The concert the night this was recorded is an excellent classic concert.  Right from the start, it sounded remarkably like the same Tom Petty singing when I last saw him back in the 1980s.  In addition to the band, he has an orchestra onstage as well and it really bolsters the sound.  The songs that were more recent at the time this was filmed really seem to be designed to make the most of the orchestra.  If you’re going through the set list, the orchestra is gone at the point when the DVD switches over to Change of Heart and it’s back to just Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.

This isn’t going to be the slick production many are used to seeing.  This is a musical performance, pure and simple.  The entertainment is the music itself.  The songs from his album The Last DJ are played in the order they’re on the album and it would have been nice to hear them changed up a bit.  Still, he’s managed to take a great studio album and turn it into a great live performance, which is especially interesting to see because the overall tone of that album is a huge slam on the music industry itself.  The songs deal with various aspects of corporate giants taking over and the emphasis being on profit rather than creativity (an issue that’s probably been around as long as the music industry itself). Some of the songs I thought were weaker on the album are better live and the end result is a concert that’s really good.

The ultimate for me though was hearing the classic Tom Petty songs.  This was when I could compare him live fifteen years (probably) after I last saw him.  On Change of Heart and Need to Know, it’s all classic Petty.  The performance of Mary Jane’s Last Dance alone is worth the price of this DVD.

There’s not much in the way of extras on the disc, but Fun in the Desert is really worth taking the time to watch.  It’s exactly what it sounds like as a collection of what appears to be home movies of Petty & the band having fun filming out in the desert comes across the screen.

I ended up liking Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Live at the Olympic: The Last DJ and More better than I initially thought I would.  I was afraid I was too rooted in classic Petty to really appreciate this, but it was an excellent concert, devoid of the showmanship that seems to be present in many pop acts. That’s what makes it so good, though.  It’s great music, pure and simple.



Set list:

The Last DJ
Money Becomes King
Dreamville
Joe
When A Kid Goes Bad
Like A Diamond
Lost Children
Blue Sunday
You And Me
The Man Who Loves Women
Have Love Will Travel
Can’t Stop The Sun
Change Of Heart
I Need To Know
Shake Rattle And Roll
Around And Around
Mary Jane’s Last Dance
You Wreck Me


SPECIAL FEATURES:

· Commercials
· Fun in the Desert
· Weblinks
• Credits