Rain and wind can’t stop die-hard Aerosmith fans, or Aerosmith
Dickson Herald, TN
October 20, 2006
Pouring rain, blustery winds, temperatures in the low 50s and an outdoor shed in Antioch.
Ready to rock ’n’ roll?
Um, no. As roadies set the stage for Aerosmith’s Starwood Amphitheatre show Thursday night, the mood among the teeth-chattering masses was decidedly unenthused.
Nashville songstress Lennon and metal band Motley Crue had already played, and the night seemed old beyond its hours. And Aerosmith was bruised by a year that had included a cancer diagnosis for bass man Tom Hamilton — replaced on this tour by David Hull — and lead health scares for lead singer Steven Tyler, who has suffered a broken blood vessel in his throat and weathered a scary Hepatitis C bout.
All this worked against the band Thursday, on an evening clearly meant for anything but outdoor music. And yet things ended up working out alright on this, the last night of Starwood’s supposedly summer season.
Hull can play the parts just fine, any dents resulting from that busted blood vessel have been pounded out of Tyler’s steely screech and guitar players Joe Perry and Brad Whitford still play with appropriate aggression and remarkable chemistry.
Perry is an absolute physical and musical marvel: Now in his mid 50s, he spent much of the show grinding out his blues-based riffs wearing a blousy shirt opened to the midriff. Like Mick Jagger, Perry appears to be about 20 years old from the neck down. Like Keith Richards, he plays with the rock wisdom of a guitar sage. Like some shirtless drunken fan at a November football game, he might well catch cold from his exploits. Perry’s only complaint about the temperature was that it made his guitars go out of tune.
Front man Tyler sounded as strong as ever as he raged his way through a set that saved many of the big hits for the encore and focused for the first hour on early-career songs like “Walkin’ the Dog” and “Seasons of Wither.” It was a set list designed for die-hards, and a glimpse up at the rain-soaked masses on the lawn indicated that there were plenty of those on-hand.
Late in the set, the band rolled out a sleazy, ferocious version of “Sweet Emotion,” and the hit parade began. Smiles abounded, the amphitheatre throbbed and roared, and the temperature... alright, the temperature stayed the same. Good, loud, American rock ’n’ roll can’t change the weather, but it does wonders for the weathered.
October 20, 2006
Pouring rain, blustery winds, temperatures in the low 50s and an outdoor shed in Antioch.
Ready to rock ’n’ roll?
Um, no. As roadies set the stage for Aerosmith’s Starwood Amphitheatre show Thursday night, the mood among the teeth-chattering masses was decidedly unenthused.
Nashville songstress Lennon and metal band Motley Crue had already played, and the night seemed old beyond its hours. And Aerosmith was bruised by a year that had included a cancer diagnosis for bass man Tom Hamilton — replaced on this tour by David Hull — and lead health scares for lead singer Steven Tyler, who has suffered a broken blood vessel in his throat and weathered a scary Hepatitis C bout.
All this worked against the band Thursday, on an evening clearly meant for anything but outdoor music. And yet things ended up working out alright on this, the last night of Starwood’s supposedly summer season.
Hull can play the parts just fine, any dents resulting from that busted blood vessel have been pounded out of Tyler’s steely screech and guitar players Joe Perry and Brad Whitford still play with appropriate aggression and remarkable chemistry.
Perry is an absolute physical and musical marvel: Now in his mid 50s, he spent much of the show grinding out his blues-based riffs wearing a blousy shirt opened to the midriff. Like Mick Jagger, Perry appears to be about 20 years old from the neck down. Like Keith Richards, he plays with the rock wisdom of a guitar sage. Like some shirtless drunken fan at a November football game, he might well catch cold from his exploits. Perry’s only complaint about the temperature was that it made his guitars go out of tune.
Front man Tyler sounded as strong as ever as he raged his way through a set that saved many of the big hits for the encore and focused for the first hour on early-career songs like “Walkin’ the Dog” and “Seasons of Wither.” It was a set list designed for die-hards, and a glimpse up at the rain-soaked masses on the lawn indicated that there were plenty of those on-hand.
Late in the set, the band rolled out a sleazy, ferocious version of “Sweet Emotion,” and the hit parade began. Smiles abounded, the amphitheatre throbbed and roared, and the temperature... alright, the temperature stayed the same. Good, loud, American rock ’n’ roll can’t change the weather, but it does wonders for the weathered.
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