Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are touring this summer without a new album or anything else to promote. Guitarist Mike Campbell said,

“It just seemed like a good summer to go out and play”.

Campbell also says that it may be a while before we hear any new music from the band.

“We’re gonna do our tour this summer and then take a couple years off to write the next album. We’d like to make a really great album this time and take our time with the songs”.

Petty, meanwhile, says that the Heartbreakers are as strong and together as ever these days.

“I still hear rumors all the time that we’re breaking up,” he says. “I don’t know where they come from. It’s just a really great surprise to find out you can get better as you get older. If you take care of yourself and care a lot about what you’re doing, there’s no end to it, I don’t think. I think you can keep improving, and if we don’t, we’ll stop.”

Source, Photo Credit: PR Photos

Last night, four of the Blog Meanies traveled to Darien Lake Performing Arts Center outside of Buffalo, NY to see Tom Petty and the Heatbreakers in concert. To say that the band blew us completely away is an understatement. Although the concert venue left alot to be desired, and the concert stopped twice because of a rainstorm, the fans were obviously enjoying every minute of this amazing show. The guys opened with “You Wreck Me”, followed by “Listen to Her Heart”. Each song got better and better and better, if that were possible. Petty’s voice was in top form, his guitar playing was stunning (same goes for guitarist Michael Campbell…unbelievable!), and his between song banter, although kept to a minimum and barely understandable at times because of the interference from the storm, was fun and upbeat. He and the band were loving every minute of it. Now, about that storm…during the sixth song of the concert, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”, lightning, thunder, and rain blew in and cut out the power. Of course, everyone was stunned into silence, but the concert resumed in less than a minute only to have the same thing happen later on during “Saving Grace”. Tom reassured us that if it happened again, they would stop everything for several minutes, plug into the generator system, and carry on. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, and the rest of the concert went on without a hitch. Some of the other highlights were ” End of the Line”, “Runnin’ Down a Dream”, “Breakdown”, and my personal favorite “American Girl”. Two hours of superb music by the legendary Tom Petty and his band made for an unforgettable night, and I, for one, hope he keeps on rocking for a long, long, time to come.

Tom Petty recently returned to one of his old haunts, The Troubadour Club in Los Angeles, to perform with his reunited first band Mudcrutch, remembering that he still owes bosses of the club $480. The bill in question stems from a drunken night at the club which saw Petty throwing up from the stage at the beginning of a planned solo. He joked that drinks were flying all over the place and people’s clothes were ruined. He also offered his buddy Bruce Springsteen a bit of advice for when he (Springsteen) was to perform at The Troubadour:

“Don’t throw up on the tables.”

source, Photo Credit: PR Photos

photo courtesy of PR Photos/www.prphotos.com

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were amazing at the NFL Super Bowl half-time with the following songs: American Girl, Free Falling, Runnin’ Down a Dream, and I Won’t Back Down.

Check out the live performance of “American Girl” below:

Pretty cool stuff huh?