CLEVELAND, Ohio - Quicken Loans Arena is used to larger-than-life athletes, being that it's the home of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Those Cavs PLAYED larger-than-life Friday night, taking Game 4 of the NBA Finals from the Golden State Warriors.
They musta left something in the water, because Saturday night, The Q was temporary home to Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Joe Walsh and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers . . . who ALSO played larger-than-life.
Walsh, who is in the Rock Hall as a member of the Eagles (and not, as he should also be, as a member of Cleveland's own James Gang) is the opening act of this tour marking the 40th anniversary of Petty's band. As good as Petty & Co. were in their more than two hours onstage - and they WERE good - it's clear that Cleveland will always have a special place in its heart for Walsh.
Cleveland's forever favorite son took the stage sporting a LeBron jersey. Usually, that irks me - it comes across as a cheap way to get a positive rise out of the fans. I will forever remember Shania Twain in a Browns jersey at her show here, and I am not sure to this day whether she can even spell football.
In Walsh's case, it worked. As he said repeatedly during his hourlong set, "It's good to be home.'' And bless his heart, he put his music where his mouth was - he did "Funk #49'' with his James Gang band mates Jim Fox on drums and Dale Peters on bass. For a minute there, it was 1970 all over.
Didn't hurt that he also had Northeast Ohio's Tom Bukovac, an in-demand guitarist now based in Nashville, and drummer Joe Vitale in his band, too.
Walsh has never been much of a singer, at least in terms of a singer who grabs you by the heartstrings. What he does vocally is surround a lyric with an almost childlike innocence. "Life's Been Good,'' "Rocky Mountain Way,'' "In the City'' and a pleasing version of the Eagles' "Take It to the Limit'' he offered "to my brother and my band mate, Glenn Frey'' as well a the James Gang tune were wonderful look-backs at the past.
Walsh's strength is and always will be his guitar playing, and that hasn't changed since he first broke on the scene. It was on display all night, as much of his hourlong set seemed more jam session, with Walsh and Bukovac taking turns as lead shredders, than actual identifiable songs.
The love was lavished on Walsh, true enough, but there was plenty to go around for Petty. The Heartbreakers show was full of the sing-along songs that everyone who remembers when a jukebox was three plays for a quarter knew by heart.
From the opening salvo, the first song the band ever recorded called "Rockin' Around (With You)'' to the dying strains of "American Girl,'' this was a night of nostalgia, like The Q was turned into a giant TV tuned to music video-era MTV.
"Mary Jane's Last Dance,'' "You Don't Know How It Feels,'' "I Won't Back Down,'' "Don't Come Around Here No More,'' "Refugee,'' 'Yer So Bad,'' "Runnin' Down a Dream'' and of course, "American Girl'' all are iconic songs for a reason. They helped define an era . . . and a generation.
Happily, Petty's distinctive nasal delivery has never required that he belt out a song and risk damaging his vocal cords. The result is that for the most part, 66-year-old Tom Petty sounds almost exactly like 25-year-old Tom Petty.
What we forget until we see him perform live is just how good a guitarist he is. True, his always-and-forever band mate Mike Campbell handles most of the lead chores, but when Petty wants to turn his Rickenbacker or his Telecaster into a true ax, he can shred with the best of them.
Which is as it should be . . . when you're larger than life.