We have a date 21st June for normality we hope and the end of socially distancing at a gig. I have my first gig pencilled in for 7th June a seated affair at the Jazz Café to hopefully set up the rest of the year. I have still have about half a dozen gigs that will either be cancelled or postponed some for the third time. So cautious optimism is the watch word here. Given that the summer months are usually a little quieter the autumn could be crazy for gigs if things get back to normal. So with everything crossed let’s hope there is real light at the end of this horribly long tunnel.
When I first started this little exercise we were a month into lockdown on the 24th April. Like most of you I expected this to last a month or two. The reality now is clear and sadly it will be a full twelve months and probably a lot more between my last gig and the next one. We go again and hopefully this brings back memories for my gig going chums who have joined me on this great musical journey down the years.
Just the one but one of the very best today for my look back down memory lane.
1999, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Shepherds Bush Empire, London
It’s appropriate that there is only one gig to review on this day. That’s because this is in my top ten gigs I have ever seen. It’s the legend that is Tom Petty sadly taken aware too soon and his long time band the Heartbreakers all superior musicians and as a band faultless.
By strange synchronicity it was like today a Monday night, not the most rock and roll of evenings but these guys so changed that thinking. It’s a packed Empire for the three amigos as we squeeze onto the floor.
There’s no support act just these guys who deliver an impeccable thirty song set with two encores. These are no three minute pop songs either but full on rock classics. Of course not everyone’s’ favourite is there, how could it be and it would be churlish to complain. In addition to these originals there’s’ a fine eclectic choice of covers too from Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Them to name a few.
It’s impossible to pick a highlight, obvious classics like ‘Free Fallin’ and ‘American Girl’ are impeccable but so is everything else. I can’t think of anything that could have been done to improve this show. These guys were at the top of their game, Campbell’s guitar was on fire, Petty’s unique voice never sounded betterl and to see this all in such a relatively small venue like the Empire was priceless. This, at the time, may have been the most I had spent on an indoor gig and it was worth every penny and more.
Just list any superlative you can think of and it can be applied to this show. One I will never forget. Its rock at its very best.
That’s it for today so don’t forget, support your small local venues and smaller artists in these difficult times, stay safe and keep on rockin y’all.