http://www.music-news.com/review/UK/13000/Live/Petula-Clark?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
While mostly known as a singer, Clarks impressive career actually spans back to 1939 - and she has also been a successful actress (on stage and screen) and songwriter.

The word retirement is apparently not in her vocabulary, as 2017 saw her (at 85 years young) release a new album, "Living For Today" (Sony), and is currently fronting her first US tour in eons. Clark performed at the Calvin Theater in Northampton, Massachusetts on December 22, 2017.

A natural spitfire, she opened with her 1966 tune, "You and I" (which was later featured in the 1969 film "Goodbye Mr. Chips," for which Clark co-starred with Peter O'Toole), which flowed into "Meant To Be" before she unearthed,"Don't Sleep in the Subway," a bouncy harmonious song, that almost masks the more serious subject matter of one partner warning her stubborn significant other against braving the elements after a quarrel.

A sensual rhythm section filled cover of the Peggy Lee classic "Fever," showed Clark can still be sassy. Clark spoke of her admiration for Lee, and how she initially had refused to cover Lee's vintage number (fortunately, her mind was changed as it was a marvelous rendition). Clark donned an Irish brogue for "Look to the Rainbow" and "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?” Both of these tunes are from the 1968 movie/musical, "Finnians Rainbow" (which Clark starred in with Fred Astaire. The film was also directed by a very young Francis Ford Coppola).

A huge admirer of the Fab Four, Clark covered both The Beatles "Blackbird" (which she joking said was written by "Stella McCartneys father"), and John Lennons "Imagine." Lee also reminisced about meeting Lennon in Canada during his famous "bed in". "Fever" and Blackbird" are both included on her new disc.

Not just intent on playing her greatest hits, Clark ventured into Broadway territory crooning out "With One Look," from Sunset Boulevard (not surprising, as Clark had performed the part of Norma Desmond on the stage), and early 80s rock, covering Steve Windwoods 1980 infectious tune, "While You See A Chance," although Clarks version was a much more slowed down take on the song.

Another nice surprise was a visit back to her pre-British Invasion hit "This is My Song" (which had been made famous by silent film legend, Charlie Chaplin (Clark told a story of once going to Chaplins home. And from what she said, he could make a good cup of “English tea”).

Clarks most well know song, "Downtown" (which also found a new life in 2016, with its inclusion in the commercial for “WWE 2K17,” a professional wrestling video game) brought the audience to its feet. before she ended the night with "Rainbow."

It was a grand return for such a multi-talented legend.

John Reed

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I was nt a big fan of Bowie really but what a great gig this was. If I remember correctly he did two gigs that day . I went to the earlier one

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I was on the very back row in the circle for this gig and I think my ears are still whistling from the volume that night. Brilliant

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This concert was really behind schedule on the night and the band asked for volunteers from the audience to help them clear the stage after the gig. I volunteered and helped out

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As I recall. One of the girls straps on her top broke . If memory serves me right it was like a top made up of coins held together in a net style

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Rock: Petty in Concert
By Stephen Holden
The New York Times - Monday, June 17, 1985

Classic rock and roll that extends and deepens traditions established in the 60's and early 70's may be a slowly vanishing breed of music. But its most dedicated practitioners continue to produce a guitar-based electric music that is a ruminative, visceral expression of populist feeling.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who performed at the Byrne Meadowlands Arena on Saturday, belong to this breed, as do Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen. Each represents a different, though related, aspect of the American sensibility. Mr. Petty, who was brought up in Gainesville, Fla., writes and sings from a working-class Southern point of view. And on his latest album, "Southern Accents," he has created a sequence of pungent dramatic monologues that draw a composite portrait of a restless young Southerner.

Although Mr. Petty performed songs that ranged back to the mid-70's on Saturday, the concert versions of material from "Southern Accents" formed the artistic heart of his show, and they gave his set an emotional depth and psychological resonance that one seldom encounters at a rock concert these days. The album's hard, blues-based songs, "It Ain't Nothin' to Me," "Spike" and "Dogs on the Run," in which a contemporary Southern rebel expresses his regional pride as an animalistic indifference to contemporary culture, were drawn out by full-bodied arrangements that featured the snarling guitar solos of the Heartbreakers' lead guitarist, Mike Campbell. And Mr. Petty's surly, half-strangulated vocals, echoing Bob Dylan and the Byrds' Roger McGuinn, more than matched the recorded versions in dramatic impact. Mr. Petty's quaveringly articulated rendition of the new album's hymnlike title song provided the still point around which the rest of the songs cohered.

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Petty Puts Focus On Social Ills
By Robert Hilburn
The Los Angeles Times - Monday, June 8, 1987

Tom Petty is a classic American rocker who used to supplement his own songs in concert with party-minded numbers by Chuck Berry and other early rock or R&B figures.

On Saturday night at the Pacific Amphitheatre, he instead spotlighted "For What It's Worth," the Buffalo Springfield's memorable 1967 reaction to repressive authority.

He and the Heartbreakers' version was darkly poignant, but in no way merely nostalgic. There was an anger and disconsolation in Petty's voice that seemed directed entirely at today's unsettled--and unsettling--social agenda.

Do you think he and the band--who open a four-night stand tonight at the Universal Amphitheatre--were trying to tell us something?

Absolutely.

There's a subtle injection of social comment in several tracks on the group's outstanding new "Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)" album, but Petty--speaking to the audience much more freely between songs than before--was even more aggressive about social issues on stage.

To avoid the impression of a lecture, the lean, blond singer weaved remarks about social problems--the homeless, preteens on crack, the unemployed--into a story about troubling things he has seen from the window of his tour bus.

He then turned to a more specific reflection about the credibility of people who are looked upon, to varying degrees, as leaders in this country. Whom do you trust anymore, he asked. Reagan? Bush? Falwell? The CIA?

"It dawned on me a few days ago that in this time and age, you'd better trust yourself," he continued, moving into the Springfield song.

After that tune, Petty referred to the May 17 fire that destroyed his Encino house--a fire that officials believe was deliberately set. "Someone burned my house down," he said. Holding his guitar over his head, he added, "But he didn't burn this down. . . ."

Again using the rock example to illustrate a larger point, he continued, "You can have (all kinds of material possessions), but it ain't nothing. It's just stuff. . . ."

Petty then went into "The Waiting," one of his many early compositions that deals with the struggle to maintain integrity.

This toughened social attitude and more open manner on stage gave the evening a freedom and focus that makes this tour shape up as potentially the Heartbreakers' best in years. Things should get even better as the quintet begins featuring more songs from the new album. (Saturday's lineup offered only three of the new tunes, including the raucous single, "Jammin' Me" and the melancholy "It'll All Work Out.")

After living up to the considerable challenge last year of playing behind rock's greatest songwriter (Dylan), the Heartbreakers gave themselves another sizable test in inviting two frisky, upcoming bands to open the shows: the Georgia Satellites and the Del Fuegos.

If there were any signs of cobwebs in the veteran group, they would be magnified on a bill with these energetic outfits. But there were no signs of wear. Indeed, the Heartbreakers seem revitalized, played with a freshness and hunger that is in keeping with the spunk and craft of the new Petty tunes.

Both the Satellites and the Del Fuegos are no-nonsense, guitar-oriented bar bands, though the Satellites' good-times manner is a lot more appealing than the Del Fuegos' somewhat colorless and unduly insistent irreverence.

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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
By Fran Brancatelli
CLC Observer - Wednesday, September 2, 1987

The Rock and Roll Caravan starring Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers invaded Jones Beach for a night of solid Southern Rock.

Petty opened the show with "Think About Me" from his latest album Let Me Up I've Had Enough. Petty continued to crank out hits like "Breakdown," "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "An American Girl." He also layed two more cuts off the latest album -- "Jammin' Me" and "Runaway Trains" -- but his performance was highlighted by his performance of such classic tunes as "The Waiting" and "Refugee."

Besides playing his own songs Petty did a good rendition of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and also borrowed tunes from Bob Dylan, The Clash, and Chuck Berry.

The Del Fuegos, a band from Boston which plays a blend of country-rock music, was the Caravan's opening act. They were followed by the Georgia Satellites, who strolled onto the stage to the theme from The Beverly Hillbillies. The Satellites sounded great live, and really warmed up the crowd for Petty by playing their recent hits -- "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" and "Battleship Chains," as well as other tunes.

From beginning to end, the Rock and Roll Caravan provided a night of great rock, the chance to hear an accomplished musician, but two up and coming bands.

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Great tribute show. Great band and great performers. One i recommend seeing

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Alan, I remember that about CdeB breaking a string. This gig and at least one other a few months before it was part of A & M records' promotion routine for their UK roster and Chris had just been signed up. My recollection was that initially Gallagher and Lyle were their Numero Uno band and they had put on a gig in town when Supertramp were just joining the label and we all wondered WTF are this lot ? . But within months, Supertramp had overtaken G&L and at the next A&M gig in town ie. THIS ONE...Supertramp were top of the bill.

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I don't remember a lot about this gig other than Paul was great, the support band was Brinsley Schwartz, with another bassist who sang, Nick Lowe....it was also my 27th birthday, and I bought some extra tickets for friends, who then couldn't attend.

Not being a ticket tout, my wife and I got there a bit early for the gig, and I tentatively asked a couple of people if they needed tickets.....I had three spare, and a crowd got around me and literally begged me for the tickets, and eventually gave me double the face value, although I was willing to sell them on at the original price. I don't think the touts were happy as they were selling tickets for at least five times the original cost.....and a tout offered to buy my tickets....I told him to get lost...

Linda McCartney must have been in the band, although I don't recall her, but Denny Laine was there, and the rest of the band were....who knows, one of them might have been Hamish from Average White Band.

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I worked as a "humper" cum roadie at these gigs. The good? They were amazing. The bad? Every act I saw for the next 30 odd years after this was relatively a disappointment. I never saw anyone hammer an audience this hard. Merciless grooving ... did the whole show of numbers like "Fantasy", "Saturday Night" and a few popular album tracks ...... came back and finished with an encore, a medley / segue of "Let's Groove", "Boogie Wonderland" and "September". I'm amazed Wembley Arena is still standing. Just a terrifying live act. They used Edwin Shirley's entire fleet of 27 trucks plus a couple of Range Rovers with radio comms between and I think they had to hire in more trucks. Fred White was the first to endorse DW (Drum Workshop) kits and the founder of DW went on tour with Fred White as his kind of personal drum tech. I was seconded to him. It was an unforgettable experience. Fred White is one of those rare drummers who realises drummers shouldn't actually do that much ... but what they do should be right and should groove. Very understated drummer.

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Arriving fairly early, Squire's Anthony Meynell was popping out his merchandise and seemingly unrecognised. Free for a pre-gig chat (and sign my Sugarplum obi-band) he seemed keen to natter and answer questions on releases past and future. Kicking off on stage around 8pm, for a short support set,the line up tonight was Anthony Meynell - Guitar/Vocals, Jon Bicknell -
Bass/Vocals and Ray Lawrence - Drums
A really enjoyable performance,despite the short set. Songs,from memory and in no order:
Does Stephanie Know, Girl On A Train,My Mind Goes Round in Circles, I Know A Girl, The Face Of Youth Today, I Don't Get Satisfaction, Live Without Her Love, B-A-B-Y Baby Love, The Young Idea, Walking Down The Kings Road, Every Trick In The Book, Stop That Girl, Has Our Love Gone Bad, It's A Mod Mod World. Squire gave way around 8:45 for Secret Affair to come on.
Apart from an ageing Mod like me it must be encouraging for Anthony Meynell to see young fans there. My seventeen year old son recently bought the Squire Singles Album on vinyl (the only Squire record I didn't buy, as I had the singles) and came away from the gig with a signed Eight Miles High 45 too! Also got a sneak peak of the new LP due out. Fabulous night!

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Just attended this performance tonight and considering it was only the 2nd night of the tour it wasn't too bad. Basicaly this is a Beatles tribute act that plays the songs the Beatles recorded with orchestration. There was the odd bum note from the Orchestra but overall I reckon they did quite a good job, particularly with the more challenging songs like A Day In The Life and Tomorrow Never Knows, extraordinarily good in fact. I hope by the end of the tour they will have polished up their act a bit. John Lennon was quite flat in a few places and Paul McCartney needs to work on his breath control and Mic technique. George and Ringo I thought were very very good and a great rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps with Orchestra was very well received. As I Said before, by the end of the tour they should've ironed out all the wrinkles and it will probably be great by the time the last gig comes around.

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Roy Orbison Mines Some Old Gold
By Peter Watrous
The New York Times
Sunday, July 31, 1988


Roy Orbison, who played at Pier 84 Wednesday night, got right to the point: he opened his show with his hit ''Only the Lonely,'' setting the open spaces in the tune's arrangement ringing with his quivering, over-ripe falsetto.

For the next hour or so, Mr. Orbison, a genuine American eccentric, brought out his hits - ''Blue Bayou,'' ''Pretty Woman,'' ''Dream Baby'' -songs that have permeated the American consciousness. Singing in his gilt-laden, extreme voice, he turned ballads into dreamlike, claustrophobically intimate set pieces. Mr. Orbison knows how to freeze time, so that every element of a song gleams as if magnified, and he would insert into tunes sections where the instruments would fall away to expose his voice. The audience, standing up and singing along, was ecstatic.

Mr. Orbison, dressed in his trademark black shirt and pants and sunglasses, also tore up rock-and-roll tunes; though he's known for his ballads, he started his recording career as a rock singer. He may be America's finest white blues interpreter; dropping a couple of pounds of ornamentation from his voice, he sang such standards as ''I Got a Woman'' and some of his earlier tunes, including ''Ooby Dooby'' and ''Candy Man.''

Of all the rock-and-roll singers of his generation, Mr. Orbison is the least obsessed with masculinity; the music and his voice and words are unmenacing and complex. He has perfected an odd vision of popular music, one in which eccentricity and imagination beat back all the pressures toward conformity, and after 30 years of singing, he's as good as ever.

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Petty, Heartbreakers Purvey Emotional Sincerity at SPAC
By Mike Hochanadel
Schenectady Gazette - Tuesday, July 28, 1981

When Tom Petty sang the line "Saratoga rain" for "Louisiana Rain" Sunday night at SPAC, he paid a sincere tribute to the 12,300 fans who braved a series of downpours to see him. "I'm impressed," he said, squinting into the rain. So were his fans, by the best rock show this summer.

Opening act Split Enz tried to be the band in their song "Hard Act to Follow" but Petty blew away the competition -- and his rain-soaked fans with passionate rock and roll.

Petty was almost unknown when he opened for Edgar Winters at the Palace in 1977, yet "star" was written all over him.

He had classic Chuck Berry moves onstage and a tight, basic-rock band. He had beautiful pop songs with great hooks and a convincingly innocent romanticism. He was hot, but also tender. He rocked, but his music expressed feelings he wasn't afraid to show. Backstage, he said "I'm trying to play music that sounds alive on the radio."

It worked: his music kept its innocence through "You're Gonna Get It" and his 1979 breakthrough, "Damn the Torpedoes." It sounded great all over the radio.

"Hard Promises," a transitional LP with new, narrative songwriting, hasn't matched the huge success of "Torpedoes," but his well-deserved popularity onstage remains.

Petty opened explosively with "American Girl" then "Listen to Her Heart" and closed two hours later with classic-rock encores. These songs defined his style. His own music tapped the same current of exuberent romance that explodes in "Shout," and the Byrds-Stones guitar sound of "American Girl" -- his first hit -- echoed through most of his music.

In between he mixed up rockers and ballads from his five LPs -- acting the songs as well as singing them to express the direct emotional intensity behind the music. "I Got a Thing About You" rose and fell in successive codas that tiptoed gently around the melody -- then stomped all over it. Petty sang with all the vulnerable, naive pride of teen love on ""Here Comes My Girl" and exploded with rage on "Breakdown." At the end of the song, a drained-looking Petty rested his head on his arms draped over the mike-stand -- a gesture of despair that perfectly symbolized the desperation of his lyrics.

This kind of theatrical touch -- dramatic yet real -- elevates Petty's music into a rare class of rock artistry his earlier performances -- and records -- merely promised. It's a territory very few musicians occupy, including the great soul and reggae singers, Springsteen and Joe Ely.

There are no virtuosos in the Heartbreakers, yet they are a first-class band since they play with such spirit and connect so directly with Petty's classic-rock moves. Like the Stones, the Heartbreakers roll on a huge drum sound -- Stan Lynch's drumming is enormous -- and punchy rhythm guitar. Petty and Mike Campbell -- whose repetivie leads are less convincing than his busy chord-riffing -- weave a tough Byrds/Stones texture. Lynch adds expert harmonies to Petty's lead vocals and keyboard man Benmont Tench plays more prominently than in the past -- perhaps reflecting the influence of "Hard Promises" co-producer Jimmy Iovine who loves keyboard. Their no-frills arranging -- underlining Petty's hook-laden pop melodies -- echoes Creedence Clearwater Revival in its directness and power. There is no lack of nuances -- the quick tempo changes of "King's Road" and the way Petty aptly substitued "Saratoga rain" for "Louisiana Rain" Sunday night -- but no phoniness at all.





Split Enz opened with 45 minutes of the very clever pop that made them a huge success in their native Australia before "True Colors" (A&M) broke them in the States last year.

Ironic songwriting and edgy, electronic grooves that echo Roxy Music and David Bowie place Split Enz squarely in the modernist camp, as did the garish rockabilly suits they wore at SPAC on Sunday.

Enz' songwriter Tim Finn sang beautifully over a metronomic jangle of guitar and electronic keyboards. The music from "True Colors" and "Waiata" sounded faster and emotionally more compelling onstage than on their often icy records -- even though Finn's ironic neo-robot posturing added an ambiguous note of machinery at play.

Surprisingly the match-up proved to be a very effective one. Petty's sincerity rang especially true after Split Enz' coyly contrived ironies, and the impressive performing skill shown by the New Zealand band really put the Heartbreakers on their toes. Both bands featured extraordinary vocals over powerful, simple grooves. Excellent sound engineering delivered this fine concert with satisfying impact and a clarity in the vocals rare in concerts of such large scale.

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Petty's transformation leaves his audience shouting for more
By Cathy M. Lewis
Lakeland Ledger - Monday, October 5, 1981

Donning cowboy boots and a blue bandanna tied beneath a full-toothed grin, Tom Petty moved onto the Lakeland stage Friday looking like the embodiment of the mythical all-American boy.

Petty smiled his way through "American Girl" and "Listen to Her Heart" with the naturalness of water moving against the coastline of Florida, his native state. Even a haunting keyboard solo by Benmont Tench on the grand piano during "A Thing About You" didn't erase Petty's smile.

When the band launced into "I'm in Love," Petty skipped and swaggered across the stage with the joy of an adolescent in puppy love.

Watch Petty prance. Watch Petty preen. The rest of the audience leaned back and relaxed. They'd just watch and wait their turn. And the singer didn't disappoint them.

It was a slow build. Petty mixed just enough pain into "Here Comes My Girl" to make the words sound as though they came from personal experience. And there was just enough of Bruce Springsteen in his voice to assure the few 25-year-olds in the audience he knew what rock 'n' roll was about.

It was the beginning of a transformation that would leave Petty's audience gasping for relief yet begging for more. Somewhere between the Kingsmen's classic "Louie, Louie" and Petty's own "Kings Road," the all-American boy became a passionate, streetwise rocker.

Once the atmosphere in the civic center changed, there was little relief. Only a few tuned like "Night Watchman" -- a song inspired by the man who protects Petty's privacy at his San Fernando Home and backed Friday with a dazzling light show -- and "Even the Losers Get Lucky" slowed the musical pulse of the evening.

Even then, with Petty leaning over his audience like a mad magician, swinging his arms full circle to end in a thunderous slash across his guitar, you could feel the momentum rolling through like shock waves.

When Petty's voice cried with the ache of dashed hopes "she's a woman in love but it's not me," Tench pulled the full power of his rhythm and blues background from the ivories. Teen-agers, some yet to experience that kind of pain, moaned right along with them.

When the lights went down and Petty grabbed the mike around the throat and demanded seductively, "You've got to give it to me," the now hypnotized crowd groaned in anticipation of "Breakdown." They were in love and their affair with Petty was not the light, joyful love of the first 15 minutes of this concert. This affair was full blown and passionate. They weren't letting go.

The band launched into "Refugee" with exuberance, rocking with the Dylanesque lyric as if they had come home. The crowd didn't mind. If Petty was clinging to his last like his critics have said, they would cling right along with him.

The acceptance of Petty's occasional revelry into his roots was amazing considering the same audience had heartly booed Joe Ely's late '50s style during the opening act.

When Petty left the stage, the crowd wasn't having any of it. Encoring with Sly and the Family Stone's hit "Shout," Petty led his believers with the fervor of a Southern minister. The force of their response literally knocked him flat on his back.

Even Petty seemed amazed at the feeling he was producing. He turned over, crawling belly down to the front of the stage, brought the mike down to the floor and hid behind a speaker.When Petty pulled his head from behind the speaker, one hand following the other, they were ready for him. He shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe you," he said. "Boy, is it good to be home!"

For Petty, it was the climax of the show. And when his fans demanded a second encore, he slowed the tempo with a song from his new album. He must have realized that if he didn't, he would never get out of the auditorium.

Still the believers stayed. When the house lights came up a moan of disappointment rolled its way across the crowd, as one by one, his congregation realized Petty was gone.

He had charmed them, wooed them, moved them and now he had left them -- left them begging for more.

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This was the night night I was introduced to Stackridge and what an introduction. My friend and I hadn't even heard of the band but went along out of curiosity and were blown away. Songs like Syracuse and Lummy Days left us so impressed I was at the local record store the following day buying Friendliness and asking what else they could order in for me. What a great band. Never got the recognition they deserved.

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This was the archtypical 3 men and a dog pub gig, as I was in Thee Henchmen we got up and did our bit to the hard core regulars of the pub who it seemed were of the old hard rock fan variety, we got a few claps for our fuzzed out garage thing. The Curtains got up and despite being much better than us their brand of Mod music dropped stone dead....

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Highly entertaining gig by Fish & Co, the very odd thing I remember best after 35 years was the somewhat experimental support band which basically played a kind of early Acid house/ industrial dance music of sorts, this did not go down well with the mainly HM audience however it turned out to be the future!

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Just back from this concert and it was beyond superlatives. I think I just had an audience with God!!!. Sound was incredible, light show was amazing and every musician on the stage were at the top of their game, absolutely faultless. It was also the final gig of the tour.

Setlist was

Standin' In The Rain
Evil Woman
All Over The World
Showdown
Livin' Thing
Do Ya
When I Was A Boy
Handle With Care
Last Train To London
Rockaria!
Can't Get It Out Of My Head
10538 Overture
Twilight
Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle
Shine A Little Love
Wild West Hero
Sweet Talkin' Woman
Telephone Line
Turn To Stone
Don't Bring Me Down
Mr Blue Sky
Roll Over Beethoven

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Crowd loves what Petty has to offer
By Phil Chen
The Stanford Daily - Tuesday, July 30, 1985

The Concord Pavilion, a grass-and-concrete bowl located in the hills east of Berkeley, was th site Saturday night of performances by a new band, Lone Justice, and by a group that has been around since 1975, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Lone Justice is a Texas-based country-rock outfit that has been hyped into hyperspace by Geffen Records as rock's Next Great Breakthrough. With promotion like that, I was not surprised to find myself disappointed in the band. Maria McKee can certainly sing; she had a good range and was capable of packing real emotional punch into her delivery. However, I didn't care much for her screechy little-girl voice, which always made her sound as if she were throwing a tantrum.

Musically, the band sounded like many other "cowpunk" bands: basic rock beat overlaid with Marlboro Country guitar riffs. Guitarists Ryan Hedgecock and Tony Gilkyson, bassist Marvin Etzioni and drummer Don Heffington worked together to form a competent, dull unit that never explored beyond its own very constrained musical limits.

Lone Justice ran through almost every song on its current LP, including the Petty-penned "Ways To Be Wicked." Fortunately for the band, the crowd was in a terrific mood and cheered raucously after every song; even so, Lone Justice declined to play en encore when its set ended.

But the crowd, an older-looking bunch (definitely not teeny-boppers), came to see Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers, and from the opening chords of "American Girl" to the last encore an hour and 40 minutes later, he was clearly their rock 'n' roll hero. Every word he uttered and every song the group played drew an awesome response from the crowd. When Petty asked them, roughly a quarter of the crowd indicated that they had seen his show in Berkeley the night before.


What made this concert particularly fine was Petty's true appreciation of their adulation; he didn't let his status go to his head, but remained open and easygoing, even humorous at times. This didn't mean he was unaware of his control over the audience; during a song, he would often walk to the edge of the stage, his arms spread wide in a "How am I doing?" position that would immediately send the crowd into new fits of adoration.

Meanwhile, the Heartbreakers were acquitting themselves reasonably well, sounding very practiced on the show's mix of hits from the band's past and from their latest record, "Southern Accents." To break up the sameness of the Heartbreakers' music, Petty played two verses from "The Waiting" solo before the rest of the band joined in. Petty has mastered the art of singing without moving his lower jaw; this was heard most easily on the slower ballads.

"Don't Come Around Here No More," the band's latest single, was noteworthy for both its bizarre, Alice-in-Wonderland visual effects and the appearance of Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics on rhythm guitar. Stewart was by far the most colorful person on stage in his red, psychedelic-patterned jacket; otherwise, he added little to the song's performance, although he did manage to ungracefully fall off bassist Howie Epstein's monitor. He later joined the Heartbreakers for their second encore, again with no discernible result.

Backing up the Heartbreakers were three horn players, who danced, moved and gestured in unison to hilarious effect, and two female background vocalists. All five stood on platforms built around the back wings of the stage, which inexplicably had been decorated to look like a Greek temple, complete with stone steps and tall columns.

Late in the concert, several people at the front held up an elaborate "We Love You TP" banner to Petty, and he took it and wrapped it around his shoulders. It was symbolic of the bond between Petty and his fans, the success of Petty's return to his Southern-rock roots and his ability to translate both into a rousing, heartfelt performance.

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This was probably the most boring gig I have ever been too, bar none. Enlivened slightly by 'Freebird' and Ian Gillan's odd change of outfit after the 1st number.
£28.50 + £3.50 booking fee + £5 car park should have asked for my money back!

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Support band Sorrel seemed to be influenced more than a little by Wishbone Ash, judging by their sound and twin guitar line-up (one of whom even had a Gibson Flying V, just as WA's Andy Powell did), and having a name taken from a WA track. Their solid and decent set included a very good cover of Neil Young's 'Southern Man', and an excellent original song called 'Witchfinder General'.
Hatfield and the North commenced their set (apparently their penultimate gig) with 'My Old Man's A Dustman', with lead vocals by Pip Pyle's stepson Sam. They continued with 'I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside', and the Magic Roundabout theme. Despite Pyle announcing that they wouldn't be (quote) "playing any of that serious bullshit tonight", they played an excellent 75 minute performance of their own material kicking off with "a song dedicated to Phil Miller's (very baggy) trousers", entitled 'Share It'.

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Although the bands were great on the day. Almost everything else wasn't. Queues to get a drink stretched all around the park taking up to 2 hours!!! to get served. Toilet queues similarly insane.

And only opening one exit to let 45,000 people out at the end seems at best stupid and at worst dangerous.

And of course no-one is going to take responsibility or suffer any penalty for the worst organised music festival I have ever been to....

BBC News Story

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Michael Jackson at Irvine: Still Dazzling but Distant
Wednesday November 9, 1988 Chris Willman
The Los Angeles Times

Early Monday night at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, Michael Jackson brought out background singer Sheryl Crow to duet with him on his hit "I Just Can't Stop Loving You." He sang the verses to her. He even halfheartedly tried to indulge in a little Prince-style randy interplay with her.

But when it came time to sing the chorus, Jackson couldn't seem to bring himself to address that title phrase to her.

"I just can't stop loving you ," Jackson sang, turning to us, the audience. And like a jealous lover, we believed it.

Never mind that Jackson no more attempted to connect with the crowd than he did with Crow during this, his first-ever solo Southland appearance. He didn't, in the slightest, and that presented the most glaring void in this physically impressive but emotionally impersonal spectacle.



It's just that we sensed that this child/man--the biggest of today's pop stars--could not possibly love a mere woman--one on one--the way he loves us as a huge, anonymous monolith. A girlfriend might interact with him and give him a few moments of pleasure, but his fans, just by passively being there, make it possible for him to feel comfortable two hours a night in the one place he possibly really feels at home: on stage.

Michael Jackson's social discomfort has been so well-documented--the fake, timid smiles seen at public press conferences and unveilings; the shyness and admitted loneliness in private--that it came almost as a relief to see him so relaxed and exuberant again in concert.

And though he's now in the 14th month of his world tour, it was endearing during the show's third number, "Another Part of Me," to see the look of pure, beatific bliss on Jackson's face as he closed his eyes, spun around, landed on his toes and did all the usual right moves. Jackson really seemed to be still enjoying this--caught up and self-hypnotized in his own private, wonderful world.

That unspoken joy spoke volumes. And if all Jackson did during his 2-hour-plus show was sing and dance alone at center stage, his cup running over with contentment and talent, the crowd might never notice the absence of any attempt at connection.

As it was, too much of this dazzling, overlong, draining, occasionally brilliantly entertaining show was hyped up with production numbers that seemed to come out of somewhere between Las Vegas and Disneyland (Liza meets Siegfried & Roy on the set of "Captain Eo"?), leaving the human element abandoned somewhere around Barstow.

Of the set pieces, "Smooth Criminal" provided the highlight early on, with Jackson surrounded by four male dancers in early gangster attire. This number provided the best choreography of the evening, with the dancers using moves that were occasionally as goonily masculine as they were smoothly executed, with an obvious nod to Fred Astaire and the film noir parody segment of "The Band Wagon."

It soon became apparent, however, that most of the production numbers would reprise the themes and visuals of Jackson's video clips--most of which, of course, are not as new as "Smooth Criminal."

During "Thriller," Michael wore a werewolf mask and his four dancers became zombies. "The Way You Make Me Feel," with background singer Crow strutting her stuff before the eyes of the ogling male dancers, became an ode to leering at women a la the video. "Dirty Diana" had Jackson playing off of heavy-metal guitar soloist Jennifer Batten, who, with her mane of wild blond hair, had even been made to look like the video's Steve Stevens. And so on.



Michael, are you still in there? Did that last magic trick swallow you up and spit out a video hologram? Come out, come out, wherever you are!

And, as if he heard us calling, suddenly the dancers and props disappeared, and there was "Billie Jean," as electrifying as ever. As often as we've all seen the moonwalk on TV, his first full-scale version of the physics-defying dance step was an event worthy of ticket-selling (and scalping) in itself.

It was those moments that had Jackson alone at center stage, combining the two things he does best, that were revelations--not emotional revelations, certainly, but nonetheless the kind of intensely personal expression that can't be designed by Disney and turned on by remote control at 5-minute intervals.

Jackson's three-night Irvine Meadows stint continues through tonight, followed by six shows Sunday through Tuesday and Nov. 20-22 at the L.A. Sports Arena. All dates are sold out

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Status Quo was exciting to watch...esp., one song, I don't remember the name of the song, but it was long...they had 3 guitarists out front, each guy playing what appeared a seemingly different song, but the faster they played the closer in harmony they became - when the crowd noticed, it seemed the whole arena came alive and started to buzz, by the time all three guitarists were playing the notes, the crowd was going crazy with excitement.
Robin not have to take a backseat to anyone. I remember the many, many speakers hanging from the ceiling as he brilliantly played, calmly standing in his white suit.

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Petty, cool customer of rock, warms up for Summit stand
By Marty Racine
Houston Chronicle - Monday, July 8, 1985

The man in black and red was again cool as ice but he never sounded hotter.

Tom Petty, buoyed by being down in Dixie on his "Southern Accents "tour, took enough inspiration from a cheering "Texas" crowd of 12,000 Sunday night at The Summit to finally get loose like he'd always threatened but never allowed in all the other shows I've seen him perform.

The Florida native liked this rebel yell. And he responded by melting that cool demeaner which throughout his career has distanced his brand of songwriter rock 'n' roll from the emotion you'll receive from, say, Springsteen or Seger.

He and longtime band the Heartbreakers integrated "Southern Accents" conservatively within the set, starting out with such older material as "American Girl, You Got Lucky" and "Don't Do Me Like That" before talking Dixie.

About four or five songs in, after shedding his black topcoat with a Dixie flag for a liner and when the "nerves had worn off" - Houston and Dallas are among a few select cities across the country which actually make a performer of this caliber nervous with anticipation - Petty announced that, now, "anything can happen." He was at ease as I'd never seen him. (His previous show here was a full two years ago, and, unbeknown to the audience, he was suffering from a severe toothache.)

Augmented by the Soul Lips, his three-piece horn section, and the Rebellettes - Carroll Sue Hill and Pat Peterson - the Heartbreakers produced a full sound that coalesced as the evening grew hotter. The pacing was brilliant.

Lead guitarist Mike Campbell played the cool role with proper reserve, but his playing soared; drummer Stan Lynch has a very concise attack, needing little of the animation that most big-rock drummers rely upon. Bassist Howie Epstein, the newest Heartbreaker, doubled on vocal harmony and mandolin; and Benmont Tench, also an in-demand Los Angeles session man, alternated between organ and piano.

But it was this man Petty, a most mysterious figure who grants few interviews and whose career has been - or was - beset by contractual problems with record companies, who commanded the stage in his usual black duds and that patented Rickenbacker guitar.

Oh, he did change guitars on virtually every number, but he along with Peter Townshend has made the Rickenbacker - a difficult guitar to handle - a rock 'n' roll icon which few care or dare employ.

In keeping with that cool Petty image, the set Sunday night was draped in slate-colored vinyl, like marble, and filled with backlit light show that had a Confederate flag drape down as the band went into "Southern Accents" and "Spike", the latter one of his best new songs on which sax man Jimmy Zavalo unleashed a great harmonica solo.

Other hard-edged renditions included "I Need To Know, Change of Heart" and "Refugee," the best song off "Damn The Torpedoes". Petty's voice was strong and pure, and the sound system delivered it all.

Petty clearly was elated at being among Southern accents again, at the reception from this Houston crowd.

It was enough to get the mystery man, the cool customer of rock, warmed up.

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Tom Petty's Back, And The Waiting Was Worth It
By Rick Kogan
Chicago Tribune - Monday, June 24, 1985

It doesn't take much courage, just three days into the sunniest season, to declare Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Saturday night concert at Poplar Creek the best show of the summer.

But such was the potency and unabashed rock and roll drive of the performance that Saturday night's show could--and should--retain its lofty ranking throughout the summer.

Admittedly, there were some tentative moments. This surely can be attributed to the band's not having toured for two years; only three weeks into this current American swing, there still are a few kinks to work out. It was obvious that the players were still feeling their way around a few of the evening's selections.

But this did little to dim an otherwise striking evening.

Showing no ill effects from the broken hand he suffered eight months ago, Petty played and sang with dominant control. His voice was especially controlled and efficient, more and more Dylanesque but nevertheless distinctive and full of articulate impact.

Abetted by those wizard Heartbreakers--most stunningly lead guitarist Mike Campbell, who had some breathtaking solo excursions--and backed by a four-man horn section and two striking singers and minor percussionists, Petty provided an occasionally captivating and consistently stimulating gathering of his material, leaning most heavily on his current album, "Southern Accents." Indeed, the most effective number of the night was "Don't Come Around Here No More," that paean to psychedelia, which came complete with a nostalgic light show and elicited a sustained and joyful standing ovation.

One of the most interesting things about Petty's music is its ability to communicate on multiple levels--to hard-core rockers and to those looking for a little substance with their sounds. Both crowds turned out in abundance.

And both crowds found special satisfaction in the songs from "Southern Accents," songs able to carry thoughtful and carefully crafted embellishments --horns or background vocals--without damaging the rock and roll core. The total package is most welcome on this sometimes one-note scene.

"It Ain't Nothin' to Me" was particularly appealing. A collaborative effort between Petty and David Stewart of the Eurythmics, its strong rhythm-and-blues feel is at once dangerous and uplifting. Other selections from that determinedly adventurous album--the title song included--provided not only examples of Petty's craftsmanship but his desire to push and expand his talents.

Though "Southern Accents" material dominated the show, Petty included a good number of songs from bygone albums, some of which held up better than others. Though "Listen To Her Heart" was missing its previous razor-sharp teeth, "Don't Do Me Like That" and "The Waiting" were as vigorous as ever, that latter number positively refreshed.

Clearly, Petty and his mates (Benmont Tench on piano and organ, Howie Epstein on bass and Stan Lynch on drums) were grateful for the strong reception they received Saturday night.

This early into the summer and onto the road, it's nice for them to know they are again welcome, to realize they still have exactly what it takes to make rock and roll something memorable.

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Tom Petty
By Harry Sumrall
Saturday August 1, 1981 The Washington Post

Tom Petty is a tuxedo in a world of leisure suits, Jamaican coffee in a world of Sanka, a Rolls-Royce convertible in a world of K cars. Not to overstate the matter, but Tom Petty has class.

Last night, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers curled a few acoustic tiles at the Merriweather Post Pavilion with a performance that was loud, raw, smooth, polished and brought off with style and panache. In short, a near perfect rock 'n' roll show.

Like many artists of the early '80s (George Lucas also springs to mind), Petty is aderivative creator -- he takes the devices of an earlier era (in this case '60s rock in all its guises) and adds his own personal touches. The result is music that is at once old and new, nostalgic yet fresh and surprising.

Backed by the Heartbreakers, a sturdy and sensitive group, Petty mixed R&B, folk rock and ybritish blues with a vaguely new-wavish approach.His vocals and stage manner were drawn from various musicians -- Dylan, James Brown, Roger Daltry, Ray Charles (to name but a few) -- yet somehow the end product seemed to be Petty himself. Likewise, his own songs and the classics that he also featured were welded together into a seamless whole -- songs such as "I need to Know" mixed quite comfortably with "Hit the Road, Jack."

He opened his encore with the first notes of "It's Alright," the number the Stones used for their finale in 1965. A nice touch to a very, very nice concert.

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