Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Crosby, Stills, and Nash
Comcast Theatre
Hartford, Connecticut
August 17, 2010
Tom Petty has always had incredible opening acts – ZZ Top, The Allmans, Steve Winwood, Joe Cocker, etc, and this time around he brought the legendary Crosby, Stills and Nash along for the ride. These guys must be in their late 60s, but still sound great. The harmonies, exquisite playing, and exuberance are still there in abundance. Surprisingly, they played a mostly electric set – rare considering that they’re best known for their acoustic numbers. Opening with arguably their greatest non-original hit, “Woodstock,” Steven Stills can still rip it up on his Fender Strat. Graham Nash’s “Military Madness” was next. He looked great and seemed to be the anchor of the band. After “Long Time Gone,” the band dug way back in its history to pull out “Bluebird” from the Buffalo Springfield days. An unexpected addition was a cover of The Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday,” which went over very well. David Crosby’s voice here was wonderful too. “Our House”, “Déjà Vu”, “Southern Cross”, “I Almost Cut my Hair”, “Wooden Ships”, and the encore, “For What it’s Worth” demonstrated just how must history and influence they have. It would have been cool to hear “Chicago” or “Love the One you’re with,” but overall a great warm up to the man!
Tom Petty really isn’t viewed just as a musician anymore; he’s more of an icon nowadays, akin to say Springsteen or even Dylan. His drawl-ish demeanor and tone remains unique and effective in an arena setting. He had a surreal aura about him as he moved about the stage with a perpetual cool while directing the Heartbreakers as a conductor would direct his orchestra. Currently, they’re on the back end of a lengthy tour in support of arguably their best album in a long while in “Mojo”. There was a fine balance between old and new with three coming from “Mojo.” “Jefferson Jericho Blues” and “I Should’ve Known it” are classic blues rock songs with guitarist Mike Campbell tearing it up; such a shame that he’s not recognized with the upper tier guitarists. And “Running Man’s Bible” is a sprawling number that allowed the band to cruise a bit and get into a neat groove. Of course, the old standards flew by including “I Won’t Back Down,” “Free Fallin”, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” “Breakdown”, “Learning to Fly”, “Refugee”, “Runnin’ Down a Dream”, and “American Girl.”
I do hope that Petty and the Heartbreakers bring their show to Europe - it really is one of the most satisfying shows you will ever see.