Rock tracks: Petty's show raises questions about future
By Stephanie DuBois
Rome News-Tribune - February 25, 1997

Tom Petty's just-finished 20-show stand at San Francisco's famed Fillmore Ballroom has drawn lots of questions.

Is Petty workshopping new material? Taping something? Does he have plans to move on to other venues? No, no, and no. Word is, he just wanted to get out and play, recharge his creative juices, and do it away from the L.A. area. Tom and The Heartbreakers played different set lists every night, sprinkling in music ranging from blues to country to ... surf music.

Petty also had guest artists in to add to the fun, including Carl Perkins and John Lee Hooker. His opening acts included Jakob Dylan's The Wallflowers -- who've gotten so hot they're certainly now in headliner land. The shows were all sold out, with a hefty celeb contingent including the likes of Winona Ryder, Jackson Browne, and Counting Crows member Dave Bryson showing up to catch the intimate shows.