Last Saturday my eardrums were graced with the sweet sound of pure grade-a rock ‘n’ roll infused with the cheer of thousands as I attended the Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers / Steve Winwood show at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Now, considering I was given the tickets for free and the seats were quite excellent (half court, row C), I’d have to say the night as a whole was pretty damn good.

My friend Rachel won a pair of tickets off the radio a bit after she bought some tickets for herself, her sister and mom. Now, while I was very appreciative of getting the tickets, I did feel a bit bad that the tickets she won were considerably better than the ones she bought. But alas, her brother-in-law Travis and I were 2 people while they were 3. We win.

We got to the Palace about an hour before the show, and jesus, was it busy. I hadn’t been to a show this large in years, and it felt strange wading through such an enormous crowd to get into the stadium and to our seats. This feeling certainly didn’t fade when Travis and I took our seats and I was able to take in the enormity of the place. Thousands of people had gathered here with only one thing in mind: to ROCK and freakin’ ROLL. We sat for a bit waiting for the show to start and discussed, for the majority of the time, the band’s stage setup. To the back of the stage there was what appeared to be a large metal “tree” of sorts covered in LED lights, holding LED screens and some odd hanging cubes. It turned out that the company Travis worked for designed and created much of the lighting equipment set up at the show that night and he went through all of the pieces that were being used.

Before long, and even before the seats seemed to be half-filled, the lights dimmed and the place erupted in applause. The lights came up on stage and out walked Steve Winwood accompanied by his band.

I’ll admit that shortly prior to the show, I knew the name Steve Winwood but wasn’t really familiar with his music. Or so I thought. After doing a quick search on the tubes, I found that I’d been a fan of Steve’s for quite some time… I just wasn’t giving him credit for his work. It turned out I knew a lot of his tunes, and was very pleased with his performance. He busted out a number of newer songs from his most recent album “Nine Lives” as well as an abundance of his classic tunes, such as “Higher Love”, “Back in the High Life Again”, “Dear Mr. Fantasy”, & the ever-catchy “Gimme Some Lovin’”. His voice was top-notch and the band sounded really tight, although I found the acoustics in The Palace leave a bit to be desired… there was a faint trace of echo and an overabundance of bass. Either way, I enjoyed Steve’s performance as he jammed on the keys, and even took some time to lay out some lead guitar work on a few tracks. Very catchy and it got my head bobbing, that’s for sure.

After a quick break to get some more beer and stand in line for the horribly crowded bathroom, we got back to our seats just in time for the lights to lower, and again have the place absolutely erupt in applause and cheering.

As Mr. Tom Petty himself takes the stage in a purple velvet jacket and starts into “You Wreck Me”, I can’t help but crack a huge smile. There’s something about his music that just brings this nostalgic, euphoric feeling up from the pit of my stomach that few performers can emulate. This is the music I grew up listening to while hanging out with my dad, and while Tom, I and the rest of the stadium sing “Oooooohhh! Yeeeeeaaah!” it made me wish he was there enjoying it with me. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” followed and within seconds I could smell the unmistakable scent of a certain burning plant from nearly every direction. While others were enjoying their smoke, I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage, which had slowly started to light up from every imaginable place. LED screens showing multiple views of the band intermingle with psychedelic graphics in what was truly a spectacular visual display.

Throughout their set, Mr. Petty and the rest of the band played exactly like what they are: pros. You’d never know Tom was creeping up on the big six-oh the way he jammed on that six-string. His voice sounded as crisp and fresh as on any of his albums as he belted out “Free Fallin’” and “Refugee”. Lead guitarist Mike Campbell played to perfection, and keyboardist Benmont Tench gave numerous songs his unique touch, especially “Don’t Come Around No More” (which I am infinitely pleased that they played, though I was disappointed Tom didn’t don a Mad Hatter outfit during the song).

Spanning more than 30 years of the band’s career, their set was certainly a crowd pleaser with songs like “The Waiting”, “Learning to Fly”, the surprising “End of the Line” by The Traveling Wilburys, and encore pieces “Runnin’ Down a Dream” and “American Girl”. I’m sure Rachel and her sister were dancing their asses off (even if no one else around them were). Overall, Tom and the gang played an amazing (nearly 2 hour long) show and I look forward to seeing them live again… hell, I’d even pay for it if I had to.

While leaving the stadium and heading for the car, Travis and I noticed what an odd crowd it was that had en massed here at The Palace. Older folks intermingling with highschoolers… seniors standing next to mohawk-sporting punk rockers. Bro’s in polos waiting for a beer behind a guy wearing Slayer a shirt. Very few bands have as diverse a fan-base as Tom Petty. Even the most hard-assed metalhead can’t help but bob his head in appreciation when a Tom Petty song comes on the radio.

There’s simply no doubt about it… this is American Rock ‘n’ Roll at it’s finest.

Tom Petty’s Setlist:

You Wreck Me
Mary Jane’s Last Dance
I Won’t Back Down
Even the Losers
Free Fallin’
Cabin Down Below
Sweet William
End of the Line
The Waiting
Saving Grace
Honey Bee
Face in the Crowd
Learning to Fly
Don’t Come Around Here No More
Refugee
–encore–
Running Down a Dream
American Girl