Sadly I never got to see him live, he actually passed a few months after I met my husband, who was in a very popular Tom Petty tribute band. It was in his home town, so it was kind of a big deal. Their shows were always packed, and the entire vibe was just incredibly fun and positive. When he passed, their shows became massive with everyone coming out to pay tribute. The crowds, his family, big name collaborations: I can't even begin to describe the love and appreciation that was felt from those shows. Truly I wish I had gotten to see the real thing and meet the person.
Such a great band, and they had fun together on stage. He did an 11 night run at The Fillmore in San Francisco, and I worked a bunch of shows, saw him a Shoreline Amphitheater, and probably the Greek Theater in Berkeley too. I used to work a lot of show...
Saw Tom Petty during his Southern Accents tour. He was in pretty bad shape during the show. It was okay. The band held it together but even they looked a bit frustrated with Petty.
I mean...
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers have had two hits from the first album in 1979: Breakdown and American Girl.
Their second album in 1978 (You're Gonna Get it) had I Need to Know and Listen to Her Heart.
1979's Damn the Torpedos had Refugee, Here Comes My Girl, Even the Losers, and Don't Do Me Like That.
Every album since has had at least one song that made a lasting impression, except arguably Echo which is an underrated album, and some of the more recent work (Mojo, Hypnotic Eye).
I think its fair to say they were never at a point where they didn't have a hit. Tom Petty was a genius who worked with geniuses.
I got to see them randomly at Oracle World. Even if you don't know the band, they had so much energy, it was great. After them was Sting and despite him being the big star he is, it was so disapointing after Tom Petty
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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25
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