Eric Hause
Perthaps the best thing about last night's show in Portsmouth, VA, was that
I got to go see Stevie with my best friend, Gail, for the first time. We met
several years ago and our mutual love for Stevie has been a binding force in
our relationship ever since. Although we've seen her individually many
times, we've never been together, so it was quite a milestone for us both!
That having been said, the show was a bit hit or miss. The nTelos Pavilion
was trashed by Hurricane Isabel in 2003, and apparantly they haven't quite
worked out all the reconstruction bugs yet. The sound was muddy, and the
band had numerous techinical difficlutlies.
And although the place went wild when an enthusiastic Stevie came out, her
voice was affected, I suspect, by the cool, rainy night, so after "I Need to
Know", she motioned to Tom that her throat was bothering her, shook her
head, then exited the stage for a couple of songs.
Finally, she came back out for "Insider'" nodding and smiling to Tom that
she was OK. I was thrilled because I have never seen "Insider" live,
although it is one of my favorite Tom Petty songs of all time!
At one point, Stevie approached the mike and said that although she would
never do this "on Tom's stage", she just had to tell everyone how excited
she was to be on the road with Tom and sharing the experience with the band.
"Don't Come Around Here No More" was another fantastic highlight, not only
because the song's climax was just freakin' eye-popping, but because Stevie
totally lost her mind, swirling and jittering about the stage in her white
cape!
I've seen Stevie dozens of times, and Tom Petty four or five times, but
never together, and wasn't about to miss two of rock's greatest acts
together! That, combined with the rumor that this is Tom's last tour, should
be enough to get all you fans out to the show!