Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Rock the Hollywood Bowl

Due to my vacation, this blog is a bit late, almost three weeks tardy in fact. However; because the concert that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers put on at the Hollywood Bowl was so amazing, I figure, better late than never!

June 25 I attended this marvelous show at the famed Hollywood Bowl. If you haven't been to this magnificent outdoor amphitheater and you ever get the chance--do so. Nestled right in the busy city, yet far enough in the hills to seem like you're a world away, the setting is serene for a summer concert. This was my first time at the venue. Although the place gets packed, the experience is well-worth the far away parking and the climbing of small "mountains" before taking your seat possibly so far from the stage that you have to watch the TV screens (yeah, I had bad seats!).

It was definitely a night of firsts for me, as I had never seen the band perform live before. If I had to describe the event in one word, breathtaking is most certainly appropriate. To hear "I Won't Back Down" live gave me chills. The emotion in Petty's voice is remarkable. You can feel exactly what he's feeling as he belts out the lyrics to this empowering song.

And when "Free Fallin'" was being played, it was magical to be located right in the location that the song refers to:

"All the vampires walkin' through the valley

Move west down Ventura Boulevard

And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows

All the good girls are home with broken hearts"

and

"I wanna glide down over Mulholland

I wanna write her name in the sky

Gonna free fall out into nothin'

Gonna leave this world for a while"

One of my hobbies includes going to concerts. Every summer I try to squeeze in at least five, a much lower number since I graduated from college a few years back. In fact, the week of this show I also attended another concert in LA (O.A.R.) and was also supposed to see my favorite band, 311, at least twice (but unfortunately the family vacation ruined that!). Point is...I've been to many concerts, but I can confidently say that this was one of the greatest. If I weren't so obsessed with 311, I'd say that it was in fact the best.

If you are a Tom Petty fan and you ever have the chance to see him live, grasp that opportunity!

Photos courtesy of: The OC Register and Wikipedia