Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers @ Prudential Center (pics, setlist)
The band’s second round-year roadshow hasn’t tied on the same bells and whistles as the band’s 30th ann’y roadshow in 2006 — when Stevie Nicks was traveling with the group and Pearl Jam was opening — but on the simplistic stage Petty was affable and sharp, the band was game for its greatest hits playlist and a few extended jams showed a strain of spontaneity still pumping through the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.
“Tonight we are gonna look at the last 40 years like it’s one side of a big record, and drop the needle all over it,” said Petty, donning his patented suit, flopping hairdo and sunglasses-at-night look.
As one would expect, the Petty solo rock smashes (these days relegated to adult contemporary radio) “Free Fallin'” and “I Won’t Back Down” were sweeping sing-alongs, but the band showed more life on the lesser-played stuff, like 1982’s synthy Foreigner-esque jam “You Got Lucky” — a smart sonic break from all the straightaway guitar songs — and “Forgotten Man,” a punchy number from 2014’s well-received latest LP “Hypnotic Eye.” – [NJ.com]
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers‘ 40th Anniversary Tour brought them to NJ’s Prudential Center on Friday, June 16 for a set jammed with hits. Check out the setlist below and pictures from the night (we missed Joe Walsh’s opening set) are in the gallery above.
The tour returns to the area for two shows at Queens’ Forest Hills Stadium on July 26 & 27. Limited view tickets are still available.
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SETLIST: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers @ Prudential Center, Newark 6/16/2017
Rockin’ Around (With You)
Mary Jane’s Last Dance
You Don’t Know How It Feels
Forgotten Man
You Got Lucky
I Won’t Back Down
Free Fallin’
Walls
Don’t Come Around Here No More
It’s Good to Be King
Crawling Back to You
Wildflowers
Learning to Fly
Yer So Bad
I Should Have Known It
Refugee
Runnin’ Down a Dream
Encore:
You Wreck Me
American Girl
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photos by Dana Distortion
