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Hangout Fest Review: Tom Petty, Black Crowes, The Roots

We enter day two of our Hangout Festival coverage. Yesterday, we had a fantastic first day, highlighting the musical styling of The Shins, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Kings of Leon. On Saturday, the heat we’d heard so much about finally arrived to Gulf Shores. It wasn’t quite the suffocating variety, but you finally knew you were in Gulf Shores as the sun roasted the pavement.

The crowds were definitely tighter on day two. The festival sold out of weekend passes about a week back, but I’m sure more than a few people made their way down to Alabama after work last night. Bands, like Bassnectar, packed the sand with a sea of bikinied bodies, writhing like it was a Vegas club at two in the morning. They had to send out for more sand to fit all the manic masses for Tom Petty. Space was at a premium, but no one seemed to mind.

The Roots took the Chevrolet stage at 4:45 with their unique fusion of jazz, hip hop and soul. The fans of Jimmy Fallon will instantly recognize the crew as the house band for the late night host. When the entourage hit the stage, they brought with them every instrument imaginable. Dare I say, they were the only band at Hangout with a tuba courtesy of Damon Bryson or you may know him better as Tuba Gooding Jr.

The Roots wasted no time showing off their musical vibe. It was a slick, full-bodied rhythm that had you moving in ways you didn’t know your body moved. The band wasn’t just innocent bystanders of the groove, but active participants. They couldn’t contain their bodies as they strutted, neck jutting, ass wigglin,’ letting the rhythm get them like Gloria Estafan always said it would. I think they were having more fun onstage than the audience was watching them break it down.

They nibbled from across their ten album catalog, drawing in songs from their most recent work, undun, as well as mining their classics. They weaseled in healthy snippets of classics from Kool & the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie” to Guns N Roses’ “Sweet Child of Mine.” It was that kind of set, and they pulled it off admirably. These guys are a lot of fun onstage with a great energy. Jimmy Fallon doesn’t know how good he has it.

The Black Crowes came to the stage next across on the opposite side of the beach. It was a moment a lot of Crowes fans didn’t know if they would ever experience. The band had called it quits in early-2010 as Chris Robinson moved on to form the Chris Robinson Brotherhood and the rest of the group was thrown to the musical winds. The band put an end to their indefinite hiatus this past December and has been on the road since March.

I don’t know that I’ve seen a happier man this week at Hangout than Chris Robinson. He was smiling from ear to ear, and just couldn’t contain himself. He was a bit more forlorn and serious when we last saw him as part of the Brotherhood at last year’s Beale Street Festival. Not only was he smiling, but he was dancing. Granted, it was a white man dance, but he was getting down with his bad self.

The band opened with “Twice as Hard,” and sounded like they haven’t spent a day apart. The Black Crowes were spinning out Southern Comfort Rock to the bikini brigade that littered the sand in front of them. As expected they were jam hounds from the start. “Stare It Cold” got a little out of hand, peeling off about twenty minutes lost in the groove, but for the most part they constrained themselves.

I hope that Chris Robinson has come to the realization that the Black Crowes is where he needs to be. He’s happy playing with these guys and musing on these classic tracks. The band has a great sound, and they are destined to mature into one of those iconic groups if the boys can find peace within each other.

Speaking of icons, Tom Petty has basically authored the book. He may be getting up there in years, but I’d say you’d be hard pressed to find an artist at Hangout who doesn’t look up to the man and what he’s done over his 36 year career. He brought his Heartbreakers band along for the ride.

Petty tipped his hat to The Byrds opening the set with “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star.” It wasn’t the only time he’d pay homage during the set. He brought in the Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” for a spin on the Ferris wheel, and pulled in “Tweeter and the Monkey Man” from his side group the Traveling Wilburys. It was a hefty set spanning 17 songs through the encore. He’d mine a lot of the hits like “I Won’t Back Down” and “Learning to Fly” which the fans went bezerk for. He dedicated “Free Fallin’” to all of the ladies stepping out on their men over the last 24 hours of Hangout.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers may have been making music for longer than some of the groups at Hangout have been alive, but their sound is as fresh as ever. Petty has a vibrance and seems to still have a bit of wonder onstage. It’s a mix of genuine love for playing in front of his fans and a thankfulness to have achieved heights he has in his long career. He channeled the energy of the tightly packed crowd and made them sing along with “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and had them dancing as he closed the evening with “American Girl.”

Tom Petty may not have been the most flamboyant performer nor had the most intensity of the acts we saw today, but he was the perfect anchor for Saturday’s line-up. He is the embodiment of where rock has been as well as where it’s going. His influence on the genre is immeasurable. His brilliant performance Saturday showed why he’s become a cornerstone in music and has remained a fixture for all these years.

It was a great day at Hangout. We may have gotten a late start on the day, but we saw three great bands which surpassed Friday’s acts. Our coverage is entering its final mile so join us tomorrow as we close out the weekend’s Hangout Festival with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Trey Anastasio Band and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

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The Black Crowes Hangout Festival Setlist
Gulf Shores, AL : May 18, 2013

1) Twice as Hard
2) Sting Me
3) My Morning Song
4) Stare It Cold
5) Wiser Time
6) She Talks to Angels
7) Thorn in My Pride
8) Soul Singing
9) Remedy
10) Hard to Handle (Otis Redding)
11) Hush

Tom Petty Hangout Festival Setlist
Gulf Shores, AL : May 18, 2013

1) So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star (The Byrds)
2) Love Is a Long Road
3) I Won’t Back Down
4) You Wreck Me
5) Mary Jane’s Last Dance
6) Good Enough
7) Free Fallin’
8) A Woman In Love
9) I Just Want To Make Love
10) Tweeter and the Monkey Man (Traveling Wilburys)
11) Rebels
12) Friend of the Devil (Grateful Dead)
11) Learning to Fly
12) You’re So Bad
13) I Should Have Known It
14) Refugee
15) Runnin’ Down a Dream
Encore
16) Don’t Come Around Here No More
17) American Girl

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