Tom Petty Concert Report

Tom Petty at the Greek, 30 Sept 2006
Originally uploaded by suzipaw.

It was wonderful. Sigh. We arrived early enough to sit in the bleacher seats, perched at the very top of the amphitheater, with views of the bay, the Campanile, and the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. M and I had never been to the Greek Theater before, and it's a fab venue--very steep and smallish, so we weren't too far away from the stage. Plumes of skunk weed wafted around us throughout the event. I tried my first soju cocktail. The sound quality was great--we could sing along and still hear Tom, which was of course the main thing. Stevie Nicks appeared for a few numbers, singing at her own mike bedecked with beads and scarves. And he closed with "American Girl" which Katch and I had been hoping for, though we would've been content with "Breakdown." And I'm very glad that M and I were able to see/hear this concert together. We're both big Tom Petty fans and count a couple of his songs as "our" songs from our first days together, so having this experience together is especially sweet.

Listening to the music reminded me so much of my high school days. I remember sitting in the back of the basketball team bus, after probably losing the game, and consoling myself by cuddling a boombox with my tape of "Breakdown" playing. I have fond memories of saving my allowance to buy records at the huge, almost overwhelming Tower Records in San Francisco, negotiating with my brother and boyfriend who would buy what. My brother was the sound connoisseur in the family, and we all had to be very careful to follow his directions for cleaning and storing the vinyl, as well as the needle on the stereo. I don't remember arguing much about whose music was on the turntable, but I recall that the music was very important--Fleetwood Mac, the Stones, Elvis Costello, the Clash, the Tubes. The album covers too were a big part of the experience, one thing that the digital age hasn't really been able to address. I'm still trying to get more music in my life…

The only bummer of the night? While the Monster Mobile was parked at Katrin's--a nice neighborhood, too!--someone swiped one of my hubcaps! Yes they're the outlandish gold package which is probably why they're so tempting, but it's so embarrassing driving around without one. I feel like I've gone from kitschy to trashy.