Press Releases

May 20, 1999
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers In Concert at Southampton College

All For The Sea Benefit Concert Set For Monday, July 12

Contact:
Jane Finalborgo
(516) 287 8313
Fax: (516) 283 4081

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, one of rock's premiere bands, will perform Monday, July 12 in the 1999 All For The Sea benefit concert at Southampton College of Long Island University. Petty, whose 1994 album Wildflowers sold 3 million copies and won two Grammy Awards and MTV's Best Male Video Award, is on a major-venue summer concert tour for his new Warner Bros. album Echo, released April 13.

The outdoor concert, a summer tradition now in its eighth year, benefits marine and environmental science scholarships at the College. General admission tickets at $40 go on sale Friday, May 21 on a cash-only basis at: Long Island Sound in Southampton (283-6683) and East Hampton (324-2660); the College Bursar's Office, Monday to Friday from 10 am-4 pm (287-8333); Lynne's Card Shop in Westhampton Beach (288-1312), and at Ticketmaster, (516-888-9000) or (212-307-7171). For a special alumni ticket package at $65, call 516-287-8348.

For information, call the Concert Hotline at 516-287-8375 or visit the All For The Sea web site at http://www.liu.edu/All4Sea.

A limited number of VIP tickets, starting at $300 per ticket, provide reserved, front-row seating and parking and admission to a private, pre-concert party in a tent adjacent to the stage with food, wines and beer from the East End's finest restaurants and caterers. "Tom Petty joins a great tradition of All For The Sea blockbuster acts for the benefit of the environment," said Robert F.X. Sillerman, Chancellor of the College. "I am especially pleased to have Ron Perelman join me this year as co-chair of the benefit committee." At the conclusion of last year's sold-out Rod Stewart concert, Perelman joined Stewart on stage to play the drums. For VIP tickets, or to advertise in the concert journal, call 516-299-4090. Tickets are limited.

In March Petty and his band played seven sold-out shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco. The final two concerts were taped for a television special, and Petty appeared in April on Saturday Night Live and the Letterman Show.

His performance said a recent Newsday review, combines "veteran skill with raw, youthful energy" delivering "exuberant rockers that forced you off our seat and tender ballads that made you want to weep."

The concert features a mix of classic rock, folk melodies and rhythm and blues including potent blues-rock guitar riffs, mixing old hits such as You Wreck Me, You Don't Know How It Feels and Mary Jane's Last Dance with songs like top-five radio track Free Girl Now from his new album. Petty, whose body of work spans three decades, continues to receive accolades as a songwriter. In 1996 ASCAP gave him its songwriter award for Free Fallin' and its prestigious Golden Note Award. Writing in USA Today , Jaan Uhelszki noted that Petty's new songs "revealed him as a still-vital songwriting force, not an artist content to rest on past glories." Petty is a stand-out performer, and his most recent Rolling Stone cover story said it best: "TOM PETTY, King of the Road." The Southampton College concert, outdoors on the athletic fields, begins at 7:30 p.m. Gates open at 5 p.m.

An East End summer tradition since 1992, the eight previous All For The Sea concerts (including performances by Rod Stewart, Jimmy Buffet and James Taylor) have raised several million dollars for scholarships. The marine and environmental science programs at the college are nationally known for their excellence and have produced 31 Fulbright Scholars, a Marshall Scholar and two Udall Scholars.

All tickets are advance purchase only, and none will be sold at the gate. Alcoholic beverages and coolers, cans, bottles and recording devices are prohibited. Food and beverages will be sold, and concert-goers should bring a blanket or beach chair. Seating is festival-style.

The All For The Sea concerts began in 1992 with Crosby, Stills & Nash, followed by Tina Turner (1993), Foreigner and the Doobie Brothers (1994), Tony Bennett (1995), The Allman Brothers (1996), Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band (1996), James Taylor and his Band (1997), and Rod Stewart (1998).