PETTY PUTS 'LAST DJ' FIRST.Byline: Bill Hetherman Staff Writer CREDIT TOM PETTY with knowing when to turn down the rhetoric and pump up the sentiment. Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers, opened the first of two nights at the Grand Olympic Auditorium The Grand Olympic Auditorium is a sports venue in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located at 1801 S. Grand Avenue, the venue was built in 1924 specifically for the 1932 Summer Olympic Games, which saw the boxing, weightlifting, and wrestling events held there. in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. on Tuesday. The concert was shown in 36 theaters nationwide and heard on 125 radio stations. Out to promote his new album, ``The Last DJ,'' which attacks the crass commercialization of rock music and its feckless feck·less adj. 1. Lacking purpose or vitality; feeble or ineffective. 2. Careless and irresponsible. [Scots feck, effect (alteration of effect) + -less. promoters, Petty and the band spent the entire regular set singing the precise order of the 12 songs on the album. How that went over with the mostly middle-age crowd, which was likely there to hear hits like ``American Girl'' and ``Free Fallin', '' was hard to tell. But Petty, after all, is a rebel with sophistication so·phis·ti·cate v. so·phis·ti·cat·ed, so·phis·ti·cat·ing, so·phis·ti·cates v.tr. 1. To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly. 2. . The two opening songs from the new CD, the title cut and ``Money Becomes King,'' lash out lash out Verb 1. to make a sudden verbal or physical attack 2. Informal to spend extravagantly Verb 1. at the alleged fixing of radio station playlists and at performers who soak their honor in light beer. But the third cut, ``Dreamville,'' offered a change of pace. ``This is a song about back when times were good, whenever that was,'' Petty said before launching into the lullabye-like track. Performing on a stage floor draped drape v. draped, drap·ing, drapes v.tr. 1. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds: draped the coffin with a flag; a robe that draped her figure. with Oriental rugs, Petty gave the audience members the cozy feeling of being in their living rooms. But unlike some in the rock world who only seem to feel anger toward corporate greed in the music business, Petty has a mellower stance. ``I guess they think I'm mad, but I think there's a lot of hope left in the world,'' Petty said before beginning ``Like a Diamond,'' a number that's been called a ``lovely hymn to endurance'' by Rolling Stone rolling stone Noun a restless or wandering person . The encore brought out the hits, highlighted by raucous performances of ``Mary Jane's Last Dance'' and the closing number, ``You Wreck Me,'' from the ``Wildflowers'' album. Those hoping to hear the likes of ``Don't Do Me Like That'' or ``Refugee,'' though, were disappointed. The current tour is a chance for the Heartbreakers to welcome back Ron Blair Ron Blair (born Ronald Edward Blair, September 16 1948, in San Diego) was the original bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He was the band's bass guitarist from 1976 to 1981. . He is the group's original bass player who left after the ``Hard Promises'' album in the early 1980s, a fact noted by Petty when he introduced the band members. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Tom Petty, shown above during a September concert in Concord, devoted the entire regular set of Tuesday's Olympic Auditorium performance to tracks from his new album. John Shearer/WireImage.com |
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