Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ iconic 20-night run in 1997 at The Fillmore in San Francisco is the subject of a new short film.
The 12-minute video, directed by Alison Tavel, includes never-before-seen footage from the Petty estate vaults, as well as interviews with The Heartbreakers.
“The Fillmore to me is an event, it’s a place in time,” explained Benmont Tench, founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
According to Mike Campbell, part of the reason the band chose to do their now-famous run at The Fillmore was that San Francisco was one of the first cities to play a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song on the radio.
Campell, the former member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, explained the venue as a place where, “You feel the history, you feel the ghosts and you feel the magic that’s happened, it’s sort of dripping on the walls.”
“Tom always loved playing in a smaller, more intimate room,” explained Alan ‘Bugs’ Weidel. “He was really thinking about everybody…’we’re gonna go, we’re gonna be there for a month, we’re gonna play whatever we want.’ But at the same time he was thinking about the audience too, he wanted to make sure they got a different show every night.”
Watch the twelve-minute video on youtube now.