Browne and Petty are no longer spring chickens. If you bothered to do the math for Browne's "Doctor My Eyes" ("'65 I was 17") you'd have a pretty good idea how many years the Pretender had under his belt. Browne, whose new album The Naked Ride Home has generated several radio-friendly hits including "Night Inside Me," openly reminisced about his younger years in song and speech. He sat behind keyboards for most of the mellow performance, while running through a largely standard set list.

The Heartbreakers did anything but sit still. Petty, lanky and exceptionally long-haired, has apparently changed very little over the years. He is still remarkably charismatic, poignant (lyrically and on guitar), and still a rebel of sorts. His voice, reminiscent of a youthful Bob Dylan, has remained fresh and lucid. His guitar licks, to borrow a phrase from Chuck Berry whose music was covered in the wee hours, comes off his fingers "like ringin' a bell."

Directly from the George Harrison tribute in London, the Heartbreakers played a mean two-and-a-half-hour set. In the spirit of the recent tribute concert, the band included the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle with Care." (The Wilburys were made up of Petty, Dylan and the late Harrison, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne.)

It can't be overemphasized – rock demands a live listen. Q104.3, New York's classic-rock station, is one of the Heartbreakers' main radio allies, but has a decidedly limited play list. It isn't hard to grow weary of the band's basics over time, and songs like "Free Fallin'," "I Won't Back Down," and "Runnin' Down a Dream" unfortunately lose their edge.

"It's gonna be a fun night," Petty promised and delivered, without blindly revisiting his greatest hits. Of course, songs like "A Woman in Love," "The Waiting," "Yer So Bad," and "Refugee" made their way into the evening, and were most welcome. The skilled guitar work of Mike Campbell and provocative piano pounding of Ben Tench added life to these time-tested masters.

Other works, not as well known, found their way into the set as well. "Shadow of a Doubt" off of Damn the Torpedoes was introduced as having come from 1979, "a good year." "Have Love, Will Travel" and "When a Kid Goes Bad," from the new album, had no trouble carrying the momentum of the evening.

But the night surely revolved around those favorites revamped. Several acoustic numbers were quite poignant. Petty invited the crowd to contribute vocals to "Learning to Fly," after which he proclaimed MSG "the greatest rock venue in the world." "King's Highway," a personal favorite, found steal-drum sounds induced by way of synthesizer. Traditional concert favorites "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance," the band's drug anthems, were back to back and warmly greeted. Petty improvised throughout, urging his audience to "tie another one on." I believe many did.

In the final moments of a long evening that only flirted with the band's vast repertoire, came the most undeniable of anthems. "American Girl," one of rock's definitives, was amped up and torn into with four guitars, as was meant to be. The show over, Petty waved goodbye, and I was left with the thought that the new album, The Last DJ, is no indication of their performance.

The new disc comes across a bit preachy and even a bit boring. Still, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer remains one of rock 'n' roll's most vital progenitors. If you haven't heard any of The Last DJ live, you may have come to some half-baked conclusions. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers made sure to set things straight during their sold-out MSG performance.