The list of musicians that have the unanimous admiration of their peers is a short one and at or near the top was Tom Petty, who died on Oct. 2. In the days that followed, performers (from a variety of musical genres) currently on tour instantly added a Petty favorite to their concert setlist.
On Wednesday night (Oct. 4), John Fogerty resumed his current run at the Encore Theater at the Wynn Las Vegas. The concert followed a three-day break that was built into his schedule and thus marked his return to the stage after two huge events: Petty’s passing and the deaths of Las Vegas concertgoers on Oct. 1.
(On Oct. 3, Fogerty had noted on his Facebook page: We will be playing… this week as scheduled. Music has a way of healing and that is what we will do — come together and heal. We can’t let fear control our lives, as my beloved friend Tom Petty would say, ‘I Won’t Back Down’.”)
Fogerty said to the audience: “I don’t know how these things are arranged in the universe but that song from Tom Petty speaks pretty well about how we should react when chaos is thrust at us. We need to push it back.”
Watch Fogerty put his own stamp on Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down”
When he finished, Fogerty pointed at an image of Petty on the backdrop and said: “Bless you, Tom, wherever you are.”
On Oct. 7, the Gainesville-based Florida Gators honored their native son by playing “I Want Back Down” before the fourth quarter. Listen to 88,000 fans
On Oct. 6, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh performed “Breakdown,” which starts at around the 9:30 mark
On Oct. 3, a stellar lineup featuring Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Dave Matthews and Patty Griffin played the Moore Theatre in Seattle, WA. In the midst of their acoustic set, they performed Petty’s “Refugee.”
On Oct. 4, Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real–who for several years also perform as Neil Young’s backup band–gave an enthusiastic performance of Petty’s “American Girl” at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood, CA.
On Oct. 5, Chris Stapleton offered a beautiful rendition of “Learning to Fly”
Miley Cyrus did a beautiful acoustic version of Petty’s “Wildflowers” during her Oct. 4 guest spot on The Howard Stern Show.
“What a beautiful tribute to Tom Petty. It brought me chills.” said Stern.
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The Killers performed “The Waiting” on Oct. 8 at the ACL Festival
On Oct. 2, Coldplay began their concert in Portland, OR, by acknowledging the events in Las Vegas. Before beginning their regular set, they were joined onstage by R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and covered “Free Fallin’.”
At their Oct. 4 show at the Manchester Arena, one of the members of Lady Antebellum said: “All us modern country artists… we’re just as much influenced by Tom Petty, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac… as we are by traditional country.” They they performed a beautiful version of “Learning to Fly.”
And here’s Jack Johnson playing “You Don’t Know How it Feels”
Acclaimed indie rock band The War on Drugs opened their Oct. 5 show at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre with “Time to Move On” (from Petty’s Wildflowers album).
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On Thursday October 5 The Mavericks played a heartfelt version of “You Don’t Lnow How It Feels” at Humphreys by the Bay.