Revisiting Tom Petty at the Orpheum, 40 Years On
LAS VEGAS - AUGUST 16: Musician Tom Petty performs with his band The Heartbreakers during a sold-out show at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino August 16, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
November 19, 1979. After cancelling the date twice, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers finally made it to Boston to headline the Orpheum Theatre.
The gig was part of Petty’s tour behind Damn The Torpedoes, which turned 40 earlier this year. So why the cancellations? One was for a sore throat, but the other was so the band could play Saturday Night Live’s 100th episode on November 10, 1979.
Petty & Co. certainly made the wait worthwhile. Take a look at the setlist here and you’ll see why the show made this 2017 Boston Globe piece chronicling Tom Petty’s 5 best Boston shows.
Adam 12 is the Program Director of Boston's ROCK 92.9, heard weekdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. He's been flexing his encyclopedic rock knowledge in New England for over 2 decades, both on-air and online, at WBCN, WFNX, Boston.com, and indie617. At ROCK 92.9, he keeps you in the know on the big stories from the Boston music scene and writes about great places to eat, drink (beer), and to spend time outdoors in and around Boston.