A new box set featuring sections from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' 20-night 1997 run at San Francisco's The Fillmore is being prepped for release. Guitarist Mike Campbell revealed to Ultimate Classic Rock, “It’s been mixed (and) I hear it is coming out. I’m really proud of it. It was one of the greatest parts of our career. We were free to not have to play the hits every night. We changed the set list.”
The shows from January and February 1997 have become legendary, with each night featuring a different setlist allowing Petty and the band to delve into their back catalogue and flex their muscles on old favorites and cover versions. The final night of the run — February 7th, 1997 — was broadcast live and proved to be the longest show of the stand, clocking in at a whopping three hours with the Heartbreakers tackling 40 songs.
No title or release date for the new collection has been announced.
Tom Petty never took for granted the fact that he had a fan base that was willing to part with their money for his albums and shows — and pretty much follow him and the Heartbreakers with whatever twists and turns they made: “It's my audience that's made me survive, honestly. Actually, it's the people (laughs) that we play to and that buy the records that have made us, a sort of, contradiction. Because, God knows, I mean, we've done the least — I mean, the bare minimum of promotion in our life (laughs).”
