This was only my third adventure to the Gorge for concerts: the first was for the Steve Miller Band, the second for Lollapalooza, and now for Tom Petty & The Heart Breakers. This was my wife’s first ever trip to the Gorge, so she could hardly contain herself as we pulled into the parking lot.

Showing up about two hours early, we hung out in the back of our Chevy Tahoe that was furnished with the “Man Couch”. Former teacher Mr. Minarsich and his wife and a friend hung out with us as well playing cribbage and doing lots of people watching.

At 6:30 pm we locked up the cars and headed into the amphitheater. After a quick visit to porto-potty heaven, Tara and I ventured through the mob to find our seats. This was the first time I ever had seats at the amphitheater. Usually I’m sitting up in the grass with the general admission ticket holders. This time we spent the money to sit up front. The great thing with Tom Petty is that he keeps his ticket prices down. He has made it point over the years to keep his concerts affordable. In a recent Rolling Stone interview Tom Petty said, “I turn a very healthy profit on (tickets); I make millions on the road. I see no reason to bring the price up.”

The recently reunited Black Crowes opened up the concert with some solid rock & roll. The Black Crowes took the stage moments before we found our seats. Not only did we have perfect timing, but a perfect view of the stage. The crowd didn’t remain seated very long, and I found myself swaying and singing to the Crowes psychedelic grooves.

The Black Crowes played for about an hour and a half, finishing with their more popular songs such as “Thorn In My Pride,” “Space Captain,” “Jealous Again,” and their final song, “Hard to Handle.” I would’ve gone to the concert just to see the Black Crowes, and they didn’t disappoint. They looked like they could have been plucked right out of Woodstock. Lead singer Chris Robinson my look like a pasty white hippy Jesus with a full beard, but he rock n’ rolls with the best of them.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers continued the rock fest with hit song after hit song. Petty played hits from throughout his almost 30-year career. There was “Don’t Do Me Like That” from the 1970s, “Don’t Come Around Here No More”, “Free Fallin” and “I Won’t Back Down” from the late 1980s, and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and “You Don’t Know How It Feels” from the mid-1990s. It’s unbelievable how many great songs Tom Petty has written. I sang along with almost each and every one of them throughout the night.

People were singing at the top of their lungs throughout the show. People-watching was half of the entertainment. There were hippies, college students, business people, moms, dads, grandparents, and even some younger kids. It’s almost like a religious experience when you go to a rock concert. People are singing out loud in unison while swaying their hands in the air.

The night was perfect in many ways: the weather was warm and comfortable, the sky was huge with the stars shining so bright that you could almost reach up and touch the Big Dipper, and Tara and I celebrated this night as our fifth wedding anniversary present to each other.

Tara and I left our friends during the encore performance to escape the crowd. There were thousands of people to beat out of the amphitheater. After finding our car we drove off to find a place to park for the night. With the “Man Couch” laid out in the back of the Tahoe, we pulled off at a rest stop for the night and crashed as soon as our heads hit the pillows. As we awoke early in the cold morning, I opened up the car door and saw that the rest stop was full of concertgoers sleeping in their cars. I started the car, turned up the heat, and took off towards Puyallup for my daughter’s soccer tournament that started at 9:30 am.