Tom Petty Talks Super Bowl, “Long-Overdue Heartbreakers Record,” Corporate Rock: Exclusive
12/4/07, 2:12 pm EST
Hey, Petty fans, don’t expect to hear “You Don’t Know How It Feels” during this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. Apparently the NFL wasn’t too keen on the whole “let’s roll another joint” refrain. In an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone, Petty chatted about his forthcoming February 3rd halftime gig, informing fans not to expect a medley or dancers — he will, however, stick closely to his greatest hits. Keep reading to check out the full Q&A, where Petty talks about his first Super Bowl (”This is the only way I could get tickets”), a potential spring tour, staying away from corporations and “the long-overdue Heartbreakers record.”
Rolling Stone: How long ago did the NFL approach you about this?
Tom Petty: I’m not exactly sure. I think it was six or eight weeks ago.
RS: Tell me your first reaction to their offer.
TP: I said, really? That was it. I was shocked, then I started thinking about it and thought it might be cool. It’s not the kind of thing you ever think about, playing the Super Bowl. It never really crossed my mind.
RS: Was your instant reaction to say yes?
TP: I thought about it and I heard that some pretty good people had been doing it. I looked at the shows that McCartney and the Stones and Prince had done and I said “Okay, this looks like it could be pretty cool.”
RS: What’s the show going to be like?
TP: I’m just … You don’t have a great deal of time. I’m trying to, right now, figure out how much material I can squeeze into that short space of time. I think that whatever you do you probably have to edit yourself a bit. I doubt we’d do a medley. We’ve never done a medley and I can’t picture us doing one. It’s not the kind of band that can remember a medley.
RS: Have you given thought to what songs you’ll play?
TP: I don’t want to give that away. We are thinking about that. We’ve got a few in mind. I think in a show that big in a place that bit you need to play songs they know.
RS: Lots of acts have fireworks and dancers in the field. Are you going to do anything like that or will it be more stripped down?
TP: That I don’t know. We won’t have any dancers, I’m sure of that. You want to give them a halftime show, maybe not in the traditional sense — but I’m sure there are a lot of people there who enjoy the fireworks and stuff. I’m just approaching it as a pretty high-energy rock & roll show — maybe like it used to be in the 1960s were you come on, do four or five of your best numbers and get off.
RS: Has the NFL given you any guidelines as far as what you can’t play as far as drug references and whatnot?
TP: I don’t think anyone was too big on me making drug references, which I never even said I’d do. I was asked … it was strongly hinted that playing “You Don’t Know How It Feels” probably wasn’t the best thing. It’s a family show. People of all ages and musical tastes in one place is what’s exciting about it.
RS: Some acts pre-record some of their instruments when they play these things. Are you guys going to do any of that or will it be totally live?
TP: No, we’re a live group.
RS: Are you at all nervous to play to half the planet?
TP: You’re not human if you’re not a little nervous about that. When it comes time to do it you don’t really want to be thinking about it. It’s a big gig, but you’ve got a job to do.
RS: Are you going to do any shows next year?
TP: We’re mulling that over right now. There hasn’t been a majority vote yet. [Laughs] We’re talking about doing some shows next year, yeah.
RS: Would these be summer shows?
TP: I don’t know. I’ve heard everything from April to June. I really don’t know.
RS: Who exactly votes on this?
TP: We all vote. We all decide on the time frame. I think everyone has voted but me.
RS: I would guess your vote is slightly more important than the others.
TP: It carries a lot of weight.
RS: Getting back to the Super Bowl. When you watched U2 and the Stones and McCartney, what lessons did you take away?
TP: I think they all did well. What you do there that works best is to just be yourself and do what you do well. I think that’s what they all did and that’s what I intend to do.
RS: Thanks for not doing a medley. I hate when bands try and cram in fifteen songs into fifteen minutes.
TP: Then you never really get to enjoy one of them. They never asked us to do that and I can’t imagine us doing that.