REVIEW: Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs turn in marathon set at the Independent

Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs, Jason Sinay, Lance Morrison, Matt Laug

Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs perform at The Independent in San Francisco on April 15, 2022. Sean Liming/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — “I hope you all paid your babysitters. We’re going to be here for a while,” Mike Campbell told a sold-out crowd at The Independent, a couple songs into his band’s set Friday night.

Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs
Sammy Brue

9 p.m., Saturday
The Independent
Tickets: Sold out.

Many of those childcare workers may have even received overtime as Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs ran through a two-and-a-half hour set that included songs from the band’s two recent releases, a bunch of covers and a handful of Campbell’s hits with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Campbell, finally appearing in the Bay Area after twice rescheduling the pair of dates at The Independent due to COVID, beat his chest as he emerged onstage, saying, “It took two-freaking-long-ass years to get here!” It was obvious that both Campbell and the crowd were excited to see each other. The quartet launched into “Wicked Mind,” the first song on their album External Combustion, released earlier this month.



Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs

Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs perform at The Independent in San Francisco on April 15, 2022.

Campbell and company are consummate pros who elevate three-chord rock and roll to a high art. The guitar duo of Campbell and seasoned vet Jason Sinay—who’s played with Keith Richards, Neil Young, Bob Weir and others—delivered thunderous riffage, delicate waltzing and everything in between. On “Lightning Boogie,” Campbell sliced heads with his razor-sharp slide guitar solo. Sinay sliced and diced with his slide on “Fuck That Guy.” Speaking of the latter song, from the 2020 album Wreckless Abandon, Campbell introduced the droll number by explaining that the phrase was, “something everyone said every day,” before delivering the tune with a Mark-Knopfler-like apathy.

As captain of the concert, Mike Campbell often veered off course from the already epic setlist. After a gentle rendition of “Irish Girl” and the Byrds’ “I Feel a Whole Lot Better,” Campbell noted that his 1964 Rickenbacker guitar was still in tune, and so led the band into a haunting version of one of the biggest hits he co-wrote with Tom Petty, “Refugee.”



Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs, Jason Sinay

Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs perform at The Independent in San Francisco on April 15, 2022.

Petty was the ghost in the room, and his absence had its own presence in the proceedings. At one point, Campbell told the audience that he had been sad that he wasn’t going to be able to play any of these songs “with my brother anymore,” but that one of his friends had told him that now he “could play the songs for him.” Campbell led the band into “Southern Accents,” changing the lyrics, singing “brother” instead of “mama” in the verse: “There’s a dream I keep having/ Where my brother comes to me/ And kneels down over by the window/ And says a prayer for me.”

It was an emotional moment. But, ultimately it was Campbell’s night, not only to celebrate his work with Petty, but to run through not one but two studio albums the band’s made and released since the outset of the pandemic. And the Dirty Knobs brought it. Bassist Lance Morrison, another monster player who’s worked with everyone from Cher to LeAnn Rimes, got on his knees during one enthusiastic solo. Drummer Matt Laug kept the beat so straight you could use it for a ruler.



“I know one thing is true. I was born to play guitar, and I sure do love my job,” Campbell said after an epic solo during “You Got Lucky.”

As Campbell launched into his iconic guitar riff from “Running Down a Dream” as the last song just after midnight, it was hard to disagree.

Sammy Brue, a young singer-songwriter currently based in Utah, got things started playing country-tinged Americana rock, including songs from his 2020 album, Crash Test Kid, as the audience straggled in.

Follow photographer Sean Liming at Instagram.com/S.Liming.

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