Tom Petty performance at TECOhad a lot of heart

By NANCY STETSON,

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers rocked TECO Arena in Estero on Friday night with a high-voltage set that provided hit after hit after hit.

Noting that it'd been a while since they'd played Florida, Petty announced: "Tonight we're going to try to make our way through our catalog and play all the old things as well."

And they did, even throwing in a tune from Petty's stint as a Traveling Wilbury.

They played "The Last DJ," the title cut from the most recent CD, but the bulk of the evening was devoted to the songs that made Petty and his band headliners for almost three decades.
They opened with "American Girl," and the crowd was on its feet. Then, when they followed it up with "You Don't Know How It Feels," the crowd joined him in a call-and-response. And on songs such as "Free Fallin' " and "Learning To Fly," they spontaneously sang along with him on the lyrics and chorus.

Petty, obviously pleased with the crowd's enthusiastic responses, commented at one point, "Yeah, we got a loud and crazy bunch tonight."

And in fact, the crowd was far rowdier than the band, who, for the most part, played the songs with a low-key, relaxed approach. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' performance was refreshingly absent of the typical displays of grandstanding and showboating many lesser bands are prone to, concentrating instead on the music.

There was no rock-star posing on the stage, just good old straight-ahead rock 'n' roll, played by a group of very talented musicians.

Petty was backed by Ben Tench on piano, Mike Campbell on lead guitar, Scott Thurston on guitar, keyboards and harmonica, Steve Ferrone on drums and Ron Blair on bass. Song after song, Campbell would step forward to provide some blistering guitar licks, as if reiterating what Petty had just sung. And Thurston's harmonica only highlighted all the more Petty's Dylan-esque vocals.

In introducing "The Last DJ" — which rails against the radio industry — Petty said: "This song was banned from radio the day it was released, which as a songwriter makes me feel very proud. I'm proud I have to thank you, the audience, for taking it to No. 1 on the Billboard rock charts."

Later in the night, Petty and the Heartbreakers presented reworkings of some of their classics, including a lyrical and tender version of "Don't Come Around Here No More" and a moving rendition of "Learning to Fly," which concluded with the crowd singing the chorus while Petty sang counterpoint, singing about flying over his worries and his troubles.

Sandwiched in-between was a new song, "Melinda," which hasn't been released yet. It included an extended piano/drum jam, which started out with a honky-tonk piano that slid into jazz.
This trio of songs was a highlight of the evening.

Unfortunately, those working the sound board cranked up the sound too loud for the small arena, causing the sound to bounce and echo and the people sitting behind me to complain about their inability to hear the lyrics.

Soul/gospel singer Mavis Staples opened for Petty with a 45-minute set that included "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" and "The Weight" as well as well-known classics from the Staples Singers such as "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There."

Like soul/R&B singers Al Green and Sam Cooke, Mavis Staples has the ability to sing passionately about both human love and God's love.

Though the crowd was still filing in when she took the stage, Staples soon commanded their respect, belting out her songs and strutting across the stage. Staples scatted and improvised, her voice swooping and soaring, her church background highly evident. And every so often she'd just let loose with a gritty Janis Joplin-like wail, as if words failed her and she just had to let this sound out of her body.

By the end of her set, even those prone to talking during opening acts were cheering and dancing.