CAPSULE REVIEW : Petty Shares His Art, Not His Personality

Tom Petty has arrived at that summit of stardom where, when he was joined on stage Thursday at the Forum by guests Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen--which in rock terms pretty much amounts to a visit from the gods en masse --he didn’t seem outranked. This, as far as the crowd was concerned, was a meeting of equals.

Petty shares characteristics with both those contemporaries. He is like Springsteen in his eagerness to please a crowd, sociably playing almost all the favorites with a very tight, vigorous band--the Heartbreakers, of course--and coddling them with between-song compliments.

But he’s much more hidden a personality than Springsteen, which puts him more in Dylan’s camp. If his songs suggest vulnerability, weariness, or a sad, haunted quality, there will be no hint of that in the bemused public persona. He’s about as guarded as you can get while still being a multiplatinum Pop Populist.

Petty’s cool, heavy-lidded countenance is all his own, and if you don’t ever feel you get to know what he’s like over the course of a concert, you do know you’re seeing someone who’s emerged as an original through all the influences. And you do get your money’s worth.

Thursday’s show included the bulk of the greatest hits of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, as well as the bulk of his latest, biggest-selling and perhaps best album, “Full Moon Fever,” a record that brings up all the sad and ambiguous feelings that he feels no need to expound upon in the happy-go-lucky concert atmosphere.

During the encores, Dylan came out to sing “Rainy Day Women,” followed by another rocker that the band seemed not to know but played along with anyhow. Springsteen, looking rather Bono-esque with slicked-back hair, ponytail, goatee and earring, then emerged to sing “Travelin’ Band” and duet with Petty on the Animals’ “I’m Cryin’.” There was no attempt at a Traveling Wilburys-style group sing, despite the presence backstage of Jeff Lynne.

Petty and the Heartbreakers are to perform Saturday night at the Pacific Amphitheatre, joined once more by their opening act, talented flower-child revivalist Lenny Kravitz.

A full-length review of the Petty concert will be in Saturday’s Calendar section.