Petty Fest Celebrated 40 Years of Tom Petty at Fonda Theatre

Matt Corkill

Charity fundraiser Petty Fest was absolutely packed with all-star musicians and celebrities in tribute of the 40th anniversary of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Each performer covered one of Petty’s various hits and the crowd had the opportunity to sing their hearts out, no matter who shared the stage with the Cabin Down Below house band. Jakob Dylan absolutely dazzled the crowd. During “The Waiting,” one of the amps blew out allowing him the time to crack a few jokes about having to wait and how far he had to travel “all the way” down La Brea to make it to the show.  Matt Shultz and Matthan Minster of Cage the Elephant were their typical selves, dancing and jamming with each other while they covered “Breakdown” and turned the dial to 11 for “American Girl”.

One of the biggest surprises of the evening came when Norah Jones appeared a new singing partner, comedian Kristen Wiig. The duo covered “You Don’t Know How It Feels” and “Time to Move On” to the delight of the packed Fonda. Wiig seemed a bit nervous, but after cracking a couple jokes she relaxed and let her voice to take the spotlight. When a fan screamed out “Ghostbusters ruled,” she smiled and gave the “so-so” hand gesture. Wiig is hilarious when she isn’t trying to be.

Emily Armstrong’s powerful rendition of “Here Comes My Girl,” was refreshing with her high energy dancing and the way she brought the crowd in to “sing along because I know that’s why you are here.” Big Black Delta’s Johnathan Bates was clearly having a great time contributing to the evening, busting out his best dance moves while covering “You Got Lucky” along with Dhani Harrison adding in an extra guitar. Brandon Boyd of Incubus covered “Last Dance with Mary Jane,” as every single fan screamed at the top of their lungs while he swayed and grooved to the ’93 Petty smash. At the end of the evening, which raised funds for the Refuge Foundation, every performer came back out to help Cory Chisel cover “Free Falling” while having some more fun with one another on stage.

The Petty Fest rocked Hollywood on Sept. 13 and 14 at the Fonda Theatre.