My personal archive entry for this particular Tom Petty concert was a little off so I am hoping I found the correct date off of Tom Petty’s concert archive on his website (which is pretty easy to scroll and use). If my memory serves correct (not a guarantee) it was a show attended with Mr. Vegas AKA Mr. Nut and the band performed on stage in front of a giant tree that reminded me of the Rainforest Cafe at Roosevelt Field and which stage set up I was not particularly thrilled with that night; “Rust Never Sleeps” it was not. I remember I was not particularly digging the show but that could partly be because I had to go directly into work for a midnight tour; I do not recall if I worked the night before but that would have only added to the exhaustion level if I had. I did see Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers with much better results at the Beacon Theatre and on their final tour at Forest Hills Stadium where a black SUV with tinted windows slowly drove through the concourse crowd at the outdoor venue shortly before the band hit the stage. I wondered then, and I wonder now, if Tom was staring back at us as we watched the vehicle travel past us. Getting out of Forest Hills Stadium is always problematic as the tennis stadium dumps out into one mass exodus into sort of pen along the railroad tracks, so we decided to beat the crowd, we listened to the band perform “American Girl” as we walked toward the Forest Hills business district.
Tom Petty suddenly and unexpectedly passed on not too long after that Queens summer concert; I am so glad we got to see the band perform one last time and at a great venue.

End of the Line

Rock on!

GQ