Tom Petty: Super Bowl performance and tour
NEW YORK (AP) - January 24, 2008 "The most significant thing about it is the people watching
worldwide ... it's probably the biggest audience you can have I
would imagine," the 57-year-old singer told The Associated Press.
"It's quite an honor to be asked, if you look at the people who
have done it, it's a very elite crowd ... it's a great opportunity
to play for the whole world at once," Petty said.
Tickets for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' North American tour
go on sale the day after their Feb. 3 performance at the Super Bowl
halftime in Glendale, Ariz. Steve Winwood is slated to be the
special opening act.
The band last went on tour in 2006. Back then, Petty told the AP
that it could be their last. But, Petty said recently, "The band
wants to go really bad, so we had a meeting about it, and we
decided, why not? ... We're doing a shorter tour that we did the
last time."
This tour will be "drastically different in content," Petty
said.
"I would like to see a set list that changed every night. I
think it's more fun. It's harder on the production people," he
laughed.
While there's no new Heartbreakers album on the horizon, Petty
just finished a disc with his pre-Heartbreakers band, Mudcrutch.
"We just thought it would be fun; we've stayed in touch over
the years," he said. "It went far better than expected. ... it
was so much fun that it should be illegal."
When asked if fans of Mudcrutch would find the music similar to
what they remembered, Petty said with a laugh: "I think in content
it's very similar back in the '70s, but I don't know if there are
any fans of the band!"