Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers @ Tweeter Center (7/15/2005)

"Even the losers get lucky sometimes"

And sometimes the luck turns bad. I was able to experience both sides of the coin at the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park, IL, just outside of Chicago. In their first appearance in two years since taking up residency at the Vic Theatre for a five night romp, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers returned to a sold out Tweeter Center. As Petty annouced to the vast crowd of 30,000, "Tonight we have an All-American rock 'n' roll show."

Like most rock 'n' roll shows traffic shares a bit of the spotlight. For me, it had been over two years since I saw a show at the Tweeter Center. (My previous visit was for The Who, the first time I truly understood why so many concertgoers complained about the venue.) The hour wait to be parked at the back end of a field added to the stress held on reserve for the hour plus endurance fest I knew I would have to deal with when leaving. The waiting is the hardest part. Sound wasn't going to be an issue for me since I had the good fortune of being granted a photo pass for the show. I could only imagine how it would sound for the thousands on the lawn who are forced to deal with the pavilion's lousy configuration. I've watched shows from the lawn before, but The Who's 2002 show revealed to me how the pavilion's second level box seats traps so much of the sound. You would be better off sitting at home with a concert DVD. Amphitheaters like Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin and Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California have open pavilions that provide a strong sound and visual experience.

As my eyes glanced over the crowd from the photo pit, a sudden rush came over me. I was actually nervous about taking pictures in front of 30,000 people. It was strange. I told one of the photographers, a veteran and good aquaintance of mine, and he slightly laughed. I suppose when I begin to find reviewing or photographing concerts to be an absolute bore is when I lose my soul and become some bitter, old rock critic wrapped up in my personal record collection.




Tom Petty must wake up every morning thanking the powers that be that at his age he is at his utmost best. As classic a sound Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers have made for themselves, they have also maintained a level of excitement that has kept the band fresh on stage. Since original drummer Stan Lynch left the group in 1994 and the death of ex-bassist Howie Epstein in 2003, Tom Petty has managed to keep the ship steady.



With current drummer Steve Ferrone, multi-instrumentalist Scott Thurston, and original bassist Ron Blair (whom Epstein replaced in 1982), the overall band was functioning like some seasoned race horse. To label the show as a run through the "greatest hits" would be fair but nothing negative. The first eight songs ranged between ten and thirty years old with the exception of a raunchy new song called "Turn This Car Around." The band's last studio release was 2002's The Last DJ, and nothing from that album got played in the mix. The breeze felt by the opening song "Listen To Her Heart" said all that needed to be said by the band: we love our songs. They are a band proud of their catalog and have no reservations about reaching back. Their modern day endeavors prior to The Last DJ--Petty's solo album Wildflowers (1994), the 1995 soundtrack to She's All That, Echo (1999)--have all been outstanding, each in their own way.

What was so evident as the band played on was how well Petty has a masterful handle on making the harmonies the song's primary hook. "Free Fallin'" and "I Won't Back Down" soared with their pristine Rickenbacker tones resonating throughout the night air. Then came some bad news. During "Last Dance With Mary Jane," a representative of Tweeter Center entered the photo pit to inform the photographers that they all had to exit. When I was told the news I was slightly confused, a feeling shared by each photographer as I read their faces in reaction to the new developments. We were all told that Tom Petty's photo policy encouraged photographers to shoot as much of the show as they would like, thus giving photographers the freedom to remain in the photo pit for the entire show. Generally, the standard photo policy for any band is photographers are allowed to shoot the first three songs of a set and then must leave. As I left the pit area at the end of the song, I wondered how I was going to review the concert if I couldn't see it. The photo pass was my only access since review passes were no longer available. Unless someone had a free ticket to the show I had no way back, either to the lawn area or pavilion.

I was told that it was tour management for Petty that made the decision to reverse their policy. I headed out to the parking lot, feeling cheated, as "Handle With Care" rocked on in the background. My emotions soon changed to concern about locating my parking spot since where I had parked had no lights of any kind to illuminate the cars.

After some searching and squinting in the darkness, I found my car, maneuvered carefully out of the tightly confined space, and watched the Tweeter Center fade in my rearviewmirror. I thought two things: I got to watch one of the most amazing bands closer than anyone in the crowd and that at any time, management can step in to say, "We changed our minds." But couldn't they have at least held off till after "Runnin' Down A Dream"?

Well, at the end of my night, I didn't burn Tom Petty albums.

*All Photos By: Chris Castaneda*