Date: Friday, May 12, 2017
City: St. Louis, MO
Venue: Scottrade Center
Opening act(s): Joe Walsh
Headlining act: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Joe Walsh Setlist:
Meadows
Ordinary Average Guy
Mother Says
The Bomber: Closet Queen/Bolero/Cast Your Face To The Wind
Take It To The Limit
Turn To Stone
In The City
Funk #49
Life’s Been Good
Rocky Mountain Way
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Setlist:
Rockin’ Around (With You)
Mary Jane’s Last Dance
You Don’t Know How It Feels
Forgotten Man
You Got Lucky
I Won’t Back Down
Free Fallin’
Walls
Don’t Come Around Here No More
It’s Good To Be King
Crawling Back To You
Wildflowers
Learning To Fly
Yer So Bad
I Should Have Known It
Refugee
Runnin’ Down A Dream
———————
Carol
American Girl
Notes:
- First time seeing both Joe Walsh and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
- Both artists drew material from their solo careers and bands they’ve been in.
- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers included a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Carol” in the encore, dedicated to the St. Louis native who passed away on March 18, 2017.
- The band had not performed their cover of “Carol” since June 4, 2013 at The Fonda Theater in Hollywood, CA.
- Show #8 at this venue; first since March 26, 2016.
Videos:
Review:
At this point, I feel like I’m running out of Bucket List bands that I must see before they call it a day. However, one of the bands near the very top of that list was Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. I’d had a couple of chances to see them over the last few tours, but was unable to make it work for one reason or another.
Thankfully, things finally fell in place here in 2017 as the band embarked on their 40th Anniversary Tour and included a stop at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO.
Sweetening the deal was having another rock legend, Joe Walsh, as the special guest opener on the tour. He’s had a very successful career as a solo artist, but has also done in time in bands like the James Gang and the Eagles.
We arrived at the venue shortly after doors opened, scoped the merch, grabbed a snack, and entered the nearly vacant arena to wait for the show to begin.
As with most non-Leppard or Aerosmith shows, I didn’t splurge on the tickets for this show. In fact, I didn’t spend money at all. Brittany bought the tickets for this show, which I really appreciated. She has seen Tom Petty a time or two before and was happy that I was finally getting my chance.
But first up was Mr. Joe Walsh, who wandered on stage promptly at 7:59 PM. Of course I know his biggest hits as a solo artist, but also know his work with the other bands. Aside from all that, the guy is hilarious and even did a stint on The Drew Carey Show that I remember quite well. I vividly recall him performing “Life’s Been Good” at Drew’s beside during the episode(s) when he was in a coma.
Keeping with his knack for comedy, he walked up to the mic and said “Good morning!” to the crowd, which made me (and thousands of others) laugh. Then he did some more talking before kicking off the first song, “Meadows.” It was quite a different way to start a show than what I’m used to. Most bands that I see have a big, dramatic entrance that kicks off with a bombastic opening song. They don’t just walk on stage and start talking before kicking off the show.
Walsh continued with two more of his solo tracks, “Ordinary Average Guy” and “Mother Says,” before digging into the catalog of one of his other bands for the first time as he tackled the James Gang’s “The Bomber: Closet Queen/Bolero/Cast Your Face To The Wind.”
He wasted no time in moving on to his other famous band, the Eagles, and dedicated an excellent performance of “Take It To The Limit” to his “brother and fellow band-mate, Glenn Frey,” one of rock’s many casualties in 2016.
Walsh’s band, complete with two drummers, sounded quite good and did justice to every song performed regardless of what band originated it.
He returned to his solo career with “Turn To Stone,” and then introduced “In The City” by advising the younger portion of the crowd that “I just want you to know, your parents really loved this next song.”
The next three songs needed no introduction, as the intro riffs speak for themselves.
First up was the James Gang’s “Funk #49,” a song I have known for the longest time, but only recently figured out who actually performed it. And that was thanks to hearing it on satellite radio in my car. For some reason when it popped up one day, I took particular notice to see who sang it and what it was called. Little did I know I’d be seeing the frontman of that band perform it live, and it sounded every bit as great as the original song. The performance even included an extended dual drum solo.
Walsh recruited the crowd for a big “UH!,” stating he needs one for the next song. After telling the crowd he would let them know when it was needed, he said “When you go home tonight, you’re gonna think to yourself, I made a huge difference today!” which again cracked me up. And that led into the classic “Life’s Been Good.” It’s another song I’ve known for as long as I can remember, but only in my adult years have I paid attention to the hilarious lyrics. The sold out crowd didn’t hesitate to belt them all out either. Like many of Walsh’s songs, “Life’s Been Good” lent itself to a nice jam.
Closing out the set was the other of Walsh’s massive solo hits, “Rocky Mountain Way.” It’s another classic rock radio staple that will live on for the rest of time, so I really took in the chance to see the man himself perform it live. And once again the song included a lengthy jam. There are few bands that I would enjoy watching jam, but Walsh is an exception. As is the other band on the bill for the evening.
Joe Walsh’s hour long set flew by and I enjoyed the hell out of it, even when I wasn’t familiar with what he was playing (mainly in the earlier portion of the set). I was glad to have had the opportunity to see him live, but was also really looking forward to the evening’s main event.
The lights went down at 9:35 and much like Joe Walsh, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers just wandered on stage. No grand, theatrical entrance. Instead, he walked to the mic and greeted the crowd just as Walsh did. In fact, Petty even introduced the first song, “Rockin’ Around (With You),” the lead song from their eponymous 1976 debut album. The way both artists began their shows made this concert, my 95th, feel like the most old school one yet… And that’s having seen older artists!
The second song was “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” which got a massive reaction from the crowd and featured an extended jam at the and. As mentioned previously, there are few bands I would enjoy extended jams from. But like Walsh, Petty is an exception and I really enjoyed it.
The stage featured the large band, complete with female backup singers, and as with most arena shows this days, featured a large video screen behind the band. But it also featured a large group of hanging lights that would change color and move up and down in different formations throughout the songs.
To the casual fan, knowing the difference between material done by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Petty’s solo material is a lost cause. I’m guilty of that as well, as if you look at my iPod, everything is lumped together. Thankfully, these shows are no different as songs from both aspects of Petty’s career were featured. Song number three is one of his solo tracks, “You Don’t Know How It Feels.”
The Heartbreakers jumped 20 years in time, moving from Petty’s 1994 solo album Wildflowers to the Heartbreakers’ 2014 album Hypnotic Eye as they performed “Forgotten Man.” For bands I’m a big fan of, I avoid sets before the shows. For this one, I cheated and looked at the set ahead of time as I wanted to familiarize myself with anything I didn’t know. This was one of those songs, but it’s actually a really cool track and it goes to show that even legacy artists have something to offer in the latter stages of their career.
A trio of hits followed, as the band blazed through 1982’s “You Got Lucky” and two tracks from Petty’s 1989 solo debut Full Moon Fever, “I Won’t Back Down” and “Free Fallin’.” The hits brought out the loudest in the crowd, but not a single song went down poorly.
Next up was “Walls,” a song from a soundtrack album released in 1996 by The Heartbreakers.
Then came the song featured in perhaps the music video I most vividly remember from my childhood (not counting Def Leppard videos), “Don’t Come Around Here No More.” I remember seeing that video frequently on MTV as a kid and seeing Alice cut up as a cake blew my damn mind.
Petty returned to his 1994 solo album Wildflowers for a trio of songs, starting with the bluesy “It’s Good To Be King.” It was another track I wasn’t familiar with before checking out the set ahead of the show, but I loved the track from the first time I heard it and was happy to see it live. The song, which in its studio form runs a little over five minutes, was extended into a nearly 12 minute jam.
“Crawling Back To You” followed before Petty strapped on the acoustic guitar for a performance of “Wildflowers.”
Petty kept things acoustic for one of my favorite songs of this, “Learning To Fly.” This was my only mild disappointment on the night, as I would have preferred to hear it more akin to the album version rather than a laid back, acoustic version that featured the crowd singing much of it.
Petty returned to Full Moon Fever for “Yer So Bad,” and then said it was time to turn up the amps. That led to another more recent track, “I Should Have Known It” from 2010’s Mojo album. I’m not sure Petty was joking about turning up the amps, as it certainly felt louder as the band plowed through the riff heavy song that was another surprising highlight of the show.
Closing out the main set was “Refugee,” from The Heartbreakers’ 1979 third album Damn The Torpedoes, and “Runnin’ Down A Dream” from Full Moon Fever. Unfortunately for me during that song, the crowd around me began to shuffle in anticipation of the end of the show. A couple of people left, resulting in the giant and his annoying girlfriend moving farther down to block my view. To my side, a group of people decided to stand on the stairs and in the entrance to the arena hallway. Regardless, the sound *sounded* amazing.
A somewhat lengthy encore break followed, with the band returning to surprise us with a song they haven’t played since 2013. Most shows to this point have featured “You Wreck Me” as the first song in the encore, but tonight that was dropped in favor of a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Carol.” That part wasn’t surprising, as Berry hails from St. Louis and passed away less than two months ago.
Closing the show was “American Girl,” the second single from The Heartbreakers’ debut album. It was the perfect end to a perfect show. I enjoyed it even more than I expected to, which isn’t to say that I didn’t have high expectations, but is a credit to the band for exceeding my high expectations.
There is speculation that the band will be winding things down after this tour, but I certainly hope they go on another run or two as I would love to see them again.
Media Review:
Official Site St. Louis, MO Show Recap
Tom and the guys have many musical influences, but the band’s show at Scottrade Center in St. Louis Friday put one of their biggest front and center – the late, great Chuck Berry.
During band introductions after “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” Tom told the story about meeting Mike for the first time and the Chuck Berry tune the legendary Heartbreaker guitarist played to convince Tom he should join his band, Mudcrutch.
“He had this cheap Japanese guitar, and when I saw it, I thought, ‘Well, this isn’t gonna go well,” Tom said onstage in St. Louis. “But then he ripped into ‘Johnnie B. Goode,’ and when he was done, I looked at him and said, ‘You’re gonna be in my band forever.”
A native of St. Louis, Berry opened for the Heartbreakers twice during his storied career – December 31, 1979 in Oakland, CA and October 7, 2010 in Phoenix, AZ. The band has regularly covered his songs throughout their career, the last time being on June 4, 2013 at The Fonda Theater in Hollywood, CA with a version of “Carol.”
Tipping their hat to their musical hero, Tom and the guys revived their cover of “Carol” for the encore in St. Louis, with Benmont Tench and Mike trading solos back and forth before Tom hopped back in for the last verse.
“And if you want to hear some music like the boys are playin’
Hold tight, pat your foot, don’t let ’em carry it away
Don’t let the heat overcome you when they play so loud
Oh, don’t the music intrigue you when they get a crowd
You can’t dance, I know you wish you could
I got my eyes on you baby, ’cause you dance so good
Oh Carol, don’t let him steal your heart away
I’m gonna learn to dance if it takes me all night and day”
By TomPetty.com, 2017
Tom Petty skips around his extensive catalog in Scottrade show
Near the outset of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ show at Scottrade Center Friday night, Petty noted that the band’s current tour is a celebration of its 40th anniversary and asked the audience to imagine those 40 years as “one side of a big record.”
For the concert’s set list, he said, “We’re just gonna drop the needle all over it.”
The metaphor of a vinyl album is pretty dead-on for a Petty show and for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band itself. It’s a defiantly analog artifact in a digital world — warm-sounding and welcoming to the ear; old school but far from obsolete.
Petty hinted in an interview late last year that the current tour could be the Heartbreakers’ last major go-round. It would be too bad if that were the case. On any given night, the band — its lineup from its early years almost entirely intact — is arguably the finest rock ‘n’ roll unit extant.
And besides, the Scottrade show didn’t feel much like a valedictory. Instead, Petty skipped around the group’s extensive catalog, playing hits, highlights and a few lesser-known songs and lavishing nearly as much attention on his solo work.
After promising a “100 percent rock show” with “no artificial sweeteners and no corporate sponsors,” Petty kicked things off with “Rockin’ Around (with You),” the first song from the group’s debut album.
The trippy “Last Dance with Mary Jane” and the singalong “You Don’t Know How It Feels” followed and were stretched out into loose-limbed jams, with guitarist Mike Campbell and Petty himself taking solo turns. Petty seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, soaking up the applause and chatting amiably between many of the songs.
Before playing “You Got Lucky,” which he noted was from 1982, Petty singled out a young audience member. “I know you weren’t here (then),” he said, pointing to another and joking, “You, sir, however…”
The hits kept flowing with “I Won’t Back Down,” “Free Fallin’” and “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”
Introducing the band, Petty recalled his first meeting with Campbell, during which the guitarist played the opening notes of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode,” leading Petty to think, “You’re gonna be in my band forever,” he said.
Keyboardist Benmont Tench was a stellar presence on keyboards and drummer Steve Ferrone, “my favorite musician,” Petty said, was rock-solid on drums. The band also includes bassist Ron Blair and vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Scott Thurston, and was joined by the Webb Sisters, Charley and Hattie, on vocals.
The show featured a mini-set of songs from Petty’s 1994 solo album “Wildflowers” – “It’s Good to Be King,” “Crawling Back to You” and the title track – that was for the most part low-key and intimate. Petty is reportedly planning to release a deluxe reissue of the album later this year.
Things cranked back up with a hard-rocking “I Should Have Known It,” followed by “Refugee” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream.”
For the encore, Petty and the Heartbreakers returned to the subject of Chuck Berry, honoring the late rock ‘n’ roll founder with a version of his song “Carol.” Campbell’s solo proved that Petty’s early faith in his abilities was well-placed while Tench’s playing was faithful to the spirit of fabled Berry sideman Johnnie Johnson.
The group ended the night by returning to its first album for “American Girl.”
Another veteran rocker, Joe Walsh, opened the show with an hour-long set that drew on his past with the James Gang, as a solo artist and as a member of the Eagles.
His five-piece band, plus four vocalists, fleshed out terrific songs such as “Mother Says” and the Eagles’ “Take It to the Limit,” which Walsh dedicated to “my brother and fellow bandmate Glenn Frey,” who died last year.
Though clean and sober for years now, Walsh played off of his image as one of rock’s legendary lunatics, playing his hit “Life’s Been Good” and hitting the stage at 8 p.m. with the greeting, “Good morning!”
By Daniel Durchholz @ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2017
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Honor Chuck Berry In St. Louis
Last night Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers brought their 40th anniversary tour to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Petty & Co. stuck to the set list that they’ve been performing throughout this tour for their main set, but had a trick up their sleeve when it came to the encore.
The classic rock act’s 17-song set was heavy on Petty’s best-known material with takes on “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” “I Won’t Back Down,” “Free Fallin’,” “Wildflowers,” “Learning To Fly” and “Refugee.” The band also included songs from a couple of their more recent albums with takes on “Forgotten Man” from 2014’s Hypnotic Eye, and “I Should Have Known It” from 2010’s Mojo.
When Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers returned for their encore the band used the opportunity to honor St. Louis native Chuck Berry, who passed away early this year. The band offered up a take on “Carol,” a tune that Berry released back in 1958 and one that Petty & Co. been covering since the early 2000s.
By Jeffrey Greenblatt @ JamBase.com, 2017
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