Klipsch Music Center
Noblesville, IN
May 13, 2017
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers returned to the Klipsch Music Center outside Indianapolis Saturday night to open the venue’s 29th concert season with a hit-laden show spanning the band’s four decades in rock 'n' roll.
Hoosiers have a special place in their heart for Tom and the guys.
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, MO
May 12, 2017
Tom and the guys have many musical influences, but the band’s show at Scottrade Center in St. Louis Friday put one of their biggest front and center – the late, great Chuck Berry.
During band introductions after “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” Tom told the story about meeting Mike for the first time and the Chuck Berry tune the legendary Heartbreaker guitarist played to convince Tom he should join his band, Mudcrutch.
“He had this cheap Japanese guitar, and when I saw it, I thought, ‘Well, this isn’t gonna go well,” Tom said onstage in St.
State Farm Center
Champaign, IL
May 10, 2017
Mike Campbell is known the world over for being one of rock ‘n roll’s great guitar players, a fact that was only reinforced Wednesday night at the State Farm Center in Champaign, IL.
Starting off with a great solo on the show-opening “Rockin’ Around With You,” the legendary Heartbreakers guitarist traded licks with keyboardist Benmont Tench on “You Got Lucky” before following it up with his trademark riff on “I Won’t Back Down.” But it was Mike’s playing on “I Should Have Known It,” digging deeper and deeper into the fret board of his sunburst
FedEx Forum
Memphis, TN
May 8, 2017
Though it’s only been in the setlist since Houston, “Crawling Back to You” has quickly become one of the centerpieces of the show each night.
In Memphis, Tom and the guys tore through the first half of the show, including an arena-shaking “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and a particularly inflammatory “It’s Good to Be King,” so the “Crawling Back to You” that followed began slowly, almost somberly. By the last verse, Tom sounded totally wrought, just like the protagonist in the song.
Setlist:
“I'm so tired of being tired
Sure as night will follow day
Most
Amalie Arena
Tampa, FL
May 6, 2017
It’s no coincidence Saturday night’s show at Amalie Arena in Tampa was a special night on Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ 40th Anniversary tour.
Just 130 miles from Gainesville, Tampa is the tour’s closest stop to the band’s old stomping grounds in central Florida, meaning the backstage hallways, hospitality suites and catering would be full of family and friends visiting before the show.
Saturday night’s show in Tampa was the 10th show of the tour, and so the band was well-oiled and raring to go at a venue they are very comfortable in, having played
Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre
West Palm Beach, FL
May 5, 2017
“We’re gonna break the record for loudest noise in Florida history, so lemme hear ya!”
Tom strode around the stage, a vintage Rickenbacker hung around his neck, waving his hands in the air as if he was conducting the ear-piercing cacophony from the 19,000-plus in attendance at Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, FL on Friday night.
Just as the screams and applause began to fade, Tom and Mike Campbell tore into the guitar riff that opens “You Wreck Me,” the fourth track off Wildflowers.
“Tonight we ride, right or
Frank Erwin Center
Austin, TX
May 2, 2017
“Hey, gunslinger!”
Tom Petty greeted Gary Clark Jr. with a smile and a hug in the hallway backstage at the Frank Erwin Center as the young Texas bluesman made his way to the stage to open the show.
The pair had met in February in Los Angeles when Gary and his band played a blistering cover of “Good Enough” at the MusiCares event honoring Tom as their Person of the Year. Nearly two months later, everyone in the Heartbreakers camp was still buzzing about the performance.
“Wanna come up and play it with us tonight?” Tom asked Gary as Mike Campbell and
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
New Orleans, LA
April 30, 2017
Torrential rains, high winds, tornadoes and flooding couldn’t stop Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers from their triumphant return to the 2017 edition of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, their second appearance at JazzFest in the band’s storied 40-year career.
“Swingin’,” off 1999’s Echo, made its tour debut in New Orleans, sandwiched in between killer takes on “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and “You Don’t Know How It Feels.”
“Well, we’re in New Orleans at the JazzFest,” Tom said after the band wound down “Free Fallin’,” “and
The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Woodlands, TX
April 29, 2017
The old saying goes that everything’s bigger in Texas, and looking out over the sold-out crowd of 16,000-plus cheering fans at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, you’d have to say they’re right.
Amped up by the biggest crowd yet of the 40th Anniversary tour, Tom and the band charged into “Rockin’ Around With You” to open the show and didn’t step off the gas all night. “Forgotten Man” was an early highlight, and “Crawling Back to You” made its debut on this tour, joining “Wildflowers” and “It’s Good to Be King” for a mini
