“Yeah and it's over before you know it It all goes by so fast Yeah, the bad nights last forever And the good nights don't ever seem to last”
September 23, 2014
“Yeah and it's over before you know it
It all goes by so fast
Yeah, the bad nights last forever
And the good nights don't ever seem to last”
-Tom Petty
I have had the good fortune to have seen Tom Petty & the
Heratbreakers live in concert a dozen times over the years since my first time
seeing them way back in 1979 at the old Indianapolis Sports Center during their
“Damn the Torpedoes” tour. Back then, the opening act was some band known as
The Fabulous Poodles, who I don’t recall much about but Tom Petty and his band
made a huge impression on me.
Petty was one of those bands that seemed to be featured on
the summer music tour every year with some fantastic new release and great
opening act. Over the years, I saw him play at every major venue in the city of
Indianapolis including Market Square Arena, Deer Creek, and more. The opening
acts were almost univerasly good as well everyone from Lone Justice to the
Patti Smith Group, to the Fabulous Thuderbirds, to Bob Dylan to the
Replacements to the Del Fuegos and Georgia Satellites to Jackson Browne and
Stevie Nicks. I even saw a triple bill with Petty, the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan.
Steve Winwood 
This show would be no different as the fantastic Steve
Winwood was the opening act at the Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, it is a long
drive but worth it since during the many times I have seen Petty play live, he
has never disappointed. I think it is because he genuinely enjoys what he does
and it always comes across when he plays. That he has one of the best and
tightest backing bands in the business is another major factor but in reality,
he is just one of the legends of American Rock and Roll.
On the way up, Kathy and I stopped at a couple of breweries
in the Ft. Lauderdale area that we had wanted to check out, beginning with the
Fantastic Funky Buddha Brewery in Oakland Park. We had sampled their beer
during Brewfest and even attended a Funky Buddah/ Cigar City Beer dinner at Two
Cents, but this was our first visit to their wonderful facility. It was
awesome, the beer was fantastic and we really enjoyed ourselves.
We had enough time before the show to also visit the
Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach, while it may not have been fair to visit
them just after the amazing Funky Buddah, we were not as impressed with their
beer, thought their location was nice and the people were nice, the beer just
had a metallic- not quite ready taste to it. Maybe we just caught them on a bad
day. We will return and give them another chance at some point.
The concert was next and it was spectacular. Steve Winwood
played for just over an hour and touched on all phases of his colorful career
including classic Traffic songs and Tom Petty and his band were incredible,
ripping through just over two hours of singalong hits with a few new songs from
his latest CD, “Hypnotic Eye” as well. The sold-out crowd of 20,000 plus loved
every minute of it and it was an amazing night
Tom Petty- “Rebels”
We spent the night in the area and the next morning met our friend
Andie, who lives in Ft. Lauderadle for a great breakfast at the O-B House.
Incredible breakfast food in downtown Lauderdale. Andie is the daughter of some
old friends who once lived in Key West and I try and see her whenever I am in
the area. This trip she introduced Kathy and I to her adorable new kitten Plato
(not Play-doh) and we had a nice, if short visit before hitting the road home
to Key West.
Kathy & Plato 
Andie
Finally, last week we also went to see the amazing 72 hour film challenge at the Tropic Cinema. The event which features short films by local filmmakers, all created from scratch in 72 hours was an absolute joy. Kudos to Michael Marrero, Juliet Grey, the Tropic Cinema and all involved in creating the marvelous films. It is so fun to see our friends create such amazing works and to watch them perform. Below is a link to one of the films- all of which were amazing.
[URL=http://s43.photobucket.com/user/Reefy1/media/Reefy1005/10641231_10152386775776872_2161225392737029469_n_zps13fc16df.jpg.html][IMG]http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e383/Reefy1/Reefy1005/10641231_10152386775776872_2161225392737029469_n_zps13fc16df.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
posted by Michael and Kathy @ 1:23 PM
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