Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Headline San Francisco Festival

Mitchell Peters, L.A.
The U.S. festival frenzy continues with today's (March 3) announcement that Radiohead, Tom Petty and Jack Johnson will headline San Francisco's inaugural Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival, to be held Aug. 22-24 at Golden Gate Park.

"This has been a project we've been working on for almost three years," Superfly Productions president Jonathan Mayers tells Billboard.com. "We're going to produce something special here -- something that maybe the Bay Area hasn't seen before."

Additional acts for Outside Lands will be announced in the coming weeks, says Mayers, who promises a "strong and diverse" lineup of such musical genres as rock, blues, reggae, jazz, hip-hop, world, soul, Latin and electronic. The festival, which will boast five main performance stages, will also feature a number of local Bay Area artists.

The event is being produced by Superfly Productions, Another Planet Entertainment and Star Hill Presents, in cooperation with the San Francisco Recreation & Park Department. Mayers, whose company produces the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in conjunction with A.C.

Entertainment, says Outside Lands tickets will go on sale around the end of March."We are starting with a three-day ticket and depending on availability we're going to do single-day tickets," he explains. "We're still finalizing the exact price, but we're going to offer an initial discounted ticket to people."

A portion of every ticket sold will benefit Golden Gate Park, which has hosted a number of concerts over the years, including the Tibetan Freedom Concert, Peter Gabriel's WOMAD Festival and the Guinness Fleadh Festival.

The 1,000-plus acre park has also seen performances from such artists as Pearl Jam, Neil Young and Dave Matthews.Noting that concerts are nothing new for Golden Gate Park, Mayers says Outside Lands will be the first music event there to run past 6 p.m. "We're going until the 10 o1clock curfew on Friday and Saturday," he says.

"It's a little bit earlier on Sunday. That alone will be special."Outside Lands will arrive approximately one month prior to San Francisco's Treasure Island Music Festival (Sept. 20-21) and several months ahead of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (April 25-27) in Indio, Calif. Despite the competition in California, not to mention other large-scale festivals throughout North America, Mayers is confident that Outside Lands will draw about 60,000 nationwide concertgoers per day.

"While we stay aware of what's out there, I think our philosophy is to stay focused on what we're doing and just make it the best event it can be," he explains. "I'm confident it will go great. And I'm sure the other events will do great as well -- there's certainly room.

"Mayers adds that the combined knowledge and experience of Superfly Productions (which also produces the Vegoose event in Las Vegas) and Bay Area-based Another Planet Entertainment will prove beneficial to festival-goers. "[Another Planet] is doing great shows and have a lot of experience on the local level," Mayers observes. "We bring the expertise on the festival level.

It's about creating more than just a normal concert. We're really trying to build an annual tradition in San Francisco -- something that really integrates into the community."

Steve Winwood Joins Tom Petty, Readies New Disc

By Mack Rawden:

Steve Winwood is underrated. No, he’s beyond underrated. He’s categorically ignored, and that startling fact should be appalling to anyone with even the vaguest knowledge of music history. At fifteen, Steve Winwood joined the Spencer Davis Group and recorded a slew of great songs, including the brilliant “Gimme Some Lovin’.” By his early twenties, he’d formed Traffic, played alongside Eric Clapton in Blind Faith, and even convinced Hendrix to record “All Along The Watchtower.” What else? Oh yeah, he performed the organ work on Joe Cocker’s cover of “With A Little Help From My Friends” and contributed all the samples for Eric Prydz’s “Call On Me.” At some point, he also wrote “Higher Love”, one of my favorite songs–ever!

According to Billboard, Steve Winwood has signed with Columbia Records and will release a new album entitled Nine Lives, which fittingly includes nine songs. He’s also agreed to tour with Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers this summer as their opening act. When does he sleep? Do yourself a favor and pick up anything he’s ever touched. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Here’s a video of Steve performing “Gimme Some Lovin”...

Tom Petty to release live album in November

The Rock Radio OnlineIf all goes well, the long-awaited live album from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers will be out late this year. Petty's talked about releasing a tour document for a while now, and he told Rolling Stone magazine, "We've been working on (it) since before the (2006) tour started. (Lead guitarist) Mike Campbell is producing it. They've played me six or seven things that were really stunning that they already finished. I think (the album) is scheduled for November."

Petty also said his next album would be with the Heartbreakers, though he hasn't written anything for it yet, so there's no timetable.

In addition, Petty will be represented visually late this year when the Heartbreakers documentary from director Peter Bogdanovich is released. Petty said, "It looks pretty great. I think he's mostly based it around the concert we did in Gainesville (Florida) in September. It sort of goes into flashbacks, with lots of archival footage, and then just keeps coming back to the present, whether it's the rehearsals or on the airplane or at the concert in Gainesville."

Soundstage Celebrates 4th Season With Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Live from Gatorville

Classic American rockers and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS (March 1, 2007) accompanied by special guest, Stevie Nicks, perform such hits as 'American Girl,' 'Learning To Fly,' and 'Stop Draggin' My Heart Around.' The performances were all filmed in Petty's hometown of Gainesville , making this an emotional and electrifying evening for him.

Tom Petty and Gatorland, ville

Scott Powers - Orlando Sentinel

Contrary to reports, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers aren't doing any shows with Gatorland, but the rockers send their regards.

Earlier this week a new music TV channel, called Rave HD, announced it would present the world premiere of "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Live From Gatorland."

What's this? Is the Florida native doing a benefit show for the old Florida attraction, damaged and temporarily closed by a Nov. 6 fire?

Turns out, the "Gatorland" in the title referred to the land of the Gators, as in Gainesville, hometown to both Petty and the Florida Gators, where the show was recorded on Sept. 21.

Advised there existed a real Gatorland (one with a long history, a current news issue and a legal trademark) Petty's manager said Friday they would change the name of the show.
Now it will be billed "Petty & the Heartbreakers: Live from Gatorville," said manager Tony Dimitriades.

They're changing the name out of respect for to the park, Dimitriades said.
Meanwhile, Gatorland is pushing forward on its Nov. 24 reopening. Spokeswoman Michelle Harris said a Petty representative she spoke with sounded sympathetic about the attraction's plight, so she tried to work with that.

"We said we'd love to have them play Gatorland's grand opening next weekend," she said. "We extended the offer to them. Maybe they'll take us up."
Click here for RaveHD

Here's the Press Release from the 15th

VOOM'S RAVE HD SCORESWORLD BROADCAST PREMIERE OFTOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS'SOLD-OUT HOMECOMING CONCERT"TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS: LIVE FROM GATORLAND" ON DECEMBER 15

New York, November 15, 2006 - Solidifying its emerging status as the prime television destination for top music acts, VOOM HD Network's RAVE HD-the first and only 24/7 high definition music channel-will present the world premiere of "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Live From Gatorland," a special concert featuring Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. On December 15th at 9 P.M. ET and again at 9 P.M. PT, catch the band as they return to Gainesville, FL, where it all started, to play their first hometown show in 13 years. The performance, part of their current North American concert tour, was shot on September 21st, with Stevie Nicks joining the band on stage for several songs.

RAVE HD will air additional showings of this two-hour special event during the holiday season.
Rave HD is a new way to experience music on television. The first-ever 24/7 high definition music channel, Rave HD offers commercial-free programming that harnesses the surround-sound power of Dolby Digital 5.1, and the breathtaking depth and clarity of state-of-the-art HD video technology, to showcase music with a physical and emotional impact that television has never delivered before. Rave HD is one of the VOOM HD Networks, a critically acclaimed collection of 15 high-def channels with programming that also covers sports, video games, movies, art, family fare and news. Rave HD is currently available on channel 9470 on the DISH Network.

For Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, The Gainesville concert was an emotional and electrifying evening, as it was for the many family, friends, fans and media who attended from all over the world. The band performed songs from their three-decade career, including rarely played gems, influential covers, and songs from Petty's new solo album, Highway Companion. The Gainesville Sun's front-page headline review described the show as "a raucous triumph." To commemorate their return to Gainesville and the band's 30th anniversary, Gainesville's Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan presented the band with the key to the city and proclaimed September 21 "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Day."

Since his band's self-titled debut in 1976, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers have sold more than 50-million records, been nominated for 16 Grammy Awards, and as a group in 2002, were inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Petty's third solo release, Highway Companion, became Petty's highest-ever chart debut when it was released earlier this year to tremendous critical acclaim. Associated Press calls it "one of Petty's finest albums" and People gave it four stars, citing it as "most definitely worth the journey." Highway Companion is out now on American Recordings.
Additional holiday airings include

December 24th at 10 P.M. ET,
December 25th at 8 P.M. ET,
December 27th at 3 P.M. ET and
December 29th at 9 P.M. ET.

What's not to like about Tom Petty?

By SHAWN TELFORD
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

This essay does not intend to answer the following question but begs the discussion: What is the cultural significance of Tom Petty?

Sixteen Grammy nominations, four Grammy Awards, 15 albums on Billboard's Top 100, 15 singles on Billboard's Hot 100, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, member of the Traveling Wilburys with rock legends Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne, accolades and awards too numerous to mention, he stayed cool through the '80s without becoming a novelty and, most important, everyone just loves Petty.

OK, maybe not "love" love. Perhaps it's better to say that no one hates Petty. In fact, his appreciation goes from "Yeah, he's OK" to "I love him," but never "I hate him."

Why is that? This is an artist known for writing three-chord songs, and his nasally vocals don't have much range, he's never too high or too low, neither too flowery nor technically ornate. Could Petty's success lie in his simplicity? Never one to show off, his meek demeanor and straightforward approach have made him an Everyman whose broad message is so perfectly plain that listeners can find a piece of themselves in it.

The thousands who descended upon White River Amphitheatre Sunday night certainly found something. Most of the diverse crowd stood through the entire show singing so loud to the defiant "I Won't Back Down" that Petty admitted it almost knocked him down. "Free Fallin' " was no quieter as it seemed everyone must have known a girl who loves her momma, "loves Jesus and America, too." And again during "You Don't Know How It Feels," the audience pined along with Petty because who hasn't felt alienated and trapped "too alone to be proud"? Yeah, you don't know how it feels to be me, do you?

In addition to his innate ability to reduce the trials and tribulations of everyday life into something simply poetic, Petty has pretty cool friends, too, like honorary Heartbreaker Stevie Nicks, who made a surprise appearance to sing "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and then stuck around to duet with Petty on "I Need To Know" and "Insider."

Pretty cool, right? Well, it gets better because who recently toured with Petty? Pearl Jam. So who else made a surprise appearance to sing "The Waiting"? You guessed it: Eddie Vedder.
Now, let's ponder this: The dead-sexy Stevie Nicks playing tambourine in your band is pretty cool, but Stevie and Eddie both on tambourine and backing vocals is unbelievable. Even Vedder found the experience overwhelming when, during the "American Girl" encore, he messed up the lyrics and turned mischievously to Petty, who quickly stepped in to show the younger rock star how it's done. It gave Vedder time to remember the words so that verse two went perfectly. The real crowning moment was Vedder, Nicks and Petty singing, "Oh yeah, all right/ Take it easy, baby/ Make it last all night/ She was an American girl!"

So, in conclusion, if anyone were ever to ask if Tom Petty really matters, the right answer would be, "Are you kidding?"

Not a complaint, Petty or otherwise

By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News

Tom Petty is in danger of becoming the prisoner of his own hits.

At first on Sunday night it seemed like he'd finally succumbed. With an elaborate stage setting and one of the best bands in the world backing him, Petty seemed content to glide from one perfectly delivered radio hit to the next: Listen to Her Heart, I Won't Back Down, Free Fallin', Last Dance With Mary Jane, etc.

The Heartbreakers can play the heck out of those songs, but that's the point - they already have. Was this to be just a rehash of Petty's last seven appearances at Red Rocks, with fancier lights and more technology? An hour later you feel dumb for even thinking that thought.

Oh, there still were plenty of hits, and often you couldn't hear Petty sing because the crowd handled the vocals. While I'd still trade 100 versions of Refugee to hear Change of Heart or It'll All Work Out in concert again, Petty more than made up for it. It was a trip through past and future, and while the hits are great, the offbeat moments were insanely good.

The band showed its influences, covering the Yardbirds' version of I'm a Man and Fleetwood Mac's Oh Well; the latter gave guitarist Mike Campbell (in some dreadlock rasta style phase) to show yet another song he can effortlessly devastate with manic yet precise guitar solos.

Learning to Fly was given a tender, slow acoustic treatment, stripped of Jeff Lynne's studio gloss. The Traveling Wilburys' Handle With Care was sublime as always. But I don't know if I've ever heard an arena explode the way it did when Petty brought Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder out to handle the vocals on The Waiting. It would be madness not to issue that live version through iTunes immediately.

Saving Grace was a John Lee Hooker-style blues vamp of isolation and searching from the upcoming album, Highway Companion. The song shows that, like his peers Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, Petty has the ability and will to continue to write great songs.

The Heartbreakers draw from all forms of music (rock, folk, surf, pop, country) and create a sound like no one else. They never stop pushing, such as when keyboard player Benmont Tench found new places for fills in Running Down a Dream.

The band is a true American musical treasure, the likes of which we may never see again. I'll happily be there next time around - even if it's nothing but greatest hits.

Tom Petty: Still a Heartbreaker

BY IRA ROBBINS
Special to Newsday

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ended Tuesday's show at the beginning, with "American Girl," the enduring contribution to skinny tie new wave music from their 1976 debut album. Some rockers of such vintage might be self-conscious about the connotations of a three-decade career, but Petty - who, at 55, still has his blond locks and his svelte figure - was never an icon of youth or rebellion. His values skirt such elements in tuneful electric pop that, since "American Girl" at least, have rarely been tied to a big idea or a particular era.

Free of such encumbrance, his achievement and endurance are markers of a well-built machine, not a fading legacy. The few new songs in a carefully constructed two-hour set were ladled gently into a parade of hits, some of them featuring old duet partner Stevie Nicks, who thoughtfully brought along enough gear for two costume changes.

Petty has never been the most forceful front man, but his top-notch band, led by guitarist Mike Campbell, buoys the laconic rocker to effortless agreeability. At only a couple of points, including a note-for-note reproduction of the Yardbirds' 1965 take on "I'm a Man" and the three songs leading up to the encore - "Don't Come Around Here No More," "Refugee" and "Runnin' Down a Dream" - were any fires set onstage. Campbell, sporting dreadlocks and facial hair, looked positively delighted to get excited; otherwise, Petty set the energy level on moderate, rendering sturdy tunes relieved of such traditional rock elements as sex, sweat and rebellion.

In their own way, Petty's songs reveal a deeply felt American sensibility. Without making any overt statements, he endorses freedom, perseverance, courage and recreational sedation.

Starting with "Listen to Her Heart" and "You Don't Know How It Feels" (the drug references in both, as well as in the subsequent "Mary Jane's Last Dance," might explain a surprising amount of unimpeded pot-smoking in the audience), Petty and the five Heartbreakers made it look and sound easy, with measured rhythms, gentle singing and a solid beat provided by Steve Ferrone.
With the homogenization of rock into safe, predictable entertainment, Petty is nothing if not a reliable crowd-pleaser, and he delivered it all: hits, covers, new tunes, genial remarks, the works. If the shapeless boogie of "Saving Grace" and the acoustic plainness of "Square One" offered a discouraging preview of his impending "Highway Companion" album, a pair of borrowed tunes ("I'm a Man" and the pre-Nicks Fleetwood Mac guitar rave-up "Oh Well") brought the past convincingly to life. Nicks joined in on their 1981 hit "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" as well as "I Need to Know" and "American Girl"; Petty's thoroughgoing retrospective even had room for the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care," during which Heartbreaker Scott Thurston gamely attempted the late Roy Orbison's part.

Trey Anastasio, the guitarist-singer late of Phish, opened the evening with an extremely long hour of cotton-wrapped rhythms, shapeless songs and aimless jams that was greeted by some of the most arrhythmic crowd dancing this side of "Barney and Friends."

TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS. Thirty years of hits and no fouls. Seen at Madison Square Garden Tuesday.

Breaking News From Mansfield

I was just emailed this info from a trustworthy source!

Would've worked better had I been on air...

Breaking news for you and your faithful listeners. I just two minutes ago got a phone call from some of my pals who are at the Mansfield MA show tonight and they played me - over the phone - FOOLED AGAIN (i dont like it)

Nice to see a setlist change.

Madison Square Garden Review

By PHIL GALLO - Variety

Tom Petty played three songs from his upcoming album as he and the Heartbreakers played Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

For 30 years, Tom Petty has avoided the tug of nostalgia in assembling his shows: Nearly each of his tours with the Heartbreakers has been accompanied by a new release whose material is firmly integrated among the hits and oddities. This summer, Petty's on a two-fold mission -- celebrating the three decades since their debut recording and working in new tracks from his solo disc "Highway Companion," which American Recordings will release July 25. Three new songs made it into Tuesday's set and they are wildly different from each other; they share, however, a desire for musical intimacy that's a tough sell in a basketball arena.

Petty devoted two-thirds of his 21-song show to hit singles, opening with "Listen to Her Heart" and closing with "American Girl," but he is reaching for a level of connection with fans that seems to only interest artists once they pass the age of 45 (he's 55).

His attempt at intimacy -- an acoustic segment, favoring songs that play at a lope rather than a gallop, showcasing more introverted material -- falls short in places yet never because of a fault in the execution. (Abundant guitar changes stunted the pacing.) Petty has never been one for spontaneity or shtick and his lack of salesman skills hurt him as the audience drifted from rapt on "I Need to Know," with guest Stevie Nicks leading the vocals, to disinterest three slow songs later when Nicks and Petty were delivering a beautiful and graceful duet on "Insider" that reminded of Gram Parson and Emmylou Harris.

Remarkably, the band recovered with "Don't Come Around Here No More," an equally tepidly paced ballad, but one that plays off striking dynamics between the instrumentalists and one that kicks into high gear toward its conclusion. Energy in the sold-out arena was viscerally changed, but it mostly didn't matter: Only "Refugee""Refugee" and "Running Down a Dream" were left before the encores started.

The segment that damaged the pacing included two new songs, "Melinda" and "Square One," that felt out of context in a triple-decker musical sandwich that included a Nicks-mumbled "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and a gently rendered "Learning to Fly."

"Melinda" opens at the steady pace of a train as Petty sings about a woman who's far away yet worthy of him spending all his savings to travel to see her. It draws its musical substantiveness, though, when it suddenly shifts into an angular Steely Dan-ish mode and Benmont Tench is given space to explore a series of block chord solos on the piano and a few washes on the synthesizer.

"Square One" is more pop-oriented and cuddly, a number that sounds like it should have been offered to the Dixie Chicks. It has AC radio written all over it and if its chorus of the protagonist's tabula rosa approach to romance clicks with listeners it might have a future at radio.

The other rookie, the boogie-pop "Saving Grace," served as the anthem for the NBA Finals last week -- an odd choice lyrically, musically and demographically -- but it drives home the point that heroes of the '70s and '80s have no choice but to go the sponsorship route to get their new music heard outside the concert venues. Like Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp and Neil YoungNeil Young -- artists who filled their coffers with proceeds from anthems and then had something deeper to say after the auds stopped their fist pumping -- Petty appears determined to look forward while delivering a satisfying overview of his recording career.

Bonus points are culled from his continuing to introduce spirited covers that influenced him as a kid. The Yardbirds' version of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man" fit the Heartbreakers' skill set perfectly; Peter Green's "Oh Well" isn't quite right for Petty's nasally tone, but the band marvelously nailed the riffs of the early Fleetwood Mac hit; and "Mystic Eyes," Van Morrison's terrifying shot at blending voodoo and psychedelia during his tenure with Them, was one of the evening's highlights. The Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care" featured rhythm guitarist-harmonica player Scott Thurston admirably singing Roy Orbison's parts.

The Heartbreakers are still driven by the wide-ranging guitar talent of Mike Campbell and Tench's ace keyboard work. They shake up the best-known songs with little touches and late in the evening get to disembowel "You Wreck Me," modulating the melody from driving rock to a measured clip to an almost ambient soundscape. At the tune's slowest moments, Campbell produced a solo that drew from Jerry Garcia's more-inspired work, a nice touch on a night that found Campbell generally working with a meatier tone and flashier solos.

Petty & the Heartbreakers have been an arena act for nearly 90% of their existence and as a leader Petty walks a rare line between commercial and critical viability. Tune after tune Tuesday, it was reminder how much Petty is a crucial and almost inexplicable bridge between the artistic and populist: He's the step between Bob Dylan and Cheap Trick, Bo Diddley and the Cars, Tim Buckley and Dashboard Confessional.

His 27-date tour, which doesn't have an L.A. show yet, partners him with the Allman Brothers Band or Pearl Jam on varying bills. And while those two acts have more adventurous experiments in their past, it will be interesting to see whose sound stands up to time better. Don't bet against Petty.

Petty & the Heartbreakers return to New York to toplinetopline Amsterjam on Randall's Island on Aug. 19.

Tom Petty Owns Bonnaroo

Spin Magazine - Thanks Laurie for the heads up!Suddenly, Tom Petty is the coolest rocker on earth. Not sure when exactly that happened, but no one could have stood as tall upon Bonnaroo's main stage last night. Playing a barrage of his massive radio hits -- "Refugee," "Mary Jane's Last Dance," "Don't Come Around Here No More," and the epic "Freefallin'" -- Petty bathed in the crowd's warm responses for every moment of his two-plus-hours onstage. Even better: an impromptu duet with Stevie Nicks on "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." Spin climbed the rafters and got these amazing shots of the stellar headline set.

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.

Tom Petty at nTelos Pavilion

By JEFF MAISEY, The Virginian-Pilot

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers brought their Highway Companion Tour to the nTelos Pavilion at Harbor Center on Monday in celebration of the band's 30th anniversary.

Midway through the nearly two-hour set, Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks joined the band on stage. She wasn't the only musical star at the venue, though. The members of Nine Inch Nails and Bauhaus, who performed the night before at the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater, were seated in the audience.

"I had the day off from our tour," said Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. "From a songwriting point of view, Tom Petty has been a big influence on my career."

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers -- Mike Campbell (guitars), Benmont Tench (keyboards), Ron Blair (bass), Scott Thurston (guitars) and Steve Ferrone (drums) -- gave a well-balanced performance of their signature hits, familiar covers and a sampling of new material from the upcoming album "Highway Companion," due to be released next month.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees opened with "Listen to Her Heart," with Petty strumming his tear-shaped guitar. An overhead curved video panel provided colorful images of the band members throughout the night.

Petty then switched to his trademark Rickenbacher six-string for "You Don't Know How It Feels."

Petty was keen on supplying the hits, such as "Refuge," "I Won't Back Down," "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "Free Fallin'." He also shared some of the songs that influence his songwriting, including The Yardbirds' "I'm a Man" and "Oh Well," a Fleetwood Mac tune that pre-dates Stevie Nicks' membership in that group. They also played "Handle With Care," a song Petty co-wrote with Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, George Harrison and Roy Orbison as a member of Traveling Wilburys,

Petty's new material, while nice to hear, doesn't hold a candle to the songs from his last studio album, "Last DJ." "Square One" smacked of Bob Seger's "Against the Wind," and "Saving Grace" grooved like ZZ Top's "La Grange," specifically the lifted John Lee Hooker guitar riff.

Stevie Nicks received a thunderous round of applause when Petty introduced her as she strode across the stage to join the band for "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," the 1981 duet Petty wrote for her solo debut. The version was done exceptionally well. It was followed by "I Need to Know," with Nicks singing the lead part. Afterward she exited the stage briefly and rejoined the band as a guest backup singer for the remainder of the concert.

Toss in "Learning to Fly" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and the sold-out crowd certainly got its money's worth.

On a cool, misty night more indicative of a late spring concert in Portsmouth, England, than Portsmouth, Va., Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers gave a magical performance that will go down as one of this year's best.

Tom Petty rich in hits, surprise singer

COURTNEY DEVORES
Special to the Observer

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 30th anniversary tour kicked off Friday night in Charlotte at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre and included an unannounced performance by Stevie Nicks.
Petty and his band came onstage after an opening set by former Phish front-man Trey Anastasio. Flanked by a teardrop shaped Vox guitar and wearing a blank velvet blazer, red shirt and tie, Petty launched into 1978's "Listen to Her Heart." He followed that up with a string of crowd pleasers -- "You Don't Know How It Feels," "Won't Back Down" and "Free Fallin'," which had the audience loudly singing along.

Petty voiced his gratitude after "Saving Grace," a new song from the forthcoming album "Highway Companion" that he said they'd never played live before.

"I'm always scared to play a new song," he said afterward. The John Lee Hooker-style tune received a great response from the crowd that remained standing.

You didn't have to own any of Petty's albums to truly enjoy the show because it was so rich in radio hits. Of course Petty is one of the rare older artists who found support from MTV and VH1. He could still get a video in regular rotation on MTV 20 years into his career. That may explain the younger college and high school-aged fans in the crowd who blew up when sideman, guitarist, and backing vocalist Scott Thurston cranked into the familiar harmonica intro of "Mary Jane's Last Dance," a 1993 hit.

Anyone whose interest waned during tributes to influences such as early Fleetwood Mac rose to attention when Stevie Nicks took the stage for "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and "I Need to Know." Flubbing the lyrics on the first chorus to "Stop Draggin'," Nicks said singing with Petty made her a touch nervous.

She reappeared toward the end of the set for "Insider" from Petty's early 1980s "Hard Promises" album and she stuck around to sing backup with the Heartbreakers on "Learning to Fly", "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "Refugee."

With only a no frills, piano key-looking lighting rig and a few screens draping the stage, the performance of Petty and his Heartbreakers -- drummer Steve Ferrone, guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboard player Benmont Tench, bassist Ron Blair and Thurston -- was low on theatrics, but big on songs from a deep catalog that his audience was eager to hear.

Tom Petty rolls out rock classics

With Heartbreakers, Stevie Nicks in tow, he mines his catalog
BY MELISSA RUGGIERITIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Jun 12, 2006

MANASSAS -- To celebrate 30 years in rock'n'roll, Tom Petty and his ever-reliable Heartbreakers are giving fans the type of hit parade few of his contemporaries can muster.
On the second date of the Highway Companion Tour, the effortlessly cool singer/guitarist ripped through a catalog that touched on his tenure in the Traveling Wilburys and his solo work, plus a cover of vintage Fleetwood Mac ("Oh Well") and a vision of later Mac with the appearance of longtime comrade Stevie Nicks.

At 55, Petty looks and sounds terrific. His sharp features framed by his trademark floppy blond hair, Petty spent much of the robust two-hour concert slithering across the stage with graceful spins and frequently blowing kisses to the crowd of more than 20,000.
He's also a sincere, casual host, who, when he drawled "I love y'all out there" in his measured twang, seemed to actually mean it.

Those sturdy Heartbreakers, led by guitarist Mike Campbell, unrecognizable in dreadlocks, buoyed "Free Fallin'" with clean guitar lines, while a woozy harmonica from Scott Thurston coated "Mary Jane's Last Dance" in a lackadaisical haze. Petty's distinctive nasal tones were also in perfect pitch, from "You Don't Know How It Feels," a reluctant sigh of a song that chugged appealingly, to the quiet rebellion of "I Won't Back Down."

With his first album in four years due next month (also called "Highway Companion"), Petty used his platform to debut "Saving Grace," a pumping rocker identified by a scratchy rockabilly riff and piano, a bit of a fresh old sound.

Midway through the concert, the band pulled out a glorious take on the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle with Care," with Thurston ably carrying Roy Orbison's rumbling part. That was the first bonus for the fervent audience much of it a couple of decades younger than the expected baby boomers, and one that rarely sat down.

Introduced as Petty's soul sister, the lovely Nicks, in layers of chiffon, twirled out for a passionate rendition of their 1981 duet, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," easily one of rock's coolest musical pairings and an undeniable highlight on Saturday.

Nicks, who appeared to have as much fun as Petty onstage, offered a fierce "I Need to Know," playing air guitar and banging a tambourine festooned with ribbons, Stevie-style. The duo also offered the less-known "Insider" as the sliding video screens split into two frames, giving an intimate view of the two singers watching each other with deep, unspoken meaning.

Nicks stuck around to blend in with the Heartbreakers and sing backup on a stripped acoustic version of "Learning to Fly" and the richly melodic "Don't Come Around Here No More," its frenzied coda awash in strobe lights.

With other Petty staples such as "Refugee" and the show-closing "American Girl" included, die-hard fans are sure to grouse about the mainstream obviousness of the set list. It's a silly quibble, because a tour billed as an anniversary should be represented by past glories. If you've got it, flaunt it -- and Petty has enough of it to last another 30 years.

Show Filled With Greatest Hits

COURTNEY DEVORES
Special to the Observer

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 30th anniversary tour kicked off Friday night in Charlotte at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.

Petty and his band came onstage after an opening set by former Phish front-man Trey Anastasio. Flanked by a teardrop shaped Vox guitar and wearing a blank velvet blazer, red shirt and tie, Petty launched into 1978's "Listen to Her Heart." He followed that up with a string of crowd pleasers -- "You Don't Know How It Feels," "Won't Back Down" and "Free Fallin'," which had the audience loudly singing along.

Petty voiced his gratitude after "Saving Grace," a new song from the forthcoming album "Highway Companion" that he said they'd never played live before.

"I'm always scared to play a new song," he said afterward. The John Lee Hooker-style tune received a great response from the crowd that remained standing.

You didn't have to own any of Petty's albums to truly enjoy the show because it was so rich in radio hits.

Backstage Pass Charlotte

Tom Petty has retro plans for summer

He’s celebrating 30 years on the road with old friends, old songs and a film in the works.
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY
The Associated Press

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are marking 30 years of touring this summer on a special trip that will have guests like Stevie Nicks and Pearl Jam, a batch of old Heartbreakers songs going back to the first album and a filmmaker.

“It’s not the most creative place as far as writing,” he said of the road. “And I think if you do take some time away, you come back with a much better band and a lot more enthusiasm for it.
“But I don’t get tired. We’re in such a nice position right now, things have gone so well. I have people approach me on the streets and say, ‘Thanks for writing the soundtrack to my life.’ I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel as a songwriter.”

The filmmaker is Peter Bogdanovich, who is doing a documentary on the band. He’s taping this tour as well as looking at past footage that he’ll piece together for a movie.

“We’ve given him a lot more access than we’ve ever given anyone,” Petty said. “He does follow us around with cameras, interviewing us, talking to lots of people. He’s spent a great deal of time going through footage of the last 30 years. So we have high hopes for the movie.”

“I don’t want it from my point of view ... sometimes we’re miked all day and it’s a little nerve-racking, but I’m really glad that somebody of that caliber wants to get this story down, because it is quite a story, and I think it deserves to be archived.”

Petty is also doing some sidework as a DJ for XM Satellite radio, where he plays vintage rock.
“The nice thing that I didn’t really count about it is so many young people write in and tell us that they had no knowledge of this music at all, and are getting turned on to things. I had a girl write in who never heard of Chuck Berry. And she was in her teens and was thanking me for discovering Chuck.”

Stevie Nicks Performing at First 8 Shows

From Stevie's site.

Fans attending the first eight shows of the Highway Companion tour are in for a special treat. We are happy to confirm that Stevie Nicks will join the tour for its first eight shows -- from the June 9 show at the Verizon Amphitheatre in Charlotte, N.C. through the June 21 show at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, Mass.

Stevie will perform a selection of songs with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers during these shows.

Tom Petty's Summer Tour His Last?

The Heartbreakers turn thirty with a blowout tour, movie

In 1976, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their debut album, and this summer Petty plans to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary in grand style. He and the Heartbreakers will hit the road in June on a tour that Petty says might be the band's last major summer outing; there's an ambitious documentary in the works; and Petty is finishing Highway Companion, a solo album tentatively due on Rick Rubin's American Recordings label this summer.

"It's a quieter album than I've done before," Petty says, sitting behind the sound desk in his home studio in Malibu. "I don't think I wasted any lines on this album. I think the songs are all there."

Petty exudes genuine pride as he debuts for Rolling Stone nine of the songs slated for Highway Companion, including "Square One" and "Turn This Car Around." He began recording the album last year with Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and fellow Traveling Wilbury Jeff Lynne. Each contributes guitar parts, Lynne plays keys and a Hofner bass, Campbell plays a hefty amount of slide guitar ("He's never been better," says Petty) and, for the first time on record, Petty plays drums. Though they all but finished recording in February, Petty says, "The only thing keeping me from wrapping things up is just going, 'Well, I wonder if there's one more in me?'"

Petty plans to incorporate some of these songs into the Heartbreakers tour this summer, which will kick off in June with openers including Pearl Jam, John Mayer, Trey Anastasio and, Petty hopes, the Strokes and the Allman Brothers Band. "I think we should do this tour and then put an end to doing national tours, and just play now and then where we want to play," he says. "The idea of doing sheds or arenas . . . you turn into an animal by the time it's done."

Also, filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show, Mask) has begun shooting a documentary about the Heartbreakers' history. "We've given him access that we've never given anybody," says Petty. Bogdanovich will interview Petty at length and hopes to talk with Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks and members of Petty's family.

"We're trying to give a sense of what happened to this group of kids that came from Gainesville, Florida -- how they made the big time," says Bogdanovich. "How did that change them, and how did they change the world?

"I'm not an expert on Tom Petty, I'm just a fan," adds Bogdanovich. "But what appeals to me is that he's a real American artist -- an impressionist -- very much of the American grain."