Neither heat, nor rain, nor sold-out-crowd ruined our enjoyment of Tom Petty’s show at Riverbend in Cincinnati Tuesday night. His show was excellent as usual.
But we’re putting up the extra cash for pavilion seats next time.
We arrived around 6 p.m. to pick out a decent spot and relax on the lawn a while before the show started and for the first half hour, it was nice. But after a while the crowd picked up and the heat set in … and then it rained. At one point Tiffany and I were sitting on a trash bag indian style under an umbrella. But it was a fun little adventure.
We yawned through Steve Winwood’s opening performance and by the time Petty started the rain had cooled off the heat and then drifted away. Everything was perfect. Until we ran out of beer. With just two of us there, deciding who was going to go get the beer and have to struggle back through thousands of people chancing your luck to find your original spot was too taxing. We took turns a few times before the sun completely set, but nearing the end of the show we were forced to pack up our things and go get a beer together. We finished watching the final six songs from the side of the stage.
It wasn’t like we could see Petty from our original spot anyway:
It was pathetic to see the hordes of people leaving the pavilion before the encore. Those lame-os that would rather beat traffic than finish the show. There were still 3-4 songs left! And pavilion tickets were $100-plus.
Next time Petty comes around, hopefully to Columbus, we’re totally splurging. We bought lawn tickets hoping we might find somebody else to tag along. It didn’t happen. So next time we’re getting the good seats. And staying for the encore.
Here’s Petty’s set list for the night:
1. You Wreck Me
2. Listen To Her Heart
3. I Won’t Back Down
4. Even The Losers
5. Free Fallin’
6. Mary Jane’s Last Dance
7. Sweet William
8. End Of The Line
9. Breakdown
10. Saving Grace
11. Honey Bee
12. A Face In The Crowd
13. You Don’t Know How It Feels
14. Learning To Fly
15. Don’t Come Around Here No More
16. Refugee
Encore:
17. Runnin’ Down A Dream
18. Mystic Eyes
19. American Girl
Surprisingly, he didn’t play any songs from his latest album with Mudcrutch.
Here’s a review of the show from The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Here’s the complete Flickr set from our trip to Cincy.
“It was pathetic to see the hordes of people leaving the pavilion before the encore. Those lame-os that would rather beat traffic than finish the show. There were still 3-4 songs left! And pavilion tickets were $100-plus” – “They sat in golden circles, And waiters served them wine, And talked through all the music…”
and a little something for the next time he’s in town… “So we hocked all our possessions, And we sold a little dope…And went off to rock ‘n’ roll.”
I remember how bad it sucks getting a beer there… “All the music gave me, Was a craving for lite-beer…”
sorry… wish I could have gone…
The reason for all the people leaving is because the staff kicked most of them out ahead of time. Sorry for the excitement these fans have but all of it was uncalled for.
Power triping River Bend staff needs realigned.