Live review: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers at the Hollywood Bowl
Tom Petty's 2010 album "Mojo" is a relatively intimate affair. It's comfortable, but not in a way that's predictable; more the sound of a veteran act in complete sync with each band member's moves. The Hollywood Bowl, despite its refined acoustics, rich history and clear sight-lines, is not, however, an intimate venue.
Petty and the Heartbreakers neatly packaged the "Mojo" songs mid-set, a brief bluesy diversion amid an evening of some of the most durable greatest hits around. Though only four songs from "Mojo" made their way to a sold-out Hollywood Bowl on Friday evening, they were the moments that gave the Heartbreakers -- 30-plus-year soldiers of tidy, roots-tinged American pop -- the most space to roam.
Scott Thurston's harmonica stabbed the beat of "Jefferson Jericho Blues," moving at too hectic a pace to even hit on a melody, while "Running Man's Bible" didn't build so much as simmer, offering Benmont Tench's keyboard time to smolder.
Think of it as a an arena-rock mood-setter rather than singalong crowd-pleaser. Perhaps that's why the new songs were accompanied with a smattering of lasers pointing off toward Hollywood Boulevard, an adornment for songs that needed none, and a plea for an audience -- one that seemed slightly impatient that the Heartbreakers dug up the spry 1991 cut "King's Highway" -- to stay seated.
When Petty and the Heartbreakers hit the coda of "I Should Have Known It," they locked into a bluesy howl. There was no extended jam here. Instead, drummer Steve Ferrone seemed to be offering a challenge, taunting Mike Campbell to keep pace. The ace sideman was more than capable of accepting, and his guitar sounded as if it was drawing skid lines in the dirt, and then suddenly jolting direction and leaving behind a trail of dust.