Tom Petty performs before a packed Germain Amphitheater crowd.

By Aaron Beck
The Columbus Dispatch
JAMES D. DECAMP DISPATCH

We all have gifts. Some are blessed with athletic prowess, some with the patience to teach children, some with the capacity to endure office work. Tom Petty is blessed with a voice like no other, and a person who has spent even the slightest time near FM radio since 1976 -- the year Petty and the Heartbreakers released their self-titled debut -- can recognize that tobacco smoke-bred, nasal delivery coming at them through the man's ample, seemingly clenched teeth.
It sounded rare then and -- in 2006, when can hear so many new voices 24 hours a day on the Internet, satellite radio and beyond -- it sounds even rarer.

Rock 'n' roll fans should be thankful the Gainesville, Fla., native is still gracious enough to share that instrument with us.

Petty and the Heartbreakers, on what they're hinting will be the final big-venue hits parade, performed last night in a packed Germain Amphitheater.

Petty, with drummer Steve Ferrone, guitarist-harmonica player Scott Thurston, bassist Ron Blair and the two who have been with Petty since 1975 -- guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench -- gave a performance suitable for a joint that holds 20,000.

There of course were hits and the set was packed with the familiar from four decades, including Listen to Her Heart, from '78, with its conspicuous Byrds jingle-jangle; You Don't Know How It Feels ('94); I Won't Back Down ('89) and a duo of new tunes.

Those new songs, to be included on Petty's first studio album in four years, Highway Companion, included Saving Grace. Carried by a John Lee Hooker/Billy Gibbons-like guitar line, was sinister, bottom-heavy rockabilly. Square One, with Petty on acoustic guitar, touched on absolving one's self of mistakes and guilt, was something anyone with age marks around the eyes ought to be able to understand.

There were surprises, including I'm a Man and Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac's Oh Well.
And there was a guest: Stevie Nicks, whose husky, dusky pipes make a perfect companion for Petty's twang.

Nicks' performance and presence really upped the energy of the show. Twirling in her trademark frilly, friendly-witch garb, she belted out Stop Draggin' My Heart Around ('81) and burned the barn down with Petty and the Heartbreakers on I Need to Know ('78).
"We're just havin' some fun is all," said Petty. "Just having some fun."

And it was. But what truly is exciting is the future. Hits-stoked, two-hour amphitheater shows are fun, familiar and a good way to persuade people to pay upwards of $80 a head to see them. If Petty is serious about shelving the idea for a while, or for good, so be it. The guy's discography is deep and lined with so many good rock songs. Watching him play those in new ways in new venues and using that distinct voice that is going to get only more distinct will make for some real news to share.

A man with a not so distinct voice played first last night -- former Phish guitarist-singer-songwriter Trey Anastasio. His previous band played three-hour noodlefests and were known for covering an entire album by, say, the Beatles.

Solo, Anastasio played it more straight-ahead, going for '70s soul-rock vibe as he played not-so-distinct solos and singing in a voice that if it were a color would be beige.