Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers @ Super Bowl XLII

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers gave an international audience a brief introduction to what will likely be heard on the band’s forthcoming summer tour (subsequent commercials also pimped Petty’s upcoming appearance on Fox’s King of the Hill). The set which featured a trio of songs from Petty’s first solo-branded album, 1989′s Full Moon Fever, continued the NFL’s streak of using a fairly safe veteran rock act for its half time show in lieu of 2004′s Nipplegate. Like Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones before him Petty played a conservative set, nailing classic tracks “American Girl,” “I Won’t Back Down,” “Free Fallin’” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” It might not top the energy of last year’s performance by Prince, but at least the guitar arrow shooting towards the giant center stage heart comes close to Prince’s giant silhouette; I suppose the phallic beauty is in the eye of the immature beholder in this situation.

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