Tom Petty is one of my favorite musical artists. The only way to express how much his music has meant to me is to look back on my life and realize that somehow, it’s almost like my life is set to his musical soundtrack.

From the iconic “American Girl”, written and sung just a year after I was born, to “Southern Accents” which describes where I grew up, to “Free Fallin” which was the soundtrack to one of my first loves, to “Learning to Fly” (nicknamed Learning to Drive) and then “Time to Move On” which was released the year I graduated (and moved to Russia for a year) somehow, his music seems to just “fit” consistently into my life like a comfortable old shoe, and one I don’t want to change.

Just as I was worried about whether my work permit was going to be renewed here in Ireland, I found out that for the first time in 20 years, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were coming to Dublin. And better yet, he was playing the day AFTER my previous work permit was supposed to expire. With hope and anticipation, I promised myself that I would buy tickets – and be here in Ireland for the concert – legally – with work permit in Hand. Luckily, it all worked out. (Insert “Good Enough” song here.)

On June 7, 2012, I had my tickets – upper balcony seats – to Tom Petty with Helene. The show was amazing and I came away wondering why I hadn’t gone to see him in concert before, when I was living in the USA. After all, I had so many albums (once I dug them all out) and knew almost every song that he played at the O2, much to Helene’s amusement (Apparently I was dancing in my seat like a Fraggle!).

There were a couple highlights to the concert for me, here in Ireland. One was of course, when everything got calmed down and quiet – being able to yell (my momma gave me a set of lungs for a reason!) over the entire crowd – WE LOVE YOU, TOM! and getting many cheers much to the amusement of those nearby. Second was the moment that came up just before he sang “free fallin”. Tom Petty was talking about how he’d met a bunch of good people in Dublin, and how he’d bumped into some Spanish folks who wanted a special request. Somewhere directly below us – in the crowd, the Spanish guys started chanting Ole! Ole! Ole! In Typical Dubliner fashion, everyone responded to the Spaniards with Ole! Ole! Ole! right back. The Magic was when the band, confused on stage, turned around and looked at each other… (It’s a football chant here in Europe – and the European Championships are being held the week after!) They had to be told that it was a good thing. Suddenly, Tom Petty held up his hand and said well, do you want to hear the song? Which brought down the house in cheers.

Let’s just say I hope it’s not 20 more years until he plays Dublin again – becuase it certainly won’t be 20 years before I see Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers in concert – at least I hope not!

For the full blog about the night in Dublin, see the official Tom Petty post at:
http://www.tompetty.com/tour/date/id/123

It’s complete with pictures of the Spaniards who made the night even better!