Review: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Rock ’n’ roll radio might not be the kingmaker it was in decades past, but last night’s Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers show at Verizon Arena proved that artists who have a 30-plus-year back catalog of timeless hits can still sell out stadiums, even here in flyover country.

Before the show, I was outside talking to a couple who mentioned how disappointed they’d been back in 2000, when the Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band reunion tour concert didn’t sell out at what was then Alltel Arena. The woman asked rhetorically what it says about Arkansas when a concert from someone of The Boss’s stature fails to pack ’em to the rafters. That was indeed mystifying, but such is the nature of the live music biz. It’s an unpredictable, often fickle beast, where last year’s hot ticket is next year’s dud, sometimes even for established performers. A show that sells out two nights in Seattle might tank in Tampa. Sometimes, it's just that the show was on a Tuesday. Who knows? FULL STORY

Big Bill Broonzy's complicated history

"Well, I was born in Mississippi, in the year 18 and 93. I was born on a plantation and I stayed there until I was eight years old. Then my daddy and mother, they brought us — me and my twin sister and about eight more of us — to Arkansas — that was Langdale — Langdale, Arkansas." Full Story

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers roll into Little Rock

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers brought their travelling road show to Central Arkansas on Saturday, April 21, at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock on Saturday, April 21. Photo by Matt Johnson.

Getting their start in 1976, the band is known for such hits as “Refugee” and “Don’t Do Me Like That.” Petty told the lively crowd this was the band’s first visit to Arkansas.

The North American leg of the tour ends on May 5 in Austin, Texas.

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Arkansas best music

Over the past three months, the Arkansas Times contacted hundreds of people who've made an impact on the musical landscape of Arkansas — critics, DJs, historians, musicians, record store owners, super fans — and asked them to contribute a list of their picks for the "greatest Arkansas music acts" and "greatest Arkansas albums."

And let us know what you think about the results. You can voice your opinion in our readers poll (arktimes.com/readersmusicpoll), which enters you into a drawing to win all six of Al Green's '70s albums. And find further conversations going on the Times entertainment blog, Rock Candy, on Twitter (@rockcandies) and on Facebook (facebook.com/rockcandies). Full Story