"Uncle Sam's wife on acid..." Indian Wells review

Livia · #1 10-23-2006, 12:16 PM

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbc...0101/610220316

(Apparently there's a photo gallery via that link, but it's not working for me)

Wade Byars, The Desert Sun
Tom Petty enjoys the crowd while on stage at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Saturday during his first song.
Petty-Browne highlights
Top five concert moments, in chronological order:

“Culver Moon,” by Jackson Browne. Not one of his hits, but he and vocalist Catherine Russell gave this nondescript city in Los Angeles the feel of a city along Highway 61 in Mississippi.
“I’m A Man,” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Another surprise. Petty said he was inspired by hearing the English blues group, the Yardbirds, featuring a young Eric Clapton, do this Bo Diddley classic, and the Heartbreakers would have made Clapton proud.
“I Need To Know,” by Petty, the Heartbreakers and Stevie Nicks. The mystic princess, dressed in all black, exuded a power she couldn’t have attained without witchcraft with Fleetwood Mac behind her.
“It’s Good To Be King,” by Petty and the Heartbreakers. Not one of their five best songs, but it was guitarist Mike Campbell at his best.
“American Girl,” by Petty and the Heartbreakers. Hard to pick between this and “You Wreck Me,” “Running Down A Dream” and “Refugee,” which built up an incredible momentum leading to “American Girl” as the third and final encore, but, the site of Petty singing next to Nicks in a top hat, like a Uncle Sam’s wife on acid, was just a great finish.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers set list:

Listen To Her Heart
Mary Jane's Last Dance
Won't Back Down
Free Fallin'
Saving Grace
I'm A Man
Oh Well
Handle With Care
Stop Draggin' My Heart Around
I Need To Know
It's Good To Be King
Too Much Monkey Business
Down South
Insider
Learning To Fly
Don't Come Around Here No More
Refugee
Runnin' Down A Dream
Encores:

You Wreck Me
Mystic Eyes
American Girl

Bruce Fessier and Michael Felci
The Desert Sun
October 22, 2006

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If this was Tom Petty's last dance with Mary Jane in Southern California, it was a fond farewell.
Petty and the Heartbreakers, and opening act Jackson Browne, performed for a near-sellout crowd of more than 8,000 people at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Saturday in what some have speculated might be his last SoCal appearance with the Heartbreakers.

Petty has only said he wants to devote more time to recording, but his Tennis Garden show had the celebratory feel of a climax to a 30-year road trip with his bandmates from North Florida.

Kendra Klaus of Eagle, Colo., was ecstatic after just the sixth song of the night, the blues classic, "I'm A Man."

"I came from Colorado to see this concert," she said. "I love this man more than life. I had to come out because I knew it was going to be his last concert. This is amazing."

Former Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks got the crowd even more excited by joining Petty on stage for their duet hit, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and "I Need To Know."

The scene outside of the Tennis Garden started out anything but celebratory. Hundreds, if not thousands of people were still standing in line when Browne took the stage 20 minutes past the 7 p.m. start time.

"It sucks," said Joe Corona of Cathedral City. "The Eagles concert was fine. Whoever did this was really bad."

Tennis Garden officials began letting people into the stadium through their offices, but the last fans didn't make it through until 15 minutes before Browne's last songs.

Tennis Garden officials couldn't be reached for comment.
Fortunately for the late arrivers, Browne's set climaxed with his final three songs, with his quintet ripping into the 1996's "Culver Moon" and ending with his hits "Running On Empty" and "Doctor My Eyes."

Petty concert timeline

Between 7:20-7:30 p.m.
Opening act Jackson Browne takes the stage at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The audience is at half capacity as concert goers search for parking and file in.

8:07 p.m.
Browne introduces "Culver Moon," a song about Culver City. He tells the audience to "try and imagine Indio in the middle of L.A."

8:16 p.m.
Browne and his backing band strike the opening chords of "Runnin’ On Empty." The floor section rises to their feet.

8:21 p.m.
Browne ends his set and receives a standing ovation.

8:23 p.m.
Browne re-emerges for an encore. Launches into "Doctor My Eyes" on piano.

8:28 p.m.
Browne: "Thank you, have a great night."

8:49 p.m.
A beach ball provides temporary amusement for concert goers anxious for the main attraction..

9:07 p.m.
The house lights go down, the audience cheers.

9:08 p.m.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers emerge from the darkness. The band rips into "Listen to Her Heart," featuring the memorable opening line "You think you’re gonna take her away/With your money and your cocaine."

9:12 p.m.
Two giant video monitors turn on as the band kicks into "Mary Jane’s Last Dance."

9:23 p.m.
Petty: "Feel like singing one?" The band performs the classic "Free Fallin’" with the audience providing back-up vocals.

9:42 p.m.
Petty performs "Handle Me With Care," a George Harrison song from his days with The Traveling Wilburys.

9:49 p.m.
After introducing the band, including longtime members Benmont Tench (keyboards) and guitarist Mike Campbell, Petty calls upon an "honorary Heartbreaker": Stevie Nicks.

9:50 p.m.
Petty and Nicks perform their classic duet, "Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around."

9:54 p.m.
The band rips into 1978's "I Need to Know," featuring Nicks on lead vocals.

9:57 p.m.
Nicks exits stage left to thunderous applause.

10:10 p.m.
Petty pays homage to Chuck Berry with a cover of "Too Much Monkey Buisness." Petty promises that, unlike Chuck, he won’t be performing when he’s 80.

10:19 p.m.
Nicks returns for a second duet, 1981's "Insider."

10:25 p.m.
An acoustic "Learning to Fly" provides one of the evening’s many sing-along moments.

10:29 p.m.
Nicks provides back-up vocals and hand claps for "Don’t Come Around Here No More." Mike Campbell opts for a mandolin instead of a guitar.

10:37 p.m.
Petty and the Heartbreakers close with two of their razor-sharp classics: "Refugee and "Runnin’ Down A Dream."

10:47 p.m.
The band takes a bow as a sea of swaying cell phones light up the stadium. A lone spotlight remains pointed at Petty’s microphone on an empty stage.

10:50 p.m.
After several minutes of applause, the lights go back on and the band re-emerges.

10:51 p.m.
Sounding fresh, the band kicks into a rollicking version of "You Wreck Me," the first of three encores.

11:06 p.m.
Stevie Nicks joins the band for its final number, 1976's "An American Girl," a song as old as the band itself.

11:11 p.m.
Taking their final bow to a huge ovation, Petty says "God bless and goodnight" before leaving the stage for good.

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Thank you for echoing my sentiments.

I too am puzzled by the first tune they played. I am a big fan, but fall short of being a Jackson Browne afficionado (ha-ha). The rest of his set list was "Night Inside Me" - Naked Ride Home, "Never Stop" - Naked Ride Home, "Fountain of Sorrow" - Late for the Sky, "About My Imagination" - Naked Ride Home, "Barricades of Heaven" - Looking East, "Culver Moon" - Looking East, "Running on Empty" - Running on Empy and an encore of "Doctor My Eyes" - Jackson Browne (debut album). At least that's the way I remember it, but I could be wrong. Let me know if you find out the name of the "mystery" first song, or email it to me at [email protected]

Later,

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:40 pm

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Hi Ghostrider--help me out--I'm desperate for the title of the first song Jackson Browne sang last night. PS--Your comments were right on. Thanks!

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 2:11 pm

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Last night’s show was simply spectacular! This is the fifth time I have seen Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in concert since 1984 and I have no doubt that there will be more to come. Tom may have mentioned he “won’t be performing live” when he’s 80 years old, like his inspiration Chuck Berry had, but since he turned 56 years young only yesterday I wouldn’t rush him into retirement just yet.

I don’t know Bruce Fessier or Michael Felci and have no idea where they were last night, but it wasn’t at the same concert I went to. Not once last night – other than the remark about Chuck Berry – was there any mention of this being a ‘farwell’ of any kind. If anything this was a celebration of 30 years recording and performing great music. That should have been evident to Bruce and Michael by the tight musical improvisation between the members of the band. Maybe the title of their article/review should have been “Celebrating 30 years of Rock n’ Roll”, instead of “Was it Petty’s Last Dance?”. If you were there the answer was obvious.

What I did glean from this article/review was that Bruce and Michael arrived late to the show. Otherwise I can’t imagine why the thoughts a few disgruntled (and also late arriving) fans like Joe Corona of Cathedral City would be included in their comments. I was well aware of the show beginning at 7 p.m. and arrived at 6 p.m. We parked 100 feet from the gate and stood in line for less than a minute to get inside. I would like to compliment the staff of this event on that. For the first time since I can remember I didn’t have to empty my pockets and get frisked, just to see a concert. There was even an usher there at the gate with a map directing us to our seats.

Having seen Jackson Browne with T.P. & H.B. before in 2002, I made it a point to arrive on time. I too was quite disappointed in the tardiness of the crowd during Jackson’s set. The highlight of which was a passionate and soulful performance of the song “My Imagination”. A song that calls out for the listener to seek “more life, more truth and more inspiration”, but was followed by applause from a half empty arena that barely reached a crescendo. It is a shame that we have entertainers the caliber of Jackson Browne performing here in the valley to such a poor reception. I would like to suggest that next time, Joe Corona (if that is even a real person), give his tickets to someone really interested in seeing the show.

It is also a shame that Joe Corona, oops...I mean Bruce and Michael were late in arriving, because they missed one of Jackson’s better performances. This is evidenced by their limited, one paragraph reference to his last song and encore. Bruce and Michael might want to take a few hints from this veteran concert goer before they try righting a review/report of the event.

1) Arrive Early – It’s always a party and you never know what surprises you’ll be treated too. We arrived an hour and a half early for the Jackson Browne/Tom Petty concert in 2002 and were treated to Jackson Browne performing a lengthy sound check with his band before the show. He then performed a full one and a half hour long set before T.P. came on. What a treat that was.

By arriving early for the Eagles concert at Indian Wells last year, I was one of a fortunate group of fans offered a FREE upgrade on my seats from section 501, to seats on the floor, near the stage. Best seats I’ve had a concert in the last 15 years

2) Take a Tour of the Grounds – Check out all the amenities a particular venue has to offer. I have visited venues in many different cities and no two are exactly alike. Scout out the best deals on souvenirs, find the smoking area, locate the least crowded beer stand and subsequently the least crowded restroom. Always be forming your exit strategy by looking for the best routes in and out of both the parking lot and the building.

3) Don’t Run Off So Soon – Just like before the show, there’s always a party. There is no reason to push thru crowds to pile into the car only to sit in a traffic jam. Relax and resume the tailgate party you had going before the show, talk to other concert attendees about how great the show was. Actually draw from someone else’s experience of the same event. If you’re too tired to party at this point, just take a short nap (pass out) in your car for half an hour and let the rest of the herd clear out.

Perhaps these basic tips will allow Bill and Michael (and the Joe Coronas of the world) to have a more fulfilling and informed concert experience. If Bill and Michael would have followed this advice, the rest of us would get a review of this concert experience worth reading.....but we didn’t.

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 1:49 pm

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