By Shay Quillen
Mercury News
In case anyone didn't know what to expect from Mudcrutch, lead singer Tom Petty set the capacity crowd straight after the first number Monday at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium.
"You've come to the right place if you're looking for some good old hippie music tonight," the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer said, a bass guitar around his neck and a wide grin across his face.
And the quintet - including Mike Campbell on guitar and Benmont Tench on keyboards from Petty's current band, the Heartbreakers - delivered as promised, conjuring memories of the Flying Burrito Brothers, the latter-day Byrds and even the Grateful Dead on both new songs and familiar oldies from its Florida bar-band past.
It was nothing earth-shaking, but the joy and friendship emanating from the stage was contagious.
This was only the second show for the band Petty reassembled last year - after 35 years apart - to record an album of all-new material, set for release later this month. He had formed it with singer-guitarist Tom Leadon in 1970. (The tour continues with sold-out shows tonight and Thursday at the Fillmore in San Francisco.)
In fact, it was the second show ever for this lineup, as Tench didn't officially join until after Leadon left in '72. So it wasn't surprising things started out a bit shaky with a "Shady Grove" that found drummer Randall Marsh struggling to lock in with the rest of the band.
But before long, the easygoing country-rock began to jell on
Petty's fine post-Katrina song "Orphan of the Storm" and the old truck-driving anthem "Six Days on the Road."
By the time they launched into Dylan's "Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Mine)," the band was firing on all cylinders, and a powerful version of the Byrds' "Lover of the Bayou" played to the band's strengths perfectly.
Much of the night, however, was devoted to brand-new Petty tunes. The first single, "I Don't Scare Easy," could easily have fit on a recent Heartbreakers album, but other songs allowed Petty to explore less-traveled terrain: "House of Stone" echoes Hank Williams; "Crystal River" gives his buddy Campbell a chance to flex his inner Jerry Garcia.
Leadon acquitted himself ably singing harmony to Petty, but his lightweight lead vocals sounded more suited for a coffeehouse than a barn-burning rock band.
On guitar, however, his interplay with Campbell was often thrilling, especially on the new Campbell/Petty composition "Bootleg Flyer." Tench was his usual expert self on piano and organ.
The set closed with a raucous "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" that found many in the crowd taking the "everybody must get stoned" chorus to heart.
For the encores, the hardwood floor of the Civic turned into a hippie sock hop as Mudcrutch rocked through hot versions of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" and Jerry Lee Lewis' "High School Confidential."
By then, Petty wasn't the only one with a huge grin.
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