Even the losers get lucky sometimes

We saw Tom Petty in concert last night at the Verizon Music Center. I suppose this was kind of our "family vacation" for the year. All six of us got to go: me, Jane, Carrie, Isaac, and the boyfriend and girlfriend (that would be Drew and Laura, respectively). We all rode down together except poor Laura, who had to drive there by herself from Cincinnati. I felt bad about that, as I would have freaked out in that traffic by myself. Isaac left with her though, and Drew Carrie stayed in Indy with some friends, so it was just me and m'lady on the way home.

Anyway, this was my first concert at Verizon. What an awesome venue. I think I read where they can hold 24,000. We didn't really even have that much trouble getting in and out - though we left at the first encore. And the weather was great. I even ended up putting my hoody on. The weed was a bit overwhelming though. We smelled it the minute we opened the car door, and a big group right in front of us and beside us were passing joints ALL night long. Man... I'm going to have the munchies for a week!

Other than that, and long port-a-potty lines, it was a great night. Steve Winwood opened, and I think I actually liked his show better. I'd forgotten how many popular songs he had, and I looove his guitar playing. Plus I was still able to lay down and listen to Steve. Once Tom started it was standing room only.

Petty was Petty. There is no pretense with him - he's not much of a showman, but just plays a song, thanks people for applauding, and plays another song. He did a solid 2 hours, after Stevie played for one. Tom reminds me of many of the people I used to hang/work with back home. Plus he's kind of a slow talker like me, so I feel a certain bond.

We did see a few people we knew. When we were entering we saw two people who used to attend our church. I wish they still did. I always really liked them, and can't remember now why they quit. We also saw the father of a friend of Carrie's who is a Fort Wayne school teacher. Of course Carrie ran into people she knew about 20 feet from our car, and she had all kinds of friends there.

It was actually a bit of an emotional evening for me. I wasn't expecting that. But most of my favorite Petty songs were from the 1979-1981 era. That's when my best friend (also my best man) and I listened to 'Damn the Torpedoes' nonstop. So it brought back a lot of memories about him. I think I've blogged before about the freakish way he died. And it was also during that time - on the fourth of July - when Jane's dad died. So when they kicked in with "Even The Losers" I started tearing up immediately. What a poor sap I am -crying at a danged Tom Petty concert. Anyway, I thought about my old friend for quite awhile after that; and Jane's dad.

Here are some pictures I took with my phone...

The lovely Lady sitting pretty.

Our view of the stage. And this was before it started. There was no green showing once the music started.

A crowd shot. We were in the far left of the outfield, about halfway up the hill. We had a nice view of the tv screen.

It was a nice night, and a good concert... but for some reason I remember thinking at one point that a little bit of a dream might have died. I don't even know what that means, really.