SHARPS & FLATS : TOM PETTY AND CO. SING FOR `STORYTELLERS'.It was probably one of the most low-key events in Tom Petty's career - at least since he stopped playing spring-break shows in his native Gainesville, Fla. A recent taping of VH1's ``Storytellers'' series at a Burbank soundstage found Petty and his superb five-piece Heartbreakers performing in an intimate, relaxed setting. The small audience consisted of fan-club members and invited guests squeezed into a small makeshift theater. The stage was decorated with faux columns Faux columns is a web design technique that allows for the creation of the illusion of equal height columns using a background image in the body. This is seen as a CSS-based alternative to using HTML tables for column layout. and patterned fabric swatches 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. around the set. For nearly two hours, Petty played songs from his long career and dozen studio albums including memorable new material off the just-released ``Echo.'' Before launching into the group's 1976 hit, ``Breakdown,'' Petty recalled: ``It's 25 years tomorrow since we came to town.'' There was humor, too. At one point, Petty announced he had composed a new number specially for ``Storytellers,'' a tune referring to the blockbuster movie ``Titanic'' since ``everyone loves `Titanic.' '' The song featured such lyrics as: ``Titanic/It's gigantic/Celine Dion/Should've been on/That Titanic.'' Explaining how he came to pen ``You Wreck Me,'' from his 1994 ``Wallflowers'' album, Petty said the original title and chorus was actually ``You Rock Me,'' but band members told him it was too much of a rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. cliche. Especially well-received were newly recorded songs, including ``Room at the Top'' and ``Swingin','' both from ``Echo.'' Petty's ``Storytellers'' airs May 16 on VH1. L.A. punk redux Refers to being brought back, revived or restored. From the Latin "reducere." The locals reckon Los Angeles punk never got a fair shake, especially compared to London, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and San Francisco. That's the theory behind ``Forming: The Early Days of L.A. Punk,'' an exhibition at Track 16 Gallery (Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Building C1, Santa Monica). The show offers an ephemera-filled backward glance at the early days of Big Orange thrash. Included are such artifacts artifacts see specimen artifacts. as graffiti-covered doors from the long-gone Masque masque, courtly form of dramatic spectacle, popular in England in the first half of the 17th cent. The masque developed from the early 16th-century disguising, or mummery, in which disguised guests bearing presents would break into a festival and then join with their club, set lists, fliers, photos and old copies of Slash magazine. Such junk probably holds up better than the music. Drop by 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; the show closes June 4. Information: (310) 264-4678. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: For VH1's ``Storytellers,'' Tom Petty performed in an intimate, relaxed setting. |
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