Small Hall Lets Petty Subtleties Radiate

By Mark Guarino Daily Herald Music Critic

Tom Petty proved what we should already know: Stadiums are for sports, not music.

After headlining the United Center in early December (capacity 23,000), he returned to town Sunday to play the same show for five sold-out nights at the Vic Theatre (capacity 1,300). In doing so, he showed 21,700 people do make the difference.

The quieter and more relaxed setting gave Petty a chance to revisit songs that would have been drowned out under a dome. Petty's classic rock past is certainly what made him a star, but starting in the mid-'90s, he began making albums that were less hit-conscious and that are some of his best. They may not have sold as many copies as in his years as a radio hitmaker, but they share the depth and introspection of a songwriter in his prime.

Petty devoted much of his two-hour, 45-minute set to these songs. They included rarely performed jewels from his last four albums: "Wildflowers" (Warner Bros.), his soundtrack to the film "She's the One," "Echo" and "The Last DJ." On songs such as the piano ballad "Crawling Back To You" -- and also the hushed and bittersweet "Wake Up Time," "Angel Dream (No. 4)" and "Blue Sunday" -- you could hear the subtlety of Petty's vocals and the light touches of his longtime versatile band, the Heartbreakers.

These were prized moments, especially considering that in a stadium, casual fans take this time to light up their cell phones, rush to the hot dog lines and start conversations with their friends in what became routine concert behavior in the arrogant '90s. Reselling the tickets after most of them ended up being scalped on eBay helped weed most of these people out.

Petty and the Heartbreakers are in town to tape an episode of the resurrected PBS live music show "Soundstage." After 28 years together, they're proving they're a great American rock band with a deep enough songbook to do a different show every night this week. They also take this residency as an opportunity to show how schooled they are in their American musical roots.

Although Sunday's show was capped front and back by familiar hits, the band stocked its 30-song setlist with covers that left no influence undone. They included a punk-driven version of The Animals' "I'm Crying," the Rolling Stones' early garage rock blues "Down Home Girl," Buddy Holly's signature "Peggy Sue," Chuck Berry rockabilly gem "Carol" and Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman," with Petty adding Elvis Presley's leg twitch and hubba-hubba inflection.

Petty also didn't ignore where he was. Classic post-WWII Chicago blues permeated the set including "Baby, Please Don't Go" by Muddy Waters and "Commit a Crime" by Howlin' Wolf.
At 52, Petty is at an age when most his peers have creatively peaked and are downshifting to take advantage of fan loyalty with through-the-roof ticket prices for nostalgia tours void of adventure but rich in formula. (Tickets for these shows are $49.50 compared to up to $350 for the Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney.)

After deciding in the mid-'90s to pursue songwriting that wouldn't bow to radio expectations (his latest album "The Last DJ" actually ridicules music industry greed), he is continuing a rich career whose legacy is still in the present, not past, tense.