You know, I don’t find Tom Petty a “great” guitarist….I’d say he’s a great songwriter and entertainer (at least as far as putting out records), but I don’t put him near the top in terms of ability, IMHO.

And another thing – after never seeing him live, I was pretty psyched to see Petty, been wanting to see him for a while. Bought tickets off a dude on craigslist this summer to see him & Trey Anastasio, only to cancel the order because I realized seeing the show wasn’t worth $80/ticket and money was tight at the time. Am I glad I did.

I was rewarded (or so I thought) in October when I went out to the Vegoose Festival in Las Vegas and Petty was headlining. I thought “great, now I finally get to see him!”

Well you know what? I was pretty dissapointed. Seemed like every song ended with the “big rock n’ roll ending”….and I mean EVERY SONG, not just the encore. You know…..lots of strumming, cymbal crashes, and lights flashing at the end……Petty looking towards the crowd, pointing to the front row, back row, side rows, you, you you!…..thank you thank you……..then pointing to the band, back to the crowd, making a big “to-do” about nothing, and then the big cresendo ending…..POW! It was kind of pathetic. The other thing that dissapointed me was that all the songs were exactly like I’ve heard them on the radio, and maybe that’s what he’s going for, but I would’ve like to see a little improv, a little jamming and what not. But nope, everything was pretty standard, pretty staight forward, and I left after 6 songs. Glad I didn’t pay the $160 to bring my fiance and I to the show that summer, I’ll tell you.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Anybody who has a Rickenbacker signature guitar is a cool dude, i think it’s about time Paul Weller got one too.

I’m a big Petty vocals fan. Anything Traveling Wilburys in particular. Up against the likes of George and Roy, Pettys vocals are just remarkable.

Some of his obscure stuff I can’t really relate to, but I’ve always enjoyed his music.