Members GigMan Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 So did anyone check out Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers playing the SuperBowl Halftime Show? I've always loved Tom's music - not exactly keyboard-oriented prog-rock but hey, it's cool, has great guitar riffs & I love his harmonies and vocal arrangements... so sue me. He sounded great on Sunday and it was cool that he played old classics: American Girl, Free Fallin', Runnin' Down A Dream, I Won't Back Down... interestingly enough, the last 3 tunes were from his excellent solo album, Full Moon Fever (w/the great Jeff Lynne productions) - w/out The Heartbreakers. What annoyed me though - and this always happens - is that even when Benmont Tench was doing his little piano solo/riff in the middle of American Girl, the cameras are focusing on Tom or on the guitarist Mike Campbell... duh! Otherwise, it just great to see an old classic band like TP & the HB's still rockin' - beats the hell out most of the crappy pop acts w/18 dancers and 9 costume changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 Yes always a backseat to a guitarist. He uses a Yamaha grand like Roy Bittan. He does not mess around. He also carries a C-3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eric Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 Best halftime show in a long time! No backing tracks that I could detect. Killer stage, killer crowd and pyro FX. So what was that keyboard that Ben had on top of the piano? I don't have DVR and they never panned close enough for me to tell. Inquiring minds want to know! Folks on another forum believe it was a Roland RS9. Regards,Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted February 6, 2008 Author Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 Yeah, I was trying to figure that out too, Eric - couldn't make it out... Tom & the boys were definitely solid - reminded me of how much I also enjoyed Paul McCartney's Superbowl show a couple years back - and who was it last year, Bon Jovi? A nice trend, indeed - going the the solid rockers instead of the annoying pop singer/divas. U2 played the 'Bowl in last few years as well, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eric Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 Yep, U2 was my last favorite SB performance. That was in the days when I could not barely tell you the teams or the score, but the halftime band was important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mytee2.0 Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 Best halftime show in a long time! thats not saying much did anyone else think the stage was a penis and not a guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted February 6, 2008 Author Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 did anyone else think the stage was a penis and not a guitar? No but I'm really not used to recognizing penises ("penii"?) - except my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pawnz Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 Did you hear about the guy with the five penises? Pants fit like a glove. Ok, ok....old, bad joke. Great half-time performance, btw. Needed more shots of the keyboardist/keys, as usual. No idea what mystery synth was on top of the piano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Pro Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 I also enjoyed Paul McCartney's Superbowl show a couple years back - and who was it last year, Bon Jovi? No, last year it was Prince and the year before that it was the Rolling Stones. The Prince show was pretty forgettable so it's easy to see why you thought it was someone else. Tom Petty and company were good... not flashy or over the top, just basic rock 'n roll. I watched a pregame interview where Tom said they practiced for a month for that 12 minute show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members coyote-1 Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 I thought Prince was great. As was McCartney... TP was OK but nothing special. That said, overall it's far better IMO to have these bands playing, even the Stones, than the crap they used to have. Janet Jackson, it turns out, did everyone a big favor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jercat Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 I think "I Won't Back Down" was with the Traveling Wilburys wasn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members loxley11 Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 The gig was quality, sure enough. Solid like a rock, and sound was good, but I can't help feeling that the song selection was a bit mellow for a venue like the SB. I mean, you only have time for three or four songs, so you'd want to pull out all the stops and really blast it. Runnin down a dream fits that description, but I think some of the others brought the energy way down IMHO. TP has plenty of other songs that are lively AND popular, so I don't know why he chose some of the ones he did. At least he didn't have to play in the pouring rain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy Horchata Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 I think "I Won't Back Down" was with the Traveling Wilburys wasn't it? Nope off his solo record FULL MOON FEVER as were 2 of the other songs he played great show, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrcpro Posted February 6, 2008 Members Share Posted February 6, 2008 I thought it was a killer mini-show. And I'm not a big Petty fan either. Song selection reflected the makeup of the crowd. They weren't there to see Petty. They were there to see the Super Bowl. So it was very safe and ultra-familiar. I watched the whole game again on Monday night (Wow! I may watch it again tonight!!!) and the halftime show. I still can't make out what the mystery keyboard on top of the piano is. I doubt it is an RS because the chassis is one piece. Although I haven't looked it up, I'm hunching it's maybe one of those Novation controllers from a few years ago, because it looks like it's got a couple of rows of short throw sliders on the right front panel. It's got some kind of custom end caps that reflect like mirrors. The only time I could actually hear it at all, even though Benmont is playing it a lot, is at the beginning of "I Won't Back Down"... a kind of heavily filtered detuned square wave pad. But that doesn't make it analog... many Roland romplers have the identical sound in a patch called "JP Haunting". Hmmm, maybe it is an RS. Further guesses gentlemen?... since it's inaudible it's not important really... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members skuller Posted February 7, 2008 Members Share Posted February 7, 2008 i was waiting for the moving heart, and guitar, to backfire and run over the crowd. it'd've been a bloody mess ala dethklok and the duncan hills coffee. as with most performances of this caliber, i imagine the vocals were pre recorded, as well as the guitar solos. meh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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