Ever since Tom Petty’s death in 2017, tribute bands have kept his music breathing — from his solo records to his decades with the Heartbreakers. Among the most enduring is Richmond’s Full Moon Fever, which brings a special acoustic show to the Ironclad Inn on Saturday, June 13.
IF YOU GO
Full Moon Fever, Saturday, June 13, 8:00 PM, Bourbon Notes at Ironclad Inn, 1200 Princess Anne St, Tickets: $25 available online.Â
The band started almost by accident. In 2007, singer-guitarist Prabir Mehta joined forces with friends from two Richmond acts — his own Prabir and the Substitutes Band and another group called The Skyline — for a one-time Halloween gig.
“We decided half of us from both bands would start this Tom Petty thing and it would be called Full Moon Fever,” Mehta said. “It was a one-off gig. We were not thinking it would last nearly 20 years.”
The requests kept coming. Full Moon Fever settled into a regular rotation of breweries and small clubs around Richmond, building a local following while remaining a side project for its members. Guitarist Rich Stine joined about a decade ago, first on keys before moving to lead guitar. A fan of Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell, Stine aims to honor the recorded parts while leaving room for the kind of live spontaneity Petty was known for.
“When you come to a Full Moon show, we want to give you what Tom Petty would have done live,” Stine said. “He’s known for expanding songs, jamming, free-forming it. I’m very aware of the specific guitar parts that Mike — and sometimes Tom — wrote. You will hear those main guitar licks. But do I try to adhere to everything on the record? Not particularly.”
For Mehta, the tribute runs deeper than fandom. Tom Petty was the subject of his first rock concert after immigrating from India — a show at the Richmond Coliseum when Mehta was 12, just four years after arriving in the United States.
“It was my first concert in the United States,” he said. “I remember walking into that giant room and seeing all of these people. Of course there were no Indian people.”
What struck him most wasn’t the crowd — it was the adults in it.
“Think of all the grownups you see: teachers, police officers, parents, bus drivers, people who work at grocery stores. None of them are smiling, clapping, singing along, acting like they’re enjoying life the way a child would,” Mehta said. “But they sure did at the Tom Petty show. I remember thinking, this is like magic.”
That night also shaped how Mehta learned to connect with an audience.
“Tom Petty taught me how to talk to a crowd,” he said. “The other examples I’d seen were on MTV — ‘Are you guys ready to rock?!’ I’m not going to do that. Tom Petty was like, ‘Richmond, it’s an honor to be here.’ Normal words. No gimmick, no schtick, no costumes. Just human beings on stage sharing music with other human beings.”
Saturday’s show will be a departure from Full Moon Fever’s usual electric set — and a first for the band.
“There’s a lot of acoustic-based songs that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers wrote, but for us this is a first,” Stine said. “We’re going to pull out some songs you wouldn’t normally hear — rarities and gems. And some of the classics we play anyway, we’ll dress up differently for an acoustic setting. It’s going to be fun.”
Mehta sees the format as an opportunity to dig into corners of Petty’s catalog the full-band show doesn’t reach.
“Normal Full Moon Fever shows are electric guitars turned up all the way, cranking,” he said. “This is a chill gig — a chance to see what translates best into an intimate acoustic setting.”
