Now Entering Petty’s World

The Gorge Ampitheatre

It was just two short years ago that Lisa and I both experienced Tom Petty for the first time live and in the flesh at The Gorge in central Washington. That show was amazing, especially from the expensive seats. So, when the opportunity came to see Petty showing off his golden locks and velvet jacket at The Gorge again this year, we couldn’t pass it up.

Julie, Lisa and Beret at our campsite pre-show.

We made the trek last weekend with our good friends Jerry Mischel, Chris and Beret Kline, as well as Bill and Julie Gates, with the goal of camping overnight, enjoying the views and good company, and – of course – exemplary music by our main man Tom.

With a new record, Mojo, hitting shelves recently, Petty was on the road to give his adoring fans the old classics we all know and love, along with some new riffs off of the new album. We just caught the second night of Petty’s two night Gorge outing, but with seats in the 18th row, we more than made up for missing Friday’s show.

Overall, the show was amazing – we got some great pictures, and heard some great music. Not sure about Tom’s new stuff – it was a bit all over the map, as he experimented with different genres as his meloncholy lyrics lured the crowd in throughout the show. The only downside was I had to catch a 7 a.m. flight to Los Angeles for work the following morning, so I booked it home after the concert to sleep for 45 minutes before heading to the airport. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Some pictures and video from the show below. What’s your favorite Petty tune?

~joel