Black Crowes, Tom Petty deliver memorable performances

By BY MARK S. KRZOS
mkzros@news-press.com

For anyone who loves good ol' American rock 'n' roll, Germain Arena was the place to be Tuesday night because the recently reunited Black Crowes and a lively Tom Petty delivered unforgettable sets sprinkled with songs clearly influenced by their forefathers.

The Black Crowes, led by Chris and Rich Robinson, took the stage before a subdued and seated crowd. Seventy-minutes and eight songs later, nearly everyone inside was either singing along or swaying to the band's psychedelic grooves.

The Crowes kicked off their set with a barrage of songs that sounded plucked right from the Woodstock era. "Greasy Grass River" and "Sting Me," the first two songs of the night, were flawless in their execution. With Chris Robinson's high-pitched howls, guitarists Rich Robinson and Marc Ford took over the stage, feeding each other steaming riffs as if they were trying to outdo each other throughout a series of improvisational jams.

The improvisation was stunning and even Chris Robinson seemed to be impressed, clapping, smiling, dancing and singing his way through songs like "Soul Singing," "Wiser Time," "Thorn In My Pride," "Space Captain" and "Jealous Again."

By the time, the Crowes reached their final song, "Hard to Handle," the sold-out crowd was on its feet, begging for more of their organic sound to wash over them.

With the bar set high, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, had the unenviable task of trying to top one of the best performances I've seen by an opening act in the 10 years I've been seeing concerts in Southwest Florida.

It didn't matter that Petty's set lacked the explosive fireworks and musicianship of the Crowes' set, it was his fans in the audience — and they showed it with sing-alongs, spirited dancing and chants of "Petty, Petty, Petty."

Unlike his former tour mate, Bob Dylan, who barely said a word to his audience at Hammond Stadium two weeks ago, Petty was playful, chatted with the crowd and introduced several of his songs — although most of them needed no introduction. What is amazing about Petty is his ability to continuously write hit song after hit song, and Tuesday's show was chock full of them.

Petty pulled hits from throughout his almost 30-year career. There was "Don't Do Me Like That" from the 1970s, "Don't Come Around Here No More" and his Traveling Wilburys' song "Handle With Care" from the mid-1980s, "Free Fallin" and "I Won't Back Down" from the late 1980s and "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and "You Don't Know How It Feels" from the mid-1990s.
About midway through Petty's set, I realized that the last time I saw Petty was 19 years ago, when he and Bob Dylan hooked up from a short tour with The Grateful Dead. Then I realized that the last time I saw the Crowes was 10 years ago opening for The Grateful Dead in Tampa. That's a lot of years, and many music trends and bands have come and gone. What makes bands like the Crowes and Petty so special is that they make music that strikes such an emotional chord that makes fans want to come back for more.

They know that there's more to being an artist than screaming into a microphone or passing off vocal histrionics as passion. It's about a vibe, a feel that you get when everything comes together and a performance sends goosebumps up and down your spine. Making heartfelt music isn't easy. If it were, we wouldn't need reality shows like "The Surreal Life" or "Hit Me Baby One More Time."

Long live rock and roll.