BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Back in 2014, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers were playing Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center when the singer implored the audience to listen to a song the band was going to play from its new album, "Hypnotic Eye."
The crowd sat politely through "Forgotten Man," but the songs that followed — the hits "I Won't Back Down" and "Free Fallin'" — got a far bigger response.
That's a lesson, according to Rich Kubicz, who portrays Petty in the tribute act Damn the Torpedoes, which will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem.
“A lot of music, it’s got to get beat into peoples’ heads," Kubicz said in a phone call from his home in Sussex County, New Jersey.
"And if you listen to it on the radio enough, no matter how great the song is or not, if people hear it enough, it’s got a little bit of a hook, then they get into it. But if you hear it for the first time, it’s ‘eh.’”
No need to worry: Damn the Torpedoes, which started in 2007, has a repertoire of about 60 Petty songs from which it typically pulls two dozen for a show.
Those include most of the hits, such as "The Waiting," "You Got Lucky," "I Won't Back Down," "Free Fallin'" and "Don't Come Around Here No More."
'People walk out' without the hits
“It’s a funny phenomenon," Kubicz said.
He said it was the topic of a recent conversation he had with Glen Burtnik, a former bass player for the band Styx, who now plays in The Weeklings, a tribute band to The Beatles and Beatles-inspired music.
"He’s pretty famous New Jersey-wise and [for] some people who really get into music history," Kubicz said. "But something came up on a Facebook page and they were talking about doing originals.
“'Wildflowers' was a little rough. We did it at Daryl’s House [singer Daryl Hall's club in Pawling, New York] last year and it was just like people were looking at us. Like, a couple of songs we were playing, they weren’t into them. I could tell, you know?Rich Kubicz, who portrays Tom Petty in the tribute band Damn the Torpedoes
"And I said to Glen Burtnik, 'I’m sure you guys do originals, at least people knowing your status in the music business are there to listen.’
“He goes, ‘Nope. People walk out, even if it’s me. Brand new song, never heard it before, they go to the bathroom. That’s the way it is, unfortunately. That’s the way it is.”
Kubicz said he had an experience last year similar to what happened with Petty playing "Hypnotic Eye" songs, when Petty's estate released an expanded edition of his 1994 solo "Wildflowers" album.
Damn the Torpedoes decided to play a show of the entire album, thinking it might appeal to "real Tom Petty fans."
“'Wildflowers' was a little rough," Kubicz said. "We did it at Daryl’s House [singer Daryl Hall's club in Pawling, New York] last year and it was just like people were looking at us.
"Like, a couple of songs we were playing, they weren’t into them. I could tell, you know? Unfortunately ... some of the songs from ‘Wildflowers,’ although I love them, are lost on people that only want to hear the hits.
“So all of a sudden you start playing a couple songs off of ‘Wildflowers’ that nobody’s ever heard before, and you can see the faces of the people, like, ‘What the hell is this song?’
“So I decided to abandon that."
Kubicz said the only Petty album he would consider playing in its entirety would be his band's 1979 namesake "Damn the Torpedoes," still Petty's best-selling disc.
"Because almost every one of those songs is something that people have heard before," he said, referring to the disc's hits "Refugee," "Here Comes My Girl," "Even the Losers" and “Don’t Do Me Like That.”
New bassist, and solo work
While Damn the Torpedoes will look to keep fans happy with its setlist, that doesn't mean there won't be changes.
The band's longtime bassist, Jon Provan, recently was replaced with Johnny Pisano, who also is the bassist for roots rocker Willie Nile. But as it turns out, Pisano is unavailable for the Musikfest Cafe show, so Provan will be back on board.
Also, Kubicz, who previously released a solo album, "Echo Lake," said he hopes to have another out soon.
"I’m putting together a brand new band just for one show, with my originals and covers that are not Tom Petty stuff."Rich Kubicz, who portrays Tom Petty in the tribute band Damn the Torpedoes
In the meantime, he said he "inadvertently" was compelled to put together another band to play a solo show for an old Damn the Torpedoes haunt, Salem Roadhouse Cafe in Union Township, New Jersey, where he grew up.
"It's a really small place — a friend of mine runs it — and he does a show every second Saturday, starting in February through November, for this church called the Townley Presbyterian Church.
“So I used to have the April spot with Damn the Torpedoes. It doesn’t pay very much, but at the same time, it’s this small venue, so it’s partially for charity — half the proceeds go to charity, the other half goes to the band and it’s usually not very much money.
“‘Cause he’s a friend of mine, I still wanted to do something. And for some reason, one night I must have committed to do a show in April that’s going to be my original stuff.
"I did a Christmas show for him, and then he said, ‘Oh, Rich is going to be doing an April show.’ And I said, ‘Wait a second — did I commit to that? And he said, ‘Yeah.’
"So I’m putting together a brand new band just for one show, with my originals and covers that are not Tom Petty stuff," Kubicz said with a laugh.
Damn the Torpedoes, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem. Tickets $20 standing, $30-$45 seated, www.steelstacks.org.
