Before junior photographer Connor Burgess left to cover Milwaukee’s music festival Summerfest, his mom made him watch the 1980’s cult classic “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”
It featured the music of Tom Petty, the musician whom Burgess would soon find himself three feet away from at the Henry Maier Festival Park. Though he did not know it, the July concert would be Burgess’ first and last interaction with the rock star.
“I could reach out and poke him if I wanted to,” Burgess said referencing his proximity to Petty during his performance with the Heartbreakers. “There were definitely these moments where he would make eye contact with us.”
Petty even went as far as posing for the group of photographers crammed into the photo pit, many of whom were as young as Burgess. It was something the 20 year old had not seen other musicians do at concerts before.
“And I’ve been to a lot of concerts,” Burgess added laughing. “He kind of acknowledged the fact that we were younger. He was very receptive of that.”
Burgess landed the Summerfest gig by working part-time for New York-based music magazine, “The Big Take Over.” Despite only starting to photograph musicians two years ago, Burgess seems to be getting opportunity after opportunity.
While his eyes remained on Petty for the majority of the show, Burgess could not help but notice the audience behind him. Having attended Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, Burgess expected to see the usual: thousands of his generation pouring over each other. Instead, he saw fans his parents age; fans who had long worn out their vinyl record of the Heartbreakers’ “Damn the Torpedoes,” the 1979 album that had announced to the music world that Tom Petty was here to stay.
“They were over the moon. It was the coolest thing to see,” said Burgess of the energized audience. “People… were screaming and hollering like I would at a concert.”
Recalling the concert nearly four months later still makes Burgess smile. But as the conversation switches to the day the world lost Petty, his tone turns somber. Not only did the world lose one of its best rock stars, it lost dozens of music lovers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in the Las Vegas massacre on Oct. 1.
“It’s a very unsettling thing. Mostly because you’re in an environment where people are able to let go,” said Burgess, who admits the haunting tragedy of Vegas will always crossed his mind at concerts. “For someone to shatter that illusion I think is very damaging.”
Burgess has recently returned from shooting Phantogram at Indianapolis’ Fountain Square. It is no Summerfest, but Burgess loves the work.
And while his impressive repertoire includes work with U2 and Chance the Rapper, Burgess does not expect to witness what he encountered with Petty anytime soon.
“There were moments where we shared a little bit of something… I mean, it’s Tom Petty. You say his name and everyone knows,” Burgess said. “I knew how much he meant during the show. But when he passed, it definitely reinforced that meaning.”