

"Around the same time I was auditioning for Tom Petty, Lynch was recording with John Mellencamp in Bloomington. "It was a situation where (drummer) Stan Lynch from the Heartbreakers and I were not playing in our respective bands," Aronoff said. I remember thinking, 'Damn, how can we sound that good?' "Īronoff, who now tours as a member of John Fogerty's band, auditioned for the Heartbreakers in the early 1990s.
TOM PETTY LAST DANCE WITH MARY JANE PRO
That wasn't somebody in their bedroom trying to come with a song in Pro Tools. ('Torpedoes') was total band unification. "John wanted us to examine that record, really listen and get into it. "The whole vibe of that record was so amazing," Aronoff said Monday. Petty’s “Torpedoes” album included the songs “Refugee,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Even the Losers,” “Here Comes My Girl” and “Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid).” Petty's musical influence reached Indiana rock star John Mellencamp, who studied 1979 album "Damn the Torpedoes" before making his "Nothin' Matters and What if it Did" album in 1980, according to former Mellencamp drummer Kenny Aronoff. In the 1980s, Petty and the Heartbreakers headlined two bygone local venues: Market Square Arena and the Indianapolis Tennis Center.Įarlier this year, Petty played the former Deer Creek in its final season of being named Klipsch Music Center. "I've been telling that story all year," he told the audience when returning to the venue in 2006. When a 2005 thunderstorm caused a power outage in the middle of the song "Refugee," the band continued playing and fans sang heartily through the interruption. Ruoff, originally built as Deer Creek Music Center in 1989, served as the site for Petty's most memorable Indiana performance. Indiana musicians: IndyStar picks for Top 25 of all timeĬoncert recap: U2 spotlights best of U.S.A., Indy in stadium showĬoncert recap: 24,000 elated fans accompany Bob Seger at Klipsch "Indiana Girl' was the song's original title, Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell told. “Sometimes I think I just live to play that song here,” Petty said following a 2010 rendition.

View Gallery: Tom Petty's final Indianapolis performanceĪ deafening audience response was assured when Petty and his accompanying band, the Heartbreakers, performed “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” at the Noblesville amphitheater now known as Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center.
