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.

Tom Petty’s music resonates with TECO crowd

By MARY WOZNIAK, mwozniak@news-press.comPublished by news-press.com on August 23, 2003

The California Cracker came home to his roots Friday night to a roaring welcome at TECO Arena in Estero.

Rocker Tom Petty, a Gainesville native playing the Southwest Florida venue for the first time, captured the crowd with his voice of rebellion untainted and unmellowed by nearly 30 years in the music business.

He may be 51, but the boyish image, though in a grown-up suit and claret-colored shirt, is still there.

If you squeeze your eyes shut you hear the still-fresh sound of a rocker railing at the world’s injustice. That’s the voice of rebellion. No frills. No vibrato. He’s just in your face.

The people in the audience: a mix of teenagers in pigtails, baby boomers and beyond.
There was Mark Robinson, 46, of Naples, who loves Petty’s music and lyrics, particularly, “If I Were King,” a song the rocker didn’t play this time around.

Robinson likes it because of the possibilities. It’s never giving up hope. Someday he may be king. “It’s a fantasy of most people. Power. Prestige,” Robinson said.

Petty is the urban troubadour who appeals to Everyman and his dreams. He may have moved to Los Angeles in 1974, but the soul of a Florida “Cracker” still remains with him, perhaps in his Southern roots and a country-western background, as seen in other songs like “Great Wide Open,” or the themes of love lost and a life of hard knocks.

Petty took the stage playing “American Girl” first, bringing the crowd to its feet., followed swiftly by the Dylanesque, “You Don’t Know How it Feels” (to be me).

With a blinding smile, he worked the crowd.

There are times he’s a dead ringer for Dylan, as in “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” which the crowd sang with him.

But mostly he sounds like himself, the singer who seems to be straining to reach a key he shouldn’t be, but wants to. If the voice isn’t exactly musical, well, good. The message is in the song’s delivery and the lyrics.

Petty isn’t a deep philosopher. His messages are plain, simple and always in your face. They’re about the angst of the working man, love, breakups, heartache, the need for respect. They fit in as well in Buffalo, N.Y., as they do in Fort Myers.

He just won’t back down, by the way, the name of another anthem that brought the house down.
“I know what’s right
I got just one life
In a world that keeps pushing me around
I won’t back down”