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Jackson Browne AmSouth Amphitheater, Nashville July 15, 2001 By Peter Cronin "Damn, you'd think it was 1988 again." So said a parking attendant as he watched the graying crowd file into Nashville's AmSouth Amphiteater. He was witnessing the return of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and sure enough, while many pubescent faces dotted the venue's sprawling real estate, most members of the capacity crowd were fully grown back in the '70s, the era of Petty and Browne's debut albums. With no new product to promote, both veteran acts delivered passionate greatest hits sets, and with little left to prove aesthetically, each sounded like they were playing for the fun of it. Browne and band kicked it off with the riff-driven "Boulevard," from 1980's Hold Out. The hour-long set focused on the singer's most recognizable, if not always his very best, material. Looking California calm-and-cool in dirty jeans and a gray work shirt, Browne ran through a sturdy hit list that included "Doctor My Eyes," "Fountain Of Sorrow" and "The Pretender." Performed by the same players he has been touring and/or recording with for the past several years, more recent songs like 1994's "I'm Alive" and the reflective "Barricades of Heaven," naturally fared better onstage than the older songs. The crowd was on their feet for the set's climax, a rousing version of "Running On Empty." Looking alarmingly like Ray Walston playing Popeye's father in the Robert Altman movie, a bearded Petty hit the stage with a hearty "how ya doin'," and from start to finish, he seemed bent on upholding the image of America's most successful middle-aged slacker. With a set full of nuggets, a ridiculously tight band, and a recurring pot-smoking motif, he played the part of a wise stoner without ever letting it get the best of him or the music. A relatively scaled down stage set grouped his musicians close together, and, with the logo from the cover of their 1976 debut emblazoned on the bass drum, the band brought a small club intensity to this cavernous shed. Guitarist Mike Campbell commanded much of the evening's attention. Kicking off the night with the bouncing bass string lick that opens "Runnin' Down A Dream," wailing high up on the neck during the "Free Bird" finish of 1994's "It's Good To Be King," or gently weeping his way out of a panoramic "Into The Great Wide Open," Campbell delighted in the opportunity to flex his muscles, while pulling out an impressive array of instruments to render the signature licks that hold these songs together. With L.A. session veteran Steve Ferrone replacing original member Stan Lynch on drums, the Heartbreakers sounded feistier and more relaxed than they have in years. Keyboardist Benmont Tench casually tossed off the tasteful synthesizer and Hammond organ fills, but his playing on "Last Chance For Mary Jane" and "Don't Come Around Here No More" demonstrated his understanding of the piano as percussion instrument. Bent over his tools like a mad scientist, Tench worked with Ferrone all night, the drummer keeping the relentlessly pounding songs firmly in the pocket, while Tench steered them out of the doldrums. A certain sameness can creep into a Petty set. But the lazy, Stones-esque take on Howlin' Wolf's "Little Red Rooster" contained some decent blues licks from Petty himself. And Mike Campbell's rockabilly moment, a note-for-note reading of Arthur Smith's 1948 classic, "Guitar Boogie," helped widen the set's dynamics. With no commercial axe to grind, Petty and company spent much of their 90 minutes gleefully pulling out rarely performed songs from every stage of their long career. The crowd was treated to "Here Comes My Girl," "Too Much Ain't Enough," and "Breakdown." Closing with a sing-along encore of the now classic "American Girl," Petty's message was clear. You can sell jillions of records, make your videos, tour the world, and survive 25 years of rock stardom, but if you ain't having fun, what's the point? |
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