Re-Engergized And Rockin'
The Grand Rapids Press, MI
Aerosmith is back and ready to roll
The 12,000-seat Van Andel Arena is a far cry from the gym at Nipmuc Regional High School in Massachusetts.
But Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton remembers the rock band's first official gig at a high school dance like it was yesterday: the nervousness, the thrill.
"We were on the gym floor. I can really picture it vividly," Hamilton recalled in a telephone interview from a recent tour stop in Minneapolis. "It was a classic American high school. We'd been rehearsing, and we could do three 40-minute sets ... songs by the Yardbirds, the Stones.
"It was a gas. It's exhilarating, but it's also something that you do feel the necessity to play good and play tight. You have to have that joyous feeling while you're still concentrating."
Some 35 years later, that approach to performing hasn't changed for the Grammy-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band that's hailed as an American rock institution after selling 100 million-plus albums.
Indeed, after taking a year off from the road, Hamilton said Aerosmith seems re-energized on its current Rockin' the Joint tour, which makes a stop Saturday in Grand Rapids with opener Lenny Kravitz.
"I'm pretty psyched about the way it's been going," Hamilton gushed. "We think we've got a good set list this year. It sounds like that would be a simple thing, to list songs, but there are so many things you want to get right: the pace, the dynamics, the energy of the dynamics. Then there's the song selection, picking out the songs that will inspire the band and the audience, and we've hit on something good."
So, Aerosmith -- Hamilton, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer -- has mixed tried-and-true classics such as "Dream On" and "Walk This Way" with less traveled tunes like "No More, No More," and occasionally swapped "Lord of the Thighs" with "Rats in the Cellar."
With more than three decades of material to choose from, Hamilton conceded it's "a luxury problem," but one the band takes seriously as it fashions a show aimed at revving up old and new fans. "You're doing it in public, you want to get it right," he said.
To further enhance the audience experience, Aerosmith has tweaked its stage set-up on this tour to extend ramps well into the crowd so fans throughout the arena can get up close and personal with the band.
"Steven especially is totally fed by the energy of the people upfront and people being excited," Hamilton said. "It gives us a chance to get out into the area where there are people that wouldn't normally be anywhere close to the band."
Getting close to Aerosmith is a Michigan tradition. Outside of the Boston area, where Aerosmith first cut its teeth, band members have cultivated a special connection to fans here, Hamilton insisted.
"The Detroit area and Michigan, in general, is the first place outside of Boston where we really broke," he said. "That's when Detroit was forging its reputation as the plutonium of rock.
"That's where it's buried. We've liked going there from Day One because we associated it with being able to get up there and relax and play, and the crowd's going to be with us."
The tour comes after October's release of a new live CD/DVD, "Rockin' the Joint (Live at the Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas)," with the Grand Rapids show the last of 21 concerts on the first leg. The second leg -- with 22 concert dates -- kicks off Jan. 5 in Orlando, Fla.
And lest one surmise that all that roadwork might be hard on a band of 50-somethings who've already lived through their share of tough times, think again. These guys aren't even thinking about packing away their guitars.
"Right now, we're not questioning it," Hamilton said.
"We're living in the moment -- no feelings at all about what's going to happen in two years. I don't worry about that or think about it much."
Aerosmith is back and ready to roll
The 12,000-seat Van Andel Arena is a far cry from the gym at Nipmuc Regional High School in Massachusetts.
But Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton remembers the rock band's first official gig at a high school dance like it was yesterday: the nervousness, the thrill.
"We were on the gym floor. I can really picture it vividly," Hamilton recalled in a telephone interview from a recent tour stop in Minneapolis. "It was a classic American high school. We'd been rehearsing, and we could do three 40-minute sets ... songs by the Yardbirds, the Stones.
"It was a gas. It's exhilarating, but it's also something that you do feel the necessity to play good and play tight. You have to have that joyous feeling while you're still concentrating."
Some 35 years later, that approach to performing hasn't changed for the Grammy-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band that's hailed as an American rock institution after selling 100 million-plus albums.
Indeed, after taking a year off from the road, Hamilton said Aerosmith seems re-energized on its current Rockin' the Joint tour, which makes a stop Saturday in Grand Rapids with opener Lenny Kravitz.
"I'm pretty psyched about the way it's been going," Hamilton gushed. "We think we've got a good set list this year. It sounds like that would be a simple thing, to list songs, but there are so many things you want to get right: the pace, the dynamics, the energy of the dynamics. Then there's the song selection, picking out the songs that will inspire the band and the audience, and we've hit on something good."
So, Aerosmith -- Hamilton, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer -- has mixed tried-and-true classics such as "Dream On" and "Walk This Way" with less traveled tunes like "No More, No More," and occasionally swapped "Lord of the Thighs" with "Rats in the Cellar."
With more than three decades of material to choose from, Hamilton conceded it's "a luxury problem," but one the band takes seriously as it fashions a show aimed at revving up old and new fans. "You're doing it in public, you want to get it right," he said.
To further enhance the audience experience, Aerosmith has tweaked its stage set-up on this tour to extend ramps well into the crowd so fans throughout the arena can get up close and personal with the band.
"Steven especially is totally fed by the energy of the people upfront and people being excited," Hamilton said. "It gives us a chance to get out into the area where there are people that wouldn't normally be anywhere close to the band."
Getting close to Aerosmith is a Michigan tradition. Outside of the Boston area, where Aerosmith first cut its teeth, band members have cultivated a special connection to fans here, Hamilton insisted.
"The Detroit area and Michigan, in general, is the first place outside of Boston where we really broke," he said. "That's when Detroit was forging its reputation as the plutonium of rock.
"That's where it's buried. We've liked going there from Day One because we associated it with being able to get up there and relax and play, and the crowd's going to be with us."
The tour comes after October's release of a new live CD/DVD, "Rockin' the Joint (Live at the Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas)," with the Grand Rapids show the last of 21 concerts on the first leg. The second leg -- with 22 concert dates -- kicks off Jan. 5 in Orlando, Fla.
And lest one surmise that all that roadwork might be hard on a band of 50-somethings who've already lived through their share of tough times, think again. These guys aren't even thinking about packing away their guitars.
"Right now, we're not questioning it," Hamilton said.
"We're living in the moment -- no feelings at all about what's going to happen in two years. I don't worry about that or think about it much."
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