TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS : SOUND STAGE


    Part one

  1. Baby Please Don't Go
  2. Crawling Back To You
  3. Handle With Care
  4. I Won't Back Down
  5. I'm Cryin'
  6. Angel Dream
  7. Melinda
  8. Born In Chicago
  9. Red Rooster
  10. Carol
  11. Refugee

    Part Two

  12. Love Is A Long Road
  13. You Don't Know How It Feels
  14. Black Leather Woman
  15. Done Somebody Wrong
  16. I Got A Woman
  17. Thirteen Days
  18. Wake Up Time
  19. Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms
  20. Lost Children
  21. Two Men Talkin'
  22. You Wreck Me

Label : Black Hill Pictures

Length : 109 minutes

Venue : The Vic Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Recording Date : April 17, 2003

Release Date : July 18, 2008

NTSC : 16:9

Review (AllMusic) : No stranger to live videos (this is his fourth since 1986, and third in six years), Tom Petty uses the medium to reveal aspects of his roots that are only hinted at on album. Taped for a two-part PBS Soundstage, Petty employs the Chicago locale as an entry into the blues and R&B that are at the foundation of rock & roll, and to a lesser extent, his music. Spread out over two DVDs, this results in a fascinating and exciting show, where the extensive covers are just as interesting as - and arguably more interesting than - the few hits he gets around to playing. Kicking off with the Them arrangement of Big Joe Williams' "Baby Please Don't Go" sets the stage for the rest of this lengthy but never boring two-and-a-half-hour (including eight bonus tracks) show. Petty pays tribute to both Elvis and Ray Charles with a King-like romp through "I Got a Woman." He also satisfies his J.J. Cale fixation with reworkings of "Thirteen Days" and "I'd Like to Love You Baby," the latter as one of the six bonus tracks not televised when the original show aired. On this longest video in its catalog, the band settles in and plays rarities and personal favorites that have never before been officially recorded. Because of this, everyone, especially Petty, seems to be having a blast, as 11 high-definition cameras catch all the action from every angle. Thankfully, only two tunes from his most recent release at the time, the disappointing The Last DJ, slip into the show, but, as if to make up for that, two more taken from the band's previous live DVD (Live at the Olympic: The Last DJ and More) are added in the bonus section. Also, a terrific, tough-rocking new tune, "Two Men Talkin'," which runs for nearly nine minutes and never gets repetitious, proves that Petty's compositional skills are still sharp. Rugged covers of "Little Red Rooster" (a longtime concert favorite), "Carol," and "Not Fade Away" draw the lines between the Rolling Stones - who famously covered those songs - and the American rock & roll, blues, and country at their core. Blues revivalist chestnuts such as the Animals' "I'm Cryin'" and the Butterfield Blues Band's "Born in Chicago" also show Petty's affection for the second wave of British and Chicago blues. Those looking for a typical live regurgitation of hits might be disappointed, but for any longtime Tom Petty fan, this DVD - with its crisp 5.1 sound in a controlled studio environment - is a revelation. As of its release in 2005, it is the best available video concert of the band, and stands as one of the visually and musically finest recorded gigs of any group.