It was another full house on the Riverwalk last Thursday as The Insiders: A Tom Petty Tribute took to the Showboat stage for the second Sizzlin’ Summer Concert of 2025.
Everyone I spoke to about the crowd for The Insiders concert last year agreed that it sure looked like the largest assemblage of humanity for a Sizzlin’ Summer Concert any of us had ever seen. If I were a betting man, I would bet the crowd this year was even bigger.
Wow. People love this band and the great way they present Petty’s musical legacy.
One of the things that hit me the first time I heard The Insiders was how many songs of Tom Petty had struck a chord with me over the years. More than once, I found myself saying, “Oh yeah, he wrote that one.”
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers released their first LP in November of 1976 – the same year this old dude got his high school diploma. The really great part of watching the crowd this year was that while there were plenty of fans in my age bracket there – we were just a part of the audience.
One of my favorite memories of the evening happened when three young people, late teens at best, walked in front of the band and all of them were singing along.
I snagged a set list that I want to share. It would not be possible to play every Petty song, but The Insiders do a great job of including music from as many of his 13 studio albums with the Heartbreakers that they can.
Here is the list:
- You Wreck Me
- Into the Great Wide Open
- Yer So Bad
- Face in the Crowd
- You Don’t Know How it Feels
- Even the Losers
- The Waiting
- Don’t Do Me Like That
- I Won’t Back Down
- Good to Be King
Then, after a short break:
- Wildflowers
- You Got Lucky
- Stop Draggin’ (joined by special guest Sammi Hershock whom many of us enjoyed at a round table of singers at Sound Check this past winter hosted by Josh Rose)
- Jammin’ Me
- Honeybee
- Learning to Fly
- Free Fallin’
- Mary Jane
- Refugee
- American Girl
Did I mention that the weather was Michigan Summer Perfection? The night could not have been any better, and fans of Petty’s music left on a musical high.
The musical fun on the Flat River continues this Thursday June 26, at 7 pm. Kait Rose and her Band of Thorns will be there performing some Fleetwood Magic – a tribute to the band Fleetwood Mac. This band of seasoned musicians cover their music with some delightful, personal touches.
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