By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
There was no debating the fact that the Broken Hearts band offered up the best of the music of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
There was no debating the fact that another huge crowd turned out on the Madison St. Plaza in Decatur Thursday night to enjoy the Petty music.
The weather was ideal for the fourth concert in the Decatur Chamber of Commerce’s annual summer series as the turnout was, if anything, larger than the big one of the prior week, when a Journey tribute band performed.
Another popular addition to the night was the singing of Lexi Lamons, the 19-year-old Bellmont High School grad. In her second stint this year, Lexi opened the evening’s show and returned when the band took a break.
During their near two-hour stint, the band played some music from the 1994 Wildflowers album – a name well-known around here as a favorite of Connor Brite, the young man this area pays tribute to in an annual concert.
The Broken Hearts, based in Gainesville, Florida, officially became a touring tribute band in 2018, following the death of Petty.
Petty suffered a cardiac arrest on Oct. 1, 2017, and was taken off life support the next day.
Although one of the great musicians of his time, the death of Petty – just four days shy of his 67th birthday – was somewhat obscured as it was on that same Oct. 1 that a man with an assault rifle killed 60 people and wounded at least 413 others at a concert in Las Vegas.
There is no debating, either, that the five Broken Hearts guys are a band that tours. They left Decatur after the show to travel to Morganville, West Virginia, to perform Friday. Then it was off to Wilmington, Delaware, for a Saturday date, followed by a show in Taunton, MA, on Sunday.