Concert Review/Photos: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers @ Wells Fargo Center
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
If rock classicism had an official spokesman, Tom Petty would certainly be in the running.
If rock classicism had an official spokesman, Tom Petty would certainly be in the running. His latest record, Hypnotic Eye, a brilliant paean to rock’s past should be enough to convince you, but if not his live show would certainly do the trick. To witness Petty and his band The Heartbreakers live, as a sold out crowd at Wells Fargo did this past Monday, was to drink in a towering performance.
With his instantly recognizable voice intact, Petty and company were a rock jukebox of hit after hit for nearly two hours. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” was just the right kind of slow burn. The perfect hint of pathos spread throughout “Learning to Fly.” The new songs fit right in as well, especially “American Dream Plan B” and “U Get Me High.” And when fans loudly sung along, and this happened at least half of the night, Petty kept up with his own harmonies. “Refugee” was a blast to the soul and the show closing “American Girl” was a semi-spiritual rock high.
Steve Winwood opened the night and came out for two great songs with Petty. The latter joint venture, a rollicking version of “Gimme Some Lovin’” was certainly one of the show’s highlights. And the concert was certainly enhanced by the pastiche stage design of minimalism (a canvas behind the band for video and light projections) and high tech (over 30 lights were hung from the top of the stage for some great color and light effects).
Here’s to Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers causing cardiac fissures and music-induced reverie for many more years to come.
SETLIST
- So You Want to be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star (The Byrds)
- Mary Jane’s Last Dance
- American Dream Plan B
- Into the Great Wide Open
- Forgotten Man
- I Won’t Back Down
- Free Fallin’
- A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me)
- U Get Me High
- Can’t Find My Way Home (with Steve Winwood) (Blind Faith)
- Gimme Some Lovin’ (with Steve Winwood) (The Spencer Davis Group)
- Learning to Fly
- Shadow People
- I Should Have Known It
- Refugee
- Runnin’ Down a Dream
ENCORE
- Don’t Come Around Here No More
- You Wreck Me
- American Girl
