Raise your hand if you thought Tom Petty’s halftime show was, well, fine, although the momentum of it was killed by stacking two midtempo songs right in the middle. (Perhaps Fox nixed “Refugee” for being too political?) And keep it raised if you were the person at your party who said, “Hey, that’s weird that they billed him as playing with the Heartbreakers, since 75% of the material was from his billed-as-a-solo album Full Moon Fever.” Or the person who said, “Wait, didn’t he use this song to advertise for the NBA a few years ago?” OK, hands down.
Petty, looking even more wizardly than usual thanks to a downy beard, busted through a four-song set that wasn’t quite the barnburner that Prince served up last year, free of special guests and heavy on the material from his five-times-platinum 1989 album. But it sounded OK enough, and hey, no one took their top off. Will it help get asses in the seats for his much-advertised-on-the-Super-Bowl tour, the tickets of which go on sale today? Perhaps a few; the young ladies with beads and big, drunken smiles that Fox cut to in an effort to prove that Petty’s demographic crossed age and gender lines certainly seemed to be having a good time. But the workmanlike nature of the set–and the likelihood that next year’s halftime show would probably feature a similarly wizened road veteran touting their only way left of making money upcoming road jaunt was a little deflating, and it almost made me wish for a throwback to the almost public access-like days of 3-D Elvises.
[Photo: Getty]
@dennisobell: Feel the same about the performance, the highlight of which for me was probably Campbell’s solo on “Running Down a Dream”. I also coveted his rather awesome brace of guitars, particularly the double-necked, I don’t know….Danelectro….Mosrite?
They did have another massive phallic guitar this year. This one glowed and glided through the crowd, before lancing a giant throbbing heart.
You know if you think about Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers were a perfect choice for a Great American sport such as the Super Bowl. They have been an American icons for over thirty years. People have always liked their music and always will. They sing about things they feel and most of America feels. If you listened maybe you would get it. They change with the times but most of their songs are timeless. I went to their concert last year and it was sold out and there were people there from Kids to Senior Citizens. Just like the Super Bowl. So what does that tell you. Also Tom Petty’s solo Band consist of some of the Heartbreakers so why wouldn’t he play those songs? I think for the time they had they did a great show but don’t take my word for it when they come to town go see them. I will promise you that you will be glad you did.
Am I the only one who wasn’t feeling Prince’s show last year? Cuz when I saw it live, I thought it was OK, but that he didn’t really need to be covering the Foo Fighters, and that Purple Rain was pretty good, even if kind of a weird song to play at the Super Bowl. And then I went on here and was surprised to find nothing but raves. I guess y’all just really love Prince round these parts.
@DHMBIB: Actually it was Willie Nelson at halftime. Fox tried to find the Black Crowes but I believe they were too stoned out of their minds to remember their Super Bowl gig.
best thing for FOX about the show: ZERO chance of a nipple appearing.
Are you sure that was Tom Petty??? I coulda swore I saw Chris Robinson at halftime last nite.
I thought it sounded great. They hit all of their harmonies pretty spot-on, and the mix was amazing. Prince was better, of course, but the sound mix was wacky that night. I wanted to hear “The Waiting” or “You Got Lucky”.
Okay, I didn’t need to be reminded of Elvis Presto.
@Lucas Jensen: All I could hear were drums on “American Girl,” but it got better, and I agree that the harmonies were pretty tight.
Up With People was more exciting than Tom Petty.
Seeing Tom Petty on the bill ensured that I could cut my TV off at halftime, and give it a rest. We walked around the block in the rain, rather than watch Petty. Was there a more bland band from the 80s they could have picked?
He looked just like the guidance counselor from Freaks and Geeks last night. So glad I watched the beginning of Blues Brothers on HBO instead.
@AcidReign: I can’t believe the Petty hate around here. Not saying he was the best last night or anything, but I guess I live in a town where everybody pretty much loves Tom Petty. Everybody I know loves that dude. I thought he was a universally loved guy. Guess I was wrong!
Lucas, I’m not feeling a lot of Petty hate per se: I mean, you’ve got to hand it to Tom Petty: he’s the best Tom Petty there is. If you need to hear some Tom Petty, he’s your guy. He’s your one-stop shop for all your Tom Petty needs.
The thing is, his tunes are kind of like musical mashed potatoes. In fact, they’re exactly like mashed potatoes; warm, familiar, tasty. Satisfying, yeah. But you can’t make a meal out of them all by themselves.
Agreed with Lucas that there’s nothing to hate about Petty, but bigger agreement with Maura that it was just “fine.”
Poor dude has the misfortune to follow Prince by only one year. If the years were reversed, I’d probably be thinking, “Hey, Petty, nice, that was more than respectable,” and then be blown away by my Man a year later. In this order, TP&HB can’t help but suffer. I’ve seen them live once and had, truth be told, an excellent time, but most of that is their confidence mixed with the crowd’s enthusiasm; that just doesn’t translate as well on the tube.
I sometimes wonder if it’s galling for Mike Campbell et al. to play the Full Moon Fever stuff and think, “There’s more royalties I won’t be seeing.” Then again, Campbell, at least, was all over FMF (so he surely gets mechanicals when it sells), and it’s not like Petty doesn’t earn the lion’s share of royalties (publishing, certainly) from the Heartbreakers records, anyway.