Tom Petty at Jiffy Lube Live August 15th 2010
Mr. Cool aka Tom Petty, copyright Sam Jones
Nancy used some of her United Miles points to purchase tickets to the Tom Petty show at Jiffy Lube Live. We got a “deal” on the lawn tickets. The price was only $41 with no service or shipping charges tacked on. I have listened to Tom Petty for years but never thought about going to see him live, this would be an experience.
We got some friends to come along and we planned the whole afternoon, the only wild card was the weather but we planned accordingly. We go to Cassie and Chris’s house early to load up her Escape, it was the only vehicle that would accommodate all of us and our crap for tailgating. We had a canopy, chairs, a small grill and most importantly a huge cooler filled with beer. Packed we were ready to roll to the venue to arrive just after 4 o’clock when the lots opened. Funny thing is on the way we had to pass a sobriety check point. People that needed to pre-pre-game should have been caught. There was plenty of time in the lots to drink all the beer you wanted to be drunk when you walked in for the show. No need to drink at home and drive to the venue.
When we got in the lots were just starting to fill up and we got a spot right next to the venue entrance. This would be great for walking to the show, but hell on earth when we wanted to leave. There was a threat of rain all day and the first thing when you are tailgating or camping is setting up shelter. After we popped the canopy it was smooth sailing from then on. We got the chairs and cool out and cracked open our first beer. The next few hours we spent hanging out, drinking, and eating some perfectly grilled hot dogs and brats. There is nothing better than brats and beer on a summer afternoon. Even the weather cooperated with us. I keep checking the skies hoping it wouldn’t rain. It was a little breeze with temps in the mid to upper 70′s the whole day. The cloud cover actually helped to block the sun and make things that much cooler. In fact the only problem we had was deciding where to pee. They never have enough porta johns at the venue and the lines are incredible long for those they do have. We all opted for the short walk to the woods when we had to go, just needed to watch out for cops and number twos.
tailgating before the show
As 7 o’clock approached I was itching to get inside, I wanted to see Crosby, Stills, and Nash (CSN). Unfortunately Cassie, Chris and Nancy had no idea who they were. I am an old hippie so of course I know who they are. When we got into the venue it was another pee break, beer time, and then finding a spot on the lawn. By the time we got to the top of the lawn it was pretty full and spots were at a premium, as CSN were already on stage. Crap. We fortunately found a good spot some ways down from the top of the lawn. By good I mean we had some kick ass people around us. There was a group of three woman to my back right and a family of four right in front. The woman and Nancy had my back and wanted to kick the shit out of anyone that walked between our two plots, some had the gall to stand on my rain jacked. You should have seen them, Nancy and these three ladies were get ready to go ballistic. The family in front of us had two kids and this was their first concert, the father was really excited and proud about this.
Once we got settled in and CSN played a few well known songs everyone in the group realized who they were. They might not know the songs off the top of their heads, but they know the rhythm and beats for certain. As the show wined on they already played for 75 minutes with no sign of stopping. Their song catalog is wide and varied over their 40 year carrier. I know them mostly for their great harmony from their early years, but they certainly busted out some solid rock ballads to mix things up. They got the crowd to sing along several times during the performance and it was great. Usually opening acts have a hard time drawing the crowd in, but CSN had over 80% of attending crowd dancing in their seats when they started their set.
- Woodstock
- Military Madness*
- Long Time Gone
- Bluebird@
- Deja Vu
- Long May You Run
- Ruby Tuesday#
- Our House
- Southern Cross
- Chicago
- Almost Cut My Hair
- Wooden Ships
encore 1: - For What It’s Worth@
- Love the One You’re With
encore 2: - Teach Your Children
*Grahm Nash cover
@ Buffalo Springfield cover
#Rolling Stones cover
Tom Petty@Jiffy Lube Live
After a 30 minute intermission with a break for beer and bathrooms we settled in for the main attraction of the night, Tom Petty. When the band walked on stage the audience erupted with excitement. As Tom hit his first note the full glory of their stage setup came to light. They had huge monitors to display various graphics during the performance, one that was showering falling diamonds which was really cool. He started the set off rather slowly, working in some old classics before getting into some very familiar songs the crowd just ate up. Right in the middle of the set he played a repertoire from his latest album Mojo. Here I think he lost the crowd a little, he certainly he lost me. There are only a few songs from the new album I dig, fortunately he played Running Man’s Bible and I Should Have Known It which I like. After I Should Have Known It was played we were rolling again with the classics.
The set alone was an solid 90 minutes of kick ass booty shacking music. Much to the dismay of Nancy I didn’t much feel like dancing, but I certainly was swaying to the beats. I was feeling the vibe from the crowd as was Tom Petty that night. For the encore he played two more classics everyone loves to hear and throw in a second cover, Carol, by Chuck Berry. After reviewing several other set lists from the current tour the Chuck Berry cover was certainly something special that night. As the band walked off stage and before the house lights came on we started to head back to the car. I couldn’t figure out why we were leaving so early, leaving is such a nightmare. If you don’t leave before the encore break you are going to be there a while. Once we got back to the car, again I was shocked, we piled into the car and got in line with everyone else. Unfortunately my grill didn’t make it. I left it outside to cool off a little more and someone absconded with it. I would like to think it was the clean up crew and not a fan, Chris was highly upset it was missing, I was the only one who was not bummed. RIP little Charbroil Grill, you served me well over the last few years, I will miss you.
The weather that night turned out to be perfect for an outdoor show. We tailgated our asses off before the show and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves for Tom Petty. Throw in Crosby, Stills and Nash for an opening act and the musical talent that night was top notch. Everyone was surprised by how well CSN played. They wanted to tailgate a little longer, but everyone was glad we headed in to catch the majority of their performance. On the way back to the card we talked about the upcoming Jimmy Buffett show which we are all looking forward to as well. Can’t wait for that one!
show starts at 9:01pm
1. Listen to her Hearts
2. You Don’t Know How it Feels
3. Won’t Back Down
4. Free Fallen
5. Oh Well#
6. Marry Jane’s Last Dance
7. Kings Highway
8. Break Down
9. Jefferson Jericho Blues
10. Good Enough
11. Running Man’s Bible
12. I Should Have Known It
13. Learning to Fly
14. Don’t Come Around Here No More
15. Refugee
set ends at 10:24
encore starts at 10:29
16. Runnin’ Down a Dream
17. Carol*
18. American Girl
house lights on at 10:45
Notes:
# Fleetwood Mac cover
* Chuck Berry cover
