Aerosmith still stirs sweet emotion
Worcester Telegram & Gazette, MA
September 28, 2006
Mansfield — With bass player Tom Hamilton on the mend and off the road as he undergoes cancer treatment, and singer Steven Tyler making the revelation that he has been battling Hepatitis C not so long after returning to work following surgery to repair damaged vocal cords, expectations may have been lowered among the sellout crowd assembled to see Aerosmith Tuesday at The Tweeter Center.
Well, it did not take long for Aerosmith to erase any doubts about its abilities. From a blistering opening punch of “Toys in the Attic” and “Mama Kin” that had Tyler executing vocal gymnastics to a surprise appearance by Hamilton, who brought down the house when he performed with the band on “Sweet Emotion,” it was clear that Aerosmith still has the power to beat back whatever tries to bedevil the band.
Aerosmith is in the midst of a tour with Motley Crue, and both bands are back at the Tweeter Center tonight. Bass player David Hull, an alum of Aerosmith guitar god Joe Perry’s solo band, is filling in for Hamilton as he undergoes treatment for throat cancer. And Hull blended just fine with guitarist Brad Whitford, drummer Joey Kramer, Tyler, and Perry. Aerosmith shaped its show to please old-time fans, bypassing its ballads and pop hits of recent years in favor of blues-drenched bar rockers.
While Aerosmith did everything right, Motley Crue could barely get it right during an opening set that swayed between laughable and painful. At this stage of the game, someone really must tell Vince Neil that he no longer has a singing voice. And bass player Nikki Sixx, whose reckless ways and trashy look once represented the essence of Crue-ness, is little more than a caricature on stage. Thankfully, Motley Crue guitarist, the cadaverous Mick Mars, and drummer, the crazed Tommy Lee, still put in a solid night’s work, igniting whatever is left of such charred strip-club anthems as “Dr. Feelgood,” “Girls, Girls, Girls” and “Shout at the Devil.”
What Crue lacked in raw talent it replaced with a barrage of strobe lights, explosions and dancing girls; hence, the crowd saw a lot of strobe lights, explosions and dancing girls.
In contrast, Aerosmith played on a large, bare stage. The band enhanced its music with some sharp lighting, and caused more heat than all of Crue’s pyro simply by having Perry and Tyler occasionally saunter into the crowd along a walkway extending from the stage.
The bulk of Aerosmith’s 15-song set favored its 1970s heyday. The band played the big ones, such as “Dream On” and “Walk This Way” from that era, as well as deeper album cuts, turning “S.O.S.” into a fast, punky rant and “Seasons of Wither” into a dramatic high point in the show.
The band devoted a big chunk of the concert to its blues-rock origins. Tyler, who sported a Darth Vader-like array of wireless microphone gear around his trunk, led the charge through “Baby Please Don’t Go,” while Perry took the reins for spirited covers of “Stop Messin’ Around” and the Boston anthem “Dirty Water” (played as the guitarist’s way of saying he is moving back to the Hub from Vermont).
Aerosmith lit into overdrive when playing the primal “Rattle Snake Shake,” turning the swaggering blues exercise into an extended jam that had everyone in the band showboating in the best of ways.
Aerosmith made a detour into the ’90s toward the end of the show when it played the doo-wop-inflected “Cryin’ ” and funny “Eat the Rich.” But the band left the stage tanked up again on the good ol’ stuff, unleashing a raw and tough “Draw the Line” before its encore break. The band returned for spirited takes on “Love in an Elevator” and “Walk This Way.”
As Aerosmith miraculously improves with time, Motley Crue is suffering the ravages of time. The band, its songs, and its sound all came across as woefully dated, and the set turned in Tuesday only diminished whatever nostalgic appeal the band might have been carrying into the show that night.
September 28, 2006
Mansfield — With bass player Tom Hamilton on the mend and off the road as he undergoes cancer treatment, and singer Steven Tyler making the revelation that he has been battling Hepatitis C not so long after returning to work following surgery to repair damaged vocal cords, expectations may have been lowered among the sellout crowd assembled to see Aerosmith Tuesday at The Tweeter Center.
Well, it did not take long for Aerosmith to erase any doubts about its abilities. From a blistering opening punch of “Toys in the Attic” and “Mama Kin” that had Tyler executing vocal gymnastics to a surprise appearance by Hamilton, who brought down the house when he performed with the band on “Sweet Emotion,” it was clear that Aerosmith still has the power to beat back whatever tries to bedevil the band.
Aerosmith is in the midst of a tour with Motley Crue, and both bands are back at the Tweeter Center tonight. Bass player David Hull, an alum of Aerosmith guitar god Joe Perry’s solo band, is filling in for Hamilton as he undergoes treatment for throat cancer. And Hull blended just fine with guitarist Brad Whitford, drummer Joey Kramer, Tyler, and Perry. Aerosmith shaped its show to please old-time fans, bypassing its ballads and pop hits of recent years in favor of blues-drenched bar rockers.
While Aerosmith did everything right, Motley Crue could barely get it right during an opening set that swayed between laughable and painful. At this stage of the game, someone really must tell Vince Neil that he no longer has a singing voice. And bass player Nikki Sixx, whose reckless ways and trashy look once represented the essence of Crue-ness, is little more than a caricature on stage. Thankfully, Motley Crue guitarist, the cadaverous Mick Mars, and drummer, the crazed Tommy Lee, still put in a solid night’s work, igniting whatever is left of such charred strip-club anthems as “Dr. Feelgood,” “Girls, Girls, Girls” and “Shout at the Devil.”
What Crue lacked in raw talent it replaced with a barrage of strobe lights, explosions and dancing girls; hence, the crowd saw a lot of strobe lights, explosions and dancing girls.
In contrast, Aerosmith played on a large, bare stage. The band enhanced its music with some sharp lighting, and caused more heat than all of Crue’s pyro simply by having Perry and Tyler occasionally saunter into the crowd along a walkway extending from the stage.
The bulk of Aerosmith’s 15-song set favored its 1970s heyday. The band played the big ones, such as “Dream On” and “Walk This Way” from that era, as well as deeper album cuts, turning “S.O.S.” into a fast, punky rant and “Seasons of Wither” into a dramatic high point in the show.
The band devoted a big chunk of the concert to its blues-rock origins. Tyler, who sported a Darth Vader-like array of wireless microphone gear around his trunk, led the charge through “Baby Please Don’t Go,” while Perry took the reins for spirited covers of “Stop Messin’ Around” and the Boston anthem “Dirty Water” (played as the guitarist’s way of saying he is moving back to the Hub from Vermont).
Aerosmith lit into overdrive when playing the primal “Rattle Snake Shake,” turning the swaggering blues exercise into an extended jam that had everyone in the band showboating in the best of ways.
Aerosmith made a detour into the ’90s toward the end of the show when it played the doo-wop-inflected “Cryin’ ” and funny “Eat the Rich.” But the band left the stage tanked up again on the good ol’ stuff, unleashing a raw and tough “Draw the Line” before its encore break. The band returned for spirited takes on “Love in an Elevator” and “Walk This Way.”
As Aerosmith miraculously improves with time, Motley Crue is suffering the ravages of time. The band, its songs, and its sound all came across as woefully dated, and the set turned in Tuesday only diminished whatever nostalgic appeal the band might have been carrying into the show that night.
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