Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Strokes Live!
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Strokes
Charter One Pavilion, Chicago
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Steady as he goes, Tom Petty’s inaugural appearance at the outdoor Charter One Pavilion on Thursday was as by the book as it gets — and exactly what you want from him.
The night was executed so precisely you could imagine it without being there, probably predict which songs made the set without ever going. “Free Fallin'” — check. “Refugee” — ditto. “American Girl”? Are you kidding? Sometimes it’s hard to imagine the scope of Petty’s hits until they’re laid out in front of you, and only then do you realize what a massively popular S.O.B. he is. But unlike rock’s primadonna chartbusters, Petty never rubs your face in it, in a “do you want more?!” bravado.
The potsmoker in him has allowed a number of instrumental breakdowns/solo fiestas to infest his bigger songs, bogging down the end of the performance. Petty was clearly more interested in letting The Heartbreakers stretch their legs than test them with the material on his new album, Highway Companion, of which he only offered three songs: “Saving Grace,” “Down South,” and “Square One.” The Traveling Wilburys got their due (“Dirty World”), and he nodded to Chicago’s Record Row with a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Too Much Monkey Business” in the cracks of the classic radio onslaught (also burning “Listen To Her Heart,” “Last Dance With Mary Jane,” and “You Wreck Me”). But the glory of a Petty concert — aside from watching people of all ages get totally wasted in 100 minutes — is its homeliness.
The Rolling Stones always seem to be selling something when they play, but Petty gives his $90-seat holders more reason to get on board. He could have played one show at the enormodome and hopped on a plane, instead he carved out two nights at the more “intimate” — it’s tough to use that word referring to a 7,500 capacity venue — setting. He also has enough songs where he could pull some early album obscurities out his ass, but instead he served a rollicking cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well” and a for-the-stoners interpretation of Van Morrison’s “Mystic Eyes.”
The rest was hits. Solid, wall-to-wall hits played with minimal excursions, save “It’s Good To Be King” and “Runnin’ Down A Dream”‘s endlessness. He’ll come back again next year and do the same thing, and it’ll still be great.
The Strokes remain an enigma, however. Now that all the hype surronding their young career can be ignored, it seems a good time for examination. But just as they were opening for Doves at the Double Door in 2001, they remain a fluent if inessential live entity. The opportunity to open for Tom Petty was more a chance for singer Julian Casablancas to extol the headliner’s virtues than create some for his own band. Instead the band members remained defined distances apart onstage and rarely showed the emotion that matches Casablancas’ agitated snarl. The set placed no importance on current album First Impressions Of Earth, relying heavily on hits like “The Modern Age,” “Hard To Explain,” and “Someday,” though “Last Night” was a curious omission. It’s undeniable how much guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond have grown, especially as they filed down fingernails on “Barely Legal” and “You Only Live Once.” The Strokes can crawl and stand up, but it’s about time they walked.
— Steve Forstneger
Click here to view more photos from the show.
Category: Live Reviews, Weekly
