Petty's Greatest Live Performance

[admin]

I thought Petty's performance at the Super Bowl last year was the best I have seen him. What do you say?

[JakeK]

The best performances, IMO, are as follows:

1. "Echo" tour, Fillmore leg (High Grass Dogs)
2. "Highway Companion" tour, Gainesville leg (Runnin' Down a Dream)
3. "Into the Great Wide Open" tour, Reno leg (Take the Highway, Live!)

Of course, these are from what I've seen, but he can always give a powerhouse performance! The Fillmore show only showed one Ric, his "signature" 1997.

[deaconblues]

I bet those early Mudcrutch shows around Gainsville were pretty awesome...if there's one gripe I have with TP&THB, it's their rigid stage format.

[jimk]

I've never seen TP live, but I'd really like to sometime. I remember the first time I ever heard of him. I was watching some sort of rock'n'roll retrospective on VH1. I remember thinking "Who is this dude? And how come I've never heard of him?" He impressed me as very articulate, well informed about the history of rock'n'roll, and didn't take himself overly seriously, either; all qualities I admire in an artist. Come to find out, he came up in the business while I was out busy playing folk music, and not paying much attention to rock'n'roll anymore.

JimK

[kennyhowes]

Wildflowers tour, 1995.

[tamborineman]

His first tour of Great Britain and Europe, when they still had that `edgeyness`, looked good based on the clips I've seen....

[Jbarrett2]

I wasn't alive at this time, but based on the clips i've seen of their 1985 concert (the concert Pack up the Plantation is from) I think that one would probably be the best. They are still a little edgy which is something i personally like, and by this time they have a plethora of great songs like Rebels.

Also the two ive seen live
-The highway Companion tour
-and this last summer
were amazing

[56strat]

A lot of people don't like that 1985 tour because of the horn section and the "Rebelettes" backgound singers. I personally DO like that tour, but my favorite might be the Echo tour. I loved that record, and they played most of during the tour. Since that tour, they've rarely played any of it. The Wildflowers tour was a great one also. Fortunately, we have video of virtually every stage of this band's 30 years of existence to enjoy.

[frickengruvin]

I've seen Petty several times-and he always delivers (with and without Howie), but I would have to say the best show I attended was when Bob Dylan opened for him.
They really are a consummate band. Not only do they perform their own releases very well, but when they cover someone else's hit, they turn it into their own. That, in my opinion is the definition of a great rock 'n' roll band!!!

[doesitmatter]

Madison Square Garden, 2008. It was the only time I've seen him but he blew my expectations away.

[phil2]

Hello Jake,

I saw the Heartbreaker's last ever UK show. Fittingly, in Who territory of Shepherds Bush London in 1999.
I was working in Manchester at the time and got a call the day before that he was playing. I worked all night and then drove down to London the next morning and bought a couple of tickets from a tout who was lurking outside the venue at about 4pm.

From what I can remember, (I'd drunk a few pints of Guinness between 4pm and 8:30pm when the band came on.) Tom played a lot of songs acoustically from She's The One and Echo. The crowd were very noisy during the quiet songs and Tom seemed a little upset that the crowd weren't paying attention.
I hope this isn't the reason why the Heartbreakers haven't been back to the UK since. : )

It was a great gig and a rare chance to get an up close view of the band. Little did I realise that this would be the last time I would ever see them...

My favourite live show though is from a bootleg I had when I was a student called Free Fallin' it must be from around 1989 / 1990. It was from a live show from North Carolina. I only really knew Full Moon Fever and Into The Great Wide Open at the time. The CD introduced me to such great songs as The Damage You've Done, Even the Losers, I Need To Know and The Waiting. There are also superb versions of Southern Accents and best of all Don't Come Around Here No More.
I played the CD non-stop and eventually scratched it so much it wouldn't play any more! It took me 15 years to find another copy.

I still Prefer the the live versions to the studio versions of the songs. The first time I heard the studio version of The Waiting was as the B side of Mary Jane's Last Dance in 1994.

Cheers,

Phil