Petty set to rock the Marquee
By Brian Hayes Curtin
Cork Independent - December 15, 2011
A major coup for Cork was announced yesterday with the news that American rock legend Tom Petty will play a gig in Cork this summer.
He will perform as part of the Live at the Marquee series in early June this year. Petty has not toured Europe in 20 years, having last played Ireland in 1992, when he played the Point Depot.
The legendary guitarist is famous for songs like ‘Learning to Fly’, ‘Freefallin’ and ‘American Girl’. He and his band have scored hits in five different decades while selling tens of millions of records along the way.
Tom Petty Halifax concert set for May 31
By Stephen Cooke
Halifax Chronicle-Herald - December 19, 2011
Tickets go on sale Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Tom Petty fans will be lining up, dialing up and firing up their computers Wednesday morning to get tickets for the legendary American rocker’s show at the Halifax Metro Centre on Thursday, May 31.
They’ll also be hoping their credit cards can withstand the strain of paying up to $206.50 (including tax and service charge) per seat.
The floor plan on the Ticket Atlantic website shows the majority of floor seats and prime lower bowl seats (sections seven, eight, 22 and 23) at the upper end of the scale, while most of the seats in the lower bowl and bottom half of the upper bowl will set you back $183.50 (all in). A smaller number of seats in the top upper bowl and behind the stage will be available for $103.
Editor's Note: Kijiji is an classified ads site in Canada, similar to Craigslist.
Petty concert a 'once-in-a-lifetime-thing': Fan
By Aly Thomson
Metro Halifax - December 22, 2011
Al Isnor may be watching Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from the upper bowl of the Halifax Metro Centre in late May, but that doesn't faze the longtime fan.
The Clayton Park resident arrived at work late Wednesday morning to ensure his spot at the rocker's show. After hitting the refresh button on the Ticket Atlantic website several times, Isnor was finally able to purchase the bank-breaking tickets at about 9:02 a.m.
"It's pricey, but a once-in-a-lifetime thing. To see him in our own backyard," Isnor told Metro in a phone interview. Tickets, which range from $103 to $206.50, went on sale Wednesday at 9 a.m., and only three minutes later, the best available seats were in the upper bowl. Concert promoter David Carver said although the show isn't sold out, he expects the remaining 500 tickets will go fast.
Song of the Day: 'Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll,' Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
By Jay Lustig
Newark Star-Ledger - Thursday, December 29, 2011
You never think of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as punk-rock. But in the late '70s, that's almost what they seemed like: a fresh alternative to the overblown prog-rock and safe pop of the day -- not as angry or as crude as real punk, of course, but derived from the same back-to-basics spirit. (Elvis Costello's raw but tuneful debut album, "My Aim Is True," created the same impression.)
"Breakdown" was the first Heartbreakers single to really break through in the U.S., in 1978, but "Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll" -- with its relentless, grinding beat, Chuck Berry guitar riffs and snarling lyrics ("I didn't go to bed, didn't go to work/I picked up the telephone, told the boss he was a jerk") -- had already become a hit in the U.K.
Both "Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll" and "Breakdown" were from the band's self-titled debut album, whose cover featured Petty sneering and dressed in black leather. It was released in late 1976. (After the Ramones' debut album, but before debuts by Costello, the Sex Pistols and the Clash).
Spurgeon’s General Warning: Five Four Things I Like About Tom Petty
By Ashley Spurgeon
Nashville Scene - Thursday, January 5, 2012
I had been planning on writing about Tom Petty for a while, and the Top Petty cover night at The 5 Spot on Saturday is as good a reason as any to run it now. Why Tom Petty? Why not! Though I’m mostly immune to his music due to having heard his hits literally all of my life, there are plenty (more than three, less than five) of weird reasons to like the guy.
If he’s a secret asshole, please don’t let me know.
He’s from Florida:
But doesn’t seem like he’s from Florida. Floridians are noted grossies*, and while there is definitely a tinge of strangeness on the guy, it’s a charming kind of strangeness. Like he could be from Texas, or Belgium.
Gary Busey in a zone that's all his own
By Jon Bream
Minneapolis Star Tribune - February 2, 2012
He also remembered hanging out at the now-defunct Sgt. Preston's bar and the Cabooze, where he sometimes performed. He made a habit of sitting in at Twin Cities concerts by stars such as Bonnie Raitt and Tom Petty.
"With Tom Petty, we played 'Rock 'n' Roll Music' by Chuck Berry, and we started backing up on the stage and I started hitting him and he started hitting me and we both went down," Busey reminisced as if it were yesterday. "His head ended up on my stomach with my legs straight in the air with the guitar strap between my legs. Try to pick that up and play it."
Songs for the broken-hearted on Valentine's Day
By J.T. Morand
Chicago Sun-Times - February 8, 2012
Valentine's Day means love, and that's rotten for single folk who'd rather spend the day with someone special. Even if you don't celebrate Valentine's Day because it's cheesy and sappy and triggers the gag reflex, it's nice to have the option.
So, for those who are feeling the sting of being single this Valentine's Day, I present to you a list of favorite break-up songs I compiled from suggestions made by readers, some who are single and some who are married. I threw in a few of my favorites, too.
George Harrison's Beloved Guitars, Gently Weeping on Your iPad
By Dave Itzkoff
The New York Times - February 22, 2012
Mr. Campbell, a guitarist who performs with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, said that picking up Harrison's Rickenbacker and playing the chords to "You Can't Do That" resulted in "an out-of-body experience."
"I had to stand up for a second, it was so intense," Mr. Campbell said. "It was that instrument and that sound that inspired me so much as a kid. And there I was, hearing it up close. It was a pretty special moment, really."
For admirers who can't have the same hands-on experiences, Dhani Harrison is already planning other offerings. More of his father's guitars will be added to the app, he said, in the weeks after it is released. (The additional guitar upgrades will be free to people who have already purchased the app.)
Result of Petty's brick-by-brick career? A mansion
By Jack W. Hill
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - April 19, 2012
LITTLE ROCK -- Tom Petty has yet to run for elective office, but he has something in common with the president -- neither of them has ever been spotted in Arkansas. Well, one or both of them might have made a road trip through and stopped for gas or a doughnut or something, but what we're referring to here are public appearances in President Barack Obama's case and performances in Petty's.
So fans of Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers, were the ones making road trips to see their heroes in Memphis or St. Louis or Dallas, starting back in the late 1970s, when Petty began his string of hits with "American Girl" (which at least was heard prominently last year when Taylor Swift used it as the song that played as she came onstage in Verizon Arena).