jonjen
04-15-2008, 10:12 AM
By Jim Harrington
MediaNews Staff
Article Created: 04/15/2008 06:44:09 AM PDT
Mudcrutch is not just Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers by another name. It's more like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers minus all the really good songs.
Imagine going to a Heartbreakers show and having the band only play from "The Last DJ" or "Highway Companion" and you get a sense for what it was like to attend the Mudcrutch concert on Monday night at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. It'll likely be the same story when Petty's pre-Heartbreakers outfit, which he's recently resurrected from more than 30 years in the grave, performs Wednesday and Thursday at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
It's understandable, and even commendable, that Petty wants Mudcrutch to be its own entity, not just a cover band that plays Heartbreakers hits. If he's not going to play the fan favorites, though, he's got to give the crowd something else worthwhile in its place.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen in Santa Cruz. Petty played all 14 of the tracks from Mudcrutch's forthcoming eponymous debut, due in stores April 29, yet none of those selections was spectacular and very few were even memorable. Mudcrutch did toss in some fun cover songs — such as Dave Dudley's "Six Days on the Road" and Roger McGuinn's "Lover of the Bayou" — yet those renditions never rose above the basic bar-band level.
While the Heartbreakers always come across like a well-oiled machine, Mudcrutch definitely had some sludge in its engine as it opened the show with a version of the old folk standard "Shady Grove" that never really came together. From there, the band — which also features Heartbreakers Mike Campbell on guitar and Benmont Tench on keyboards, as well as guitarist Tom Leadon and drummer Randall Marsh — mostly delivered the type of unremarkable country-rock that far too many Flying Burrito Brothers clones churned out in the '70s.
On the plus side, Petty was clearly enjoying the reunion and that translated into one of his more personable performances. Also, some of the new Mudcrutch lyrics — such as the great line from "Scare Easy," "Yeah, I'm a loser at the top of my game" — rank among the best that Petty has penned in years.
Yet, those elements couldn't compensate for the fact that this band just didn't gel all that well or that the crowd was forced to hear Leadon sing the dreadful "Queen of the Go Go Dancers." Thus, what the audience was left with was the novelty factor. It was novel to get the chance to see Petty's pre-Heartbreakers band, which lasted from 1970 to 1975 and only released one single. It was novel to hear Petty play bass, instead of his regular guitar. And it was novel for fans to finally meet Petty's old buddies Leadon and Marsh.
In the end, however, those novelties weren't enough.
Media News (http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_8930961)
MediaNews Staff
Article Created: 04/15/2008 06:44:09 AM PDT
Mudcrutch is not just Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers by another name. It's more like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers minus all the really good songs.
Imagine going to a Heartbreakers show and having the band only play from "The Last DJ" or "Highway Companion" and you get a sense for what it was like to attend the Mudcrutch concert on Monday night at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. It'll likely be the same story when Petty's pre-Heartbreakers outfit, which he's recently resurrected from more than 30 years in the grave, performs Wednesday and Thursday at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
It's understandable, and even commendable, that Petty wants Mudcrutch to be its own entity, not just a cover band that plays Heartbreakers hits. If he's not going to play the fan favorites, though, he's got to give the crowd something else worthwhile in its place.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen in Santa Cruz. Petty played all 14 of the tracks from Mudcrutch's forthcoming eponymous debut, due in stores April 29, yet none of those selections was spectacular and very few were even memorable. Mudcrutch did toss in some fun cover songs — such as Dave Dudley's "Six Days on the Road" and Roger McGuinn's "Lover of the Bayou" — yet those renditions never rose above the basic bar-band level.
While the Heartbreakers always come across like a well-oiled machine, Mudcrutch definitely had some sludge in its engine as it opened the show with a version of the old folk standard "Shady Grove" that never really came together. From there, the band — which also features Heartbreakers Mike Campbell on guitar and Benmont Tench on keyboards, as well as guitarist Tom Leadon and drummer Randall Marsh — mostly delivered the type of unremarkable country-rock that far too many Flying Burrito Brothers clones churned out in the '70s.
On the plus side, Petty was clearly enjoying the reunion and that translated into one of his more personable performances. Also, some of the new Mudcrutch lyrics — such as the great line from "Scare Easy," "Yeah, I'm a loser at the top of my game" — rank among the best that Petty has penned in years.
Yet, those elements couldn't compensate for the fact that this band just didn't gel all that well or that the crowd was forced to hear Leadon sing the dreadful "Queen of the Go Go Dancers." Thus, what the audience was left with was the novelty factor. It was novel to get the chance to see Petty's pre-Heartbreakers band, which lasted from 1970 to 1975 and only released one single. It was novel to hear Petty play bass, instead of his regular guitar. And it was novel for fans to finally meet Petty's old buddies Leadon and Marsh.
In the end, however, those novelties weren't enough.
Media News (http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_8930961)