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| Steven Tyler |
When my beloved editor asked me to go with him to the Aerosmith
show, I thought to myself, "Self, this should be a nice
kick-butt, rock 'em and sock 'em type concert." Then I
remembered that Aerosmith currently had a single from a relatively
popular movie, that it was a balladish type song, and that it was
driving all the lil' teenie-boppers crazy. Then I started wondering
what type of mix of people was I about to be entertained by, that is
other than the band. Well, the term all ages was really put to the
test for this show as I quickly found that we had the 40ish year old
moms and dads bringing little skippy and skippette to see Aerosmith.
Now, I don't mean to say that as a bad thing, but I find it amusing
that a lot of the youngins probably have never heard the song
"Dream On, " maybe mostly because they can't figure out
how to listen to their parent's old Aerosmith records. But there
they were, packing the World Music Theatre - The young, the old, and
everyone in between.
Real quick, Aerosmith had an opening band and they were called
Monster Magnet. I was not real sure who this band was until they hit
the stage and started performing. They had a type of musical style
to them that, for me, kinda mixed grunge with heavy metal, and I
have to say that I enjoyed their small set of tunes. Hell, I even
heard a song that I recognized. At first I thought that it was a
cover tune, but after a later discussion with The Dude on the Right
I came to find that it was indeed an original tune that was getting
airtime for them. I think the song was called
 |
Dave Wyndorf
of
Monster Magnet |
"Space
Lord," and if they can continue that type of music I don't
think that these guys are too far off from making a small name for
themselves, or maybe a bigger name for themselves. Enough about the
opener.
Once Monster Magnet cleared the stage, well, the stage crew took
over. People were everywhere and seemingly doing everything from
setting up stage props to tuning guitars to re-arranging the light
riggings, and now it was time for Aerosmith.
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| Joe Perry |
So the lights go out and these large curtains drop down in front of
the stage providing the perfect back-drop for the guys of the band
to come out and cast interesting shadows upon the curtains, most
notably Steven Tyler making his shadow sit on the drummer. Well,
finally those curtains dropped, the pyrotechnics went off, and the
concert was underway.
First, a few of the things I noticed right away. One, Tyler was
wearing a HUGE knee brace, a leftover from an attack of a killer
microphone stand. Brace and all, he performed like a trooper and put
on a hell of a show. Next, the rotating drum set. Now, of course
this isn't the first drum set I've seen like this, but hey, worth
noting. Another thing was the fact that there was this
keyboardist/background singer that was sitting stage right and off
in the dark. I found that to be a tad odd, but who am I to talk? Oh,
and one last thing, they need to outlaw those crazy laser pointer
pen thingies that the youngins in the crowd think are cool. Let's
talk about annoying. No, I guess let's not.
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| Joey Kramer |
So, what is there to say about Aerosmith's playing? Hell, they've
been playing for just about forever and they've got their act pretty
much set, so playing and rocking for them just isn't a problem. The
band cruised through their entire entourage of hits during the
course of the evening, everything from "Dream On" from the
early years to "Don't Want To Miss a Thing" from the now
years, giving just about everything that one would have expected in
a concert from a band that has been through it all. But the show
wasn't all rocking, they did take a small break and had Joe Perry
play and sing this real bluesy tune that, well, I'm still not sure
what it was. I started to think it was "Soul to Soul," but
I just couldn't place it. None the less, Joe Perry lived up to his
"Singing his ass off billing" that Steven Tyler had given
him.
The show was a rockin' but the clincher of the night was when we
were leaving the show. Walking back to the dude-mobile I hear
someone snoring. "Hmm, you don't hear that every day in a
parking lot?" I look around to find some dude a couple cars
down, passed-out and spread eagle, on the hood of his car. I guess
he just wanted to make sure his friends didn't leave without him.
Then again, maybe it wasn't his car.
So, all in all, I must say that I had a very entertaining evening
and the good fortune to take in a band that knows how to rock and
has been doing so for many a year. It's TWO BIG "KNEE
BRACE" THUMBS UP for Aerosmith!
I'm Big Cooter, and I'm done! |
