The scariest show Tom Petty ever played: “It felt like a lifetime”
For any artist, the greatest way of interacting with the audience is onstage. Although you are your own audience whenever you enter the studio, the magic of communicating with a crowd of people using more than just words is one of the most incredible sensations that any rockstar can hope to experience. While Tom Petty was willing to give his audiences the best of everything he did whenever he took to the stage, one show in the group’s early years became one of the most horrifying moments in his professional life.
Then again, Petty was never known for playing shows that were off the rails. While the Heartbreakers could play some of the most caustic rock and roll imaginable when they wanted to, Petty was known for playing just as many mellow acoustic and soft rock songs as well, modelling himself more on the laid-back demeanour of The Byrds than the mass hysteria of The Beatles.
Before the band had hit it big, though, they had to often fend off rumours that they were following in the footsteps of the punk rock movement. Despite sporting a leather jacket on the cover of the band’s debut, Petty was determined to play the kind of rock and roll that he grew up listening to, having no time to devote to the music of Sex Pistols or Ramones.
Despite his need to make earnest rock and roll, that didn’t stop the crowds from getting a bit rowdy whenever he took to the stage. Although Petty often felt more protected when he had the spotlight on him, one gig took a turn for the worse when he fell into the crowd halfway through a set.
Halfway through his early shows, Petty’s stage demeanour felt more like a rock and roll preacher than a proper musician. Instead of just playing a handful of great songs, Petty used the opportunity to give the crowd an experience they wouldn’t forget, talking about the spiritual power of rock and roll music.
During one particular gig, Petty wasn’t paying attention when someone dragged him off the stage from the crowd, recalling in Runnin’ Down a Dream, “I guess someone had got me around the ankles and pulled me into the crowd. That was really scary. It was the first time I really learned that the crowd is dangerous. They honestly thought that they could take a finger home. In the footage, it doesn’t seem like that long, but it felt like a lifetime”.
While Petty may have got back onstage dishevelled, he wasn’t going to let a simple stage mishap get in the way of delivering for the rest of the show. Coming back on as lively as ever, Petty would continue working the band as they went through their blistering set, culminating in them playing a version of the rock and roll classic ‘Shout’.
Even though the frontman may have been battered and bruised by his fans, he would later say that he didn’t hold anything against the audience that night, thinking that he needed to be more careful about where he was going when he got to the lip of the stage. Rock and roll may always be about having a good time, but Petty learned the hard way that if you’re not careful, things can quickly descend into chaos.
