Tom Petty at the Superbowl

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 3 Feb 2008 5:32 pm

Sounded great to me. Did not look like a lip-synch job either. Why aren't they all like this?

Let me point out that, born in 1950, he's not exactly a hippie, but certainly on the later end of the "hippie-generation", like me. I would count him among the worthy legacies of the boomers.

Dave Harmonson · Post by **Dave Harmonson** » 3 Feb 2008 6:23 pm

Yes sir, great sounding band. Nice to hear a good tight outfit with all the parts working together with purpose. Remember the Rolling Stones Super Bowl show. What a contrast.

Nick Reed · Post by **Nick Reed** » 3 Feb 2008 6:44 pm

Looked like Tom was using a "Ricky" for the first part of the show, then switched to a light blue Fender Telecaster for the finale. Cool lookin VOX amps on the stage. You sure don't see those very often anymore. Kinda retro from the British invasion of the 60's.
Nick

Jody Cameron · Post by **Jody Cameron** » 3 Feb 2008 7:46 pm

Tom Petty and band did a great job, and not even a single "wardrobe malfunction".

Leslie Ehrlich · Post by **Leslie Ehrlich** » 3 Feb 2008 8:53 pm

It looked like some of the band members from 'Damn the Torpedoes' album era were still playing with him. At least two of them, anyway.

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 3 Feb 2008 9:05 pm

Anyone know what the guitar Mike Campbell used on the first couple of songs was?

Greg Simmons · Post by **Greg Simmons** » 3 Feb 2008 9:24 pm

Click Here to see the Duesenberg

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 3 Feb 2008 9:25 pm

I think Mike Campbell (lead guitar) and Benmont Tench (keys) have been with him throughout. I also think that original HB bassist Ron Blair has been back with him for the last several years. And, man, it shows that these guys have been playing together for a long time.

Hey Nick - howzit goin'? Judy says hi. Yeah - Petty and Campbell are famous for their dizzying array of cool guitars and amps. They are a vintage guitar junkie's dream band. I've seen Mike especially show up at vintage guitar shows fairly often over the years. These guys are the real deal, not some bunch of wannabee rock and roll star posers.

I think the slide guitar on "Don't Back Down" was Mike's Duesenburg Mike Campbell Signature model: Click Here

Greg - obviously writing while you were posting.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 3 Feb 2008 10:20 pm

A great performance, and it appeared to be live playing. Jordin Sparks on the other hand appeared to be lip-synching the National Anthem, as Whitney Houston did years ago and some others have done. She sounded fabulous in my opinion, but I noticed the lip-synch a couple of times.

Stephen Winters · Post by **Stephen Winters** » 4 Feb 2008 8:30 am

The National Anthem was lip-synched. I was watching for it and saw it.

Tom Petty was playing live, and still sounding great. I make it a point to watch the drummer. If it is tracks playing, the drummer will usually hit a cymbal that does not match the track, or you will hear a cymbal crash and he does not hit one. All those guys were playing live.

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 4 Feb 2008 9:42 am

Yea, Petty and the Heartbreakers did great, and so much the better that it was live, as rock'n'roll should be. Jordin Sparks nailed the Anthem in the studio with good backing, and I'm glad that's what we heard. I can't stand those scary, live, a cappella renditions.

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 4 Feb 2008 11:48 am

Were those Super Beatles actually on? I didn't see any other amps. Great tone, whatever he was playing through...

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 4 Feb 2008 2:58 pm

Bill Terry wrote:Were those Super Beatles actually on?

Yes, and the Ric he was playing was supposedly one of George Harrison's old guitars.
The only thing on stage that wasn't real were the piano and organ that Beaumont Tench was playing on. He usually uses a grand piano and an old B3. They just couldn't get them set up on the stage in tune and ready in the 7 minute time frame. So he had to play on digital keyboards that were set into an empty grand piano shell.

The band sounded great, and the mix was incredible, considering the 7 minute set up. I'm sure they went through it several times over the past week, and had some kind of digital Midas or Neive board with recall settings programed in.
On my TV home system the show sounded perfect. I could hear every instrument, every harmony part, the vocals and lead parts with clarity just out in front of the rhythm section. Whoever the folks are that did the mix they deserve a round of applause also (and it doesn't hurt that the Heartbreakers know how to play together like a band should).

The part I don't get is how a sporting event can broadcast a live band, in the time frame of an extended commercial break on a temporary stage in the middle of a football field, and have such a nice mix. Then you watch a so called "music" show like Grand Ole Opry Live or Austin City Limits, who record shows on a controlled sound stage every week, and the mix consitantly sound awful!

Jack Francis · Post by **Jack Francis** » 4 Feb 2008 2:59 pm

They did a great job...and I was also very impressed with the mix....no comparison between them and the "Strolling Bones"!

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 4 Feb 2008 4:22 pm

I agree, at first I was like Tom Petty?, but he was great and The sound was exceptional.

Me and my wife pegged all the songs that they played also.

It was laid back, they didn't try for some crazy theatrics, and it just worked. Also the Giants won!

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 4 Feb 2008 4:57 pm

1)Given the importance, stress and consequences of live peformance, i have no problem that Jordin lip synched the national anthemn....in fact, it would be foolish to do it any other way...what if sound problems ruined it midway, etc. or any number of disasters occurred we've all come to witness as live musicians?

2)A natilally syndicated radio show was not only trashing the Patriots and especilly Bill Belichick, but was going out of his way to trash Tom Petty as well! Saying, all these young kids were running like maniacs down to the stage to hear "this guy they never even heard of before" and how were they supposed to relate to this old aging rocker, etc.?
It was very pathetic to hear him rant unchallenged.
I loved the show.

Jim Eaton · Post by **Jim Eaton** » 4 Feb 2008 8:07 pm

Just about the best sound I can remember on a TV broadcast!
JE:-)>

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 4 Feb 2008 9:42 pm

The part I don't get is how a sporting event can broadcast a live band, in the time frame of an extended commercial break on a temporary stage in the middle of a football field, and have such a nice mix....

I've seen Tom Petty in large venues, so this didn't surprise me at all. These guys are incredibly devoted to getting their music across live. This is a no-nonsense live rock and roll band who have been doing this for decades, and they just know how to do it. They play their butts off, and have the chops to make this all blend in a high-volume, large-venue situation, IMO. I think that's a skill in its own right.

As far as a show like the Opry - I think it's quite different, with what, 10-20 acts with a wide diversity of styles, volumes, and instrumentation marching on and off the stage every 5-10 minutes. Acoustic bluegrass one minute, a heavy-metal-country act next, and a classic country band playing a country ballad or shuffle next, and who knows what next. That sounds like a challenge, to me. It seems to me that the songs that Petty played last night shouldn't have required a whole lot of fooling around once the initial mix was set. Of course, an automated board with presets and backups for the backups makes all kind of sense in that kind of intensely time-critical situation. I wonder if GOO has that kind of gear for their FOH.

This ACL blog talks about the FOH sound for the Brad Paisley show: Click Here. Apparently Paisley's FOH engineer used the band's own Midas board for this show. So there's another variable - house board vs. own equipment.

Just about the best sound I can remember on a TV broadcast!

Yeah, that's what I thought.

A natilally syndicated radio show was not only trashing the Patriots and especilly Bill Belichick, but was going out of his way to trash Tom Petty as well!

I can't imagine who that was. Yeah, I'm shocked.

Jim Eaton · Post by **Jim Eaton** » 5 Feb 2008 8:21 am

Caught a little taped interview with Tom and he said they had been working on the set and the staging for 30 days prior to the Super Bowl. He said "we want to get it right". Boy did they ever!
JE:-)>

G Strout · Post by **G Strout** » 5 Feb 2008 8:49 am

In defence of the Stones ...their performance at the 2007 Superbowl was really bad. If you were wondering what the "rest of the story" was........... here it is... (Thank you Bill Hullett!)

Bobby Ogden offered some unusual insight...He spoke with Chuck Levelle ( the stones keyboard player) after the gig last year. Chuck told an intersting side to the story ( I don't have all the small details ) but the long and short of it is this....

it supposedly sounded killer at soundcheck...But for one reason or another The settings weren't stored in the console .....and litterally at the moment that they kicked in that night , it was just throw the faders up and fly blind! to acentuate what was aready a disaster the monitor system blew and none of the monitors surrounding the stage worked either....so what we heard was heard six guys on live TV duke it out for 13 minutes in hell!!!!

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 5 Feb 2008 9:34 am

Dave Mudgett wrote:
As far as a show like the Opry - I think it's quite different, with what, 10-20 acts with a wide diversity of styles, volumes, and instrumentation marching on and off the stage every 5-10 minutes. Acoustic bluegrass one minute, a heavy-metal-country act next, and a classic country band playing a country ballad or shuffle next, and who knows what next. That sounds like a challenge, to me. It seems to me that the songs that Petty played last night shouldn't have required a whole lot of fooling around once the initial mix was set. Of course, an automated board with presets and backups for the backups makes all kind of sense in that kind of intensely time-critical situation. I wonder if GOO has that kind of gear for their FOH.

I just think that after doing the show every weekend for 83 years someone would figure out how to make it sound, just a little more consistent.
I know it's tough with different levels of musicianship, instrumentation, and style of acts, but I have seen it done before.

Drew Howard · Post by **Drew Howard** » 5 Feb 2008 10:30 am

That's the story I heard about the Stones @ Stuporbowl. The board glitched, blew the monitors, and they were left with inaudible stage amps and far flung PA. Yikes!!

Dave Harmonson · Post by **Dave Harmonson** » 5 Feb 2008 11:52 am

I guess I can cut The Stones some slack considering the sound snafu, but Ron Wood and Keith Richards standing next to each other and both playing nonsense right over each other is hard to excuse no matter what the conditions. Maybe they couln't get no satisfaction trying to play like a band.

Theresa Galbraith · Post by **Theresa Galbraith** » 5 Feb 2008 12:34 pm

WOW! Amazing

G Strout · Post by **G Strout** » 5 Feb 2008 2:03 pm

Well, Keith and Ron aren't the worlds greatest guitar players.... but Keith does play the Stones stuff better than anyone else.

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Tom Petty at the Superbowl

Tom Petty at the Superbowl

The "rest of the story"