of all the pages. You can see how
many people are using the site at any given moment. If there's more than one person, check out the chat room!
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What Are You Doin' In My Life?
- Ok, guess I'll make this a monthly thing. I always loved "What Are You Doin'
In My Life" from Damn The Torpedoes. I liked it even more after my stalker experience.
I've always wondered who that song was about. I'm sure Tom has a ton of stalker stories. Some of Tom's stories
may include some of you. Actually, they may include 63% of you! (Run Tom! Run!)
Last Month's Results:
When you hear Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are coming to your town, you ...
Think: "cool, I'll get tickets"!: 34%
Bug all your music biz friends to get you tickets: 2%
Begin camping out at the ticket outlet that day: 19%
Get tour dates from Gone Gator, make travel plans: 21%
Sacrifice neighbor's pet, thank the concert Gods: 23%
Total Votes: 47
How much do you like Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers? Are you a fan, fanatic or do we need to
send the men with the white coats to pick you up?
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Nothing Petty
