May 25, 2013: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Concert Details:

Bands: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Location: Beacon Theater, New York, NY

1. So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star (The Byrds cover)
2. Love is a Long Road
3. Listen to Her Heart
4. Baby, Please Don't Go (Big Joe Williams)
5. The Damage You've Done
6. Takin' My Time
7. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone (Paul Revere and the the Raiders cover)
8.  A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)
9. Saving Grace
10. I'd Like to Love YOu Baby (J.J. Cale cover)
11. Tweeter and the Monkey Man (Traveling Wilburys cover)
12. Rebels
13. Two Gunslingers
14. Wildflowers
15. Image of Me (Wayne Kemp cover)
16. Friend of the Devil (Grateful Dead cover)
17. Melinda
18. I Should Have Known It
19. Refugee
20. Runnin' Down a Dream

Encore:

   21. You Wreck Me

   22. American Girl

How does one exactly describe Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  Maybe only one word is needed, magnificent.  But the words splendid, enticing, charismatic and energetic could be attached to Tom Petty or any member of his legendary band, especially Mike Campbell, the lead guitarist.

This show was unlike most Tom Petty shows that anyone has seen, perhaps unlike any other Tom Petty show anyone has seen, well outside of the few performed just before and just after.  This show was part of a 5 night stand at the Beacon Theater on Upper Eastside of Manhattan billed as a group of rarities shows, promising that the band would play deep cuts instead of just the singles that one might expect form Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at a festival or on a standard tour such as Free 'Fallin, I Won't Back Down, Last Dance with Marry Jane, and on and on with what can be expected of such an illustrious and long career spanning five decades.  That isn't to say they didn't play some of the hits including Listen to Her Heart, Refugee, Runnin' Down a Dream,  and American Girl.

The focus of the show was clearly the deep cuts, with my personal favorite of the night being Two Gunslingers.  Each song played was wonderful and every moment of the show was fantastic.  As someone who has seen Tom Petty live before, this was such a fantastic show, one of the best performances I have ever seen anywhere, and I wish I could have gone to every show at the Beacon Theater, all of which unsurprisingly sold out almost instantly.

The true highlight of the show although, was not the deep cuts or the singles, but the covers.  The band covered The Byrds, Wayne Kemp, J.J. Kale and even Tom Petty's own supergroup, the Traveling Wilbury's, all to the delight of the crowd.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are just one artist who have not lost a single step over a long career, and continue to perform at an elite level way above everyone else, and someone I will go see over and over again given the chance.