Aerosmith News

RossHalfin.co.uk
February 28, 2006


Grammy Awards, Aero with Sly Stone
February 8, 2006
Photo Credit: Ross Halfin


More pictures here.

New York Daily News, NY
February 27, 2006


...It's no secret that traditional touring rockers hate the way media conglomerates, MTV and pop music have changed the face of music. But Arquette's film, which airs on Showtime on March 8, gathers together an overwhelming collection of testimonials on the subject by artists like Sting, Elton John, David Crosby, Steven Tyler, Peter Gabriel and Tom Petty.

"There was a time when our catalogue was worth $24 million, now it's worth like 12 cents," moans Tyler, Aerosmith's lead singer. "Why? Because anybody can download anything on the Internet. The only thing an artist today is worth is his happiness, integrity and hard tickets...."

Washington Post
February 27, 2006


......(Judith) Czelusniak may be the most popular person in Washington -- at least for the next two months. That's because she's head of head of PR for fast-growing Bloomberg LP; and, much more important, she's keeper of the list of those to be invited to the Bloomberg party following the black-tie White House Correspondents' Association dinner April 29 at the Washington Hilton.

The B.P. is Washington's version of a coveted post-Oscars party, offering a paler version of a scene at a hot New York club. Hollywood and other glitterati -- including Richard Gere , Elle McPherson , the plumber guy on "Desperate Housewives," Aerosmith's Steven Tyler , Venus and Serena Williams , Goldie Hawn and Mariska Hargitay of "Law & Order: SVU" -- mingle with diplomats, Cabinet and sub-Cabinet members, White House aides and Washington media types....

...The party, traditionally held at the Russian Trade Ministry mansion until two years ago, will be at an as-yet-undisclosed location...

Boston Globe, MA
February 27, 2006


Seizing on trend, Boston weighs an LA-style honor for its stars

You can see all the stars on Hollywood Boulevard, but why should Los Angeles get all the glitz and glitter? Boston's latest idea for creating a world-class city is a Walk of Fame of its own, with stars' names in the pavement and, officials say, all the pomp and celebrity of the real deal. Saying the history-steeped city has for too long hidden its claim on Hollywood flash under a bushel, the Boston Redevelopment Authority is reviewing proposals to create a walk, "which may take the form of signature icons embedded into sidewalks . . . to honor musicians, actors, artists, etc. that have ties to Boston," along theater-studded sections of Tremont, Stuart, and Boylston streets....

Greater Boston has an obvious list of hometown celebs: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, Aerosmith, New Kids on the Block, New Edition, Jay Leno, and Conan O'Brien, to name a few....

PR Newswire.com
Wed., February 22, 2006 - Tues., February 28, 2006


This Weeks Top 20 Countdown:

#13. Santana featuring Steven Tyler - "Just Feel Better"

Anaheim, CA - February 24, 2006







Thanks to: Lvarosmt

Aero Force One


Aerosmith:   Arrowhead Pond, CA - February 24, 2006

 1) Helter Skelter
 2) Walk This Way
 3) Same Old Song And Dance
 4) Cryin'
 5) S.O.S. (Too Bad)
 6) Livin' On The Edge
 7) Shakin' My Cage
 8) Stop Messin’
 9) Sweet Emotion
10) Kings And Queens
11) Seasons Of Wither
12) Dream On
13) No More No More
14) Baby Please Don't Go
15) Train Kept A Rollin' (Slow)

===Encore===

16) Back In The Saddle
17) Draw The Line

Orange County Register, CA
February 23, 2006


This time, you instantly notice what they've taken from other touring war horses.

From the Stones: wings extending to the left and right of the stage - the better to get up in fans' faces, of course.

From U2: giant lighted catwalks jutting forward, encircling a pit of lucky ticket-holders, plus a smaller version of the curtain of lights the band unveiled on the "Vertigo" tour.

From McCartney: a see- how-we've-grown montage that pumped up the crowd until Joe Perry's stinging guitar and Steven Tyler's raspy howl ushered in a fiery version of - what else? - "Helter Skelter."

Even if the similarity makes it seem as though all of those acts abide by some imaginary trade magazine (say, Concert Staging Illustrated), those effects were still smart, value- added add-ons to Aerosmith's rousing show Wednesday night at an almost sold-out Staples Center.

But what revealed the most about the band's new direction wasn't what it played on but what it played, period.

A then-and-now comparison tells all. The last time the Toxic Twins, guitarist Brad Whitford and anchors Joey Kramer (drums) and Tom Hamilton (bass) came to Orange County was an Irvine stop in August 2001, two months after duetting with Pink on "Walk This Way" at one of KIIS-FM's annual Wango Tangos.

Scattered among must-play staples like "Sweet Emotion" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'" were five cuts from then-new album "Just Push Play," three from 1993's "Get a Grip," two from 1989's "Pump," one from 1997's "Nine Lives" and the Hall of Famers' lone chart-topper, the 1998 ballad "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing."

Now the Staples rundown, and if you hate spoilers, skip ahead. (A rerun, prefaced by a headlining-long set by Lenny Kravitz, happens tonight at Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. Selections scarcely differ.)

"Sweet Emotion," "Walk This Way," "Train," "Dream On," "Draw the Line," "Back in the Saddle" - check.

Number of cuts from "Play," "Pump," "Nine Lives" or the 1987 turning point "Permanent Vacation": zero.

Number of cuts from 1978- present, not counting a pair of blues bits from 2004's return- to-form "Honkin' on Bobo" and a quickie from Perry's recent solo album: only three - "Cryin'" and "Living on the Edge" (two of the band's better late-era songs) and "Miss a Thing," which rarely turns up in set lists on this tour (maybe Diane Warren was on hand).

Number of cuts from 1975's "Toys in the Attic": three, including an unexpected revival of "No More No More." Number of cuts from 1974's "Get Your Wings": four.

That's half the album.

The night's standout, apart from an inspired "Baby Please Don't Go," was "Seasons of Wither," a "Wings" epic that classic-rock radio outlets like KLOS have kept from lapsing too far into obscurity.

"Every time we pull that out," Perry told me last week before a show in Seattle, "we get this amazing reaction to it. That finally hit home with us when we did it at the Joint," the Hard Rock Hotel's Las Vegas hotspot where Aerosmith recorded its third official live album, "Rockin' the Joint."

"Now it's almost always a high point of the night. It's one of those things that makes you think, 'Why bother even putting out a new record?' There are so many we haven't played live that people want to hear, there's barely room in the set to play anything new."

Thus, Aerosmith has come to the same realization forefathers the Stones have noticed in recent years: Make a new album for yourselves, not the fans, because bands like these can tour indefinitely on reputation alone. Fans will gladly shell out triple digits for old stuff (including $50 vintage tour T-shirts) year after year.

And, oddly enough, younger generations will tag along.

Perry says, "There's been a huge influx of 15- to 25-year-olds at our shows. I have no idea why, but I just see more and more kids turning to classic rock lately."

Rolling Stone recently reported (with an anecdote from Tyler about his 15-year-old son's love of Led Zeppelin, Cream and "Toys in the Attic") that the amount of teens tuning in to classic-rock outlets in 2005 rose anywhere from 9 percent to 20 percent, depending on the region, while guitar sales have nearly doubled lately.

"I keep reading in the papers that rock 'n' roll is here to stay," Perry says, "as opposed to some years where it's 'rock is dead,' or it's dying, or it's not in vogue. I can't explain it, but it's coming around again."

And Aerosmith is poised to reap big from the shift.

Yes, the Stones staged the most profitable tour of 2005. But how many more outings can they realistically pull off before aging takes too steep a toll? Aerosmith, on the other hand - in many ways the last of the first school of primal, blues-reared rock 'n' roll bands - could conceivably keep at this until 2020.

"The Stones keep shedding skin and coming back with more great shows, but a lot of people forget, because we're all lumped together, that they are a generation before us," says the guitarist, who turns 56 in September. "I guess at some point they won't be touring anymore, and judging by what makes this band tick, we're gonna still be doing it."

Right now, then, constitutes the start of their final frontier.

There was Phase I: scrappy, randy Boston boys form a group, work their way up the opening-act ladder, eventually storm arenas, come to define '70s rock, take many drugs, drink themselves into a stupor and collapse by the mid-'80s.

Phase II: The Sober Comeback, sparked by that groundbreaking Run-D.M.C. collaboration, the hit "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and resurgent MTV interest. Multiplatinum blockbusters lead to increasingly costly, glossy productions, Super Bowl performances with Britney Spears, a flouting of Aerosmith as a brand more than a band and a loss of some stature.

"We've made some of the most expensive albums ever," Perry admits. "Well, obviously Michael Jackson has spent a lot more, but we've wasted so much (bleeping) money it's ridiculous. We've taken a lot of time and then not been entirely pleased with the results."

"Just Push Play," for instance? "That was probably one of the worst records we made. There was a lot of creativity put into it, but it was so easy to get bogged down by minutiae and not look at the big picture. There's very little about that record that I connect with. It just totally did not capitalize on what we do best, which is play live."

Enter the Phase III kickoff "Honkin' on Bobo" - "which did get at what we do best. It's a very important album for us, because it really reconnected us with who we were originally. By not having to write any music for it or feel any pressure about it, it gave us a chance to just bang elbows again and revitalize the machine we make when we're all focused. When that happens, sparks fly."

As with the Stones' "A Bigger Bang," the feral and grimy "Bobo" found Aerosmith getting back to basics with startling results. The live album, Perry says, was an extension of that, as it encapsulated the raw spirit of a single show, rather than cherry-picked the most spotless performances from an entire tour.

Now the band's ambition is to carry this re-energized feeling into the studio for a new album. Perry wants it banged out in a matter of weeks, "so that we can get back to that immediacy we got when we made our first records. We've never delivered an album on time, but by squeezing it out as fast as possible, it'll be "

He paused, stifled a boast.

"Well, I don't know whether it'll be great," he added. "But at least it'll be fresh."


Aerosmith: Steven Tyler and Joe Perry perform.
Kelly A. Swift, For The Register

Rolling Stone
February 24, 2006

Inside the soul-funk recluse's Grammy surprise

Sly showed up, and on time. That was the big news from the forty-eighth annual Grammy Awards broadcast on February 8th in Los Angeles....

...As five of the six original Family Stone members played behind him, Stone jabbed at his keyboard and appeared to sing, though his vocals were almost inaudible. He then flashed a peace sign and walked off the stage midsong. After the show, a rumor went around that Stone was suffering from severe stage fright and had been seen vomiting. Steven Tyler says that's false: "I was the first one to say, 'I'm going to look in his eyes.' I take great pride in knowing that if I just met you, I could tell if you were on blow, pot or you just yelled at your old lady. Sly looked great. He was sharp, astute." Saxophone player Jerry Martini reports, "Sly still had that sparkle in his eye...."

...Though most members of the original Family Stone are eager to regroup and tour, serious questions remain about whether Stone is physically able to do so. Joe Perry remains guardedly optimistic. "Just the fact that Sly showed up that night, as busted up as he was, showed me he really wanted it to happen," he says. "I hope he got a taste of what it's like having the band behind him. Maybe that's the only thing that will get him going."

Calendarlive.com, CA
February 24, 2006


If you were in the right place during Aerosmith's nearly sold-out Wednesday concert at Staples Center, you could touch singer Steven Tyler. Or guitarist Joe Perry. Or bassist Tom Hamilton. Contact was exhilarating but brief — after all, fans' loving hands, if allowed to linger, can quickly rip a rocker to shreds — but still added an unpredictable edge to the mostly predictable proceedings.

Yet it was all part of the show on this first of two So Cal appearances (the second coming tonight at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim), as these veterans attempted to shrink the distance between themselves and fans by prowling around a sprawling catwalk looping out onto the main floor, plus a pair of stage-flanking ramps extending into the first tier of mezzanine seats on either side.

The setup certainly didn't change things much for those in the nosebleed seats, who got the more conventional giant video screen, but it did create a sense of intimacy for a greater number of fans.

Ironically, at times it also created a lot of distance between the players, who also included guitarist Brad Whitford (who didn't ramble about as much), drummer Joey Kramer and touring keyboardist Russ Irwin.

That didn't keep Aerosmith from expertly executing a nostalgic 1 hour and 45 minute set, with Perry's swaggering riffs providing an irresistible counterpoint to Whitford's supple style, and the R&B-flavored rhythm pumped out by Hamilton and Kramer giving the music its swinging soul.

Strangely, despite the deep vein of power ballads in Aerosmith's catalog, emotional intimacy wasn't a strong point. The bluesy lamentation "Seasons of Wither" provided a rare moment of real connection, as did the classic "Sweet Emotion," its contrast of soaring harmonies and gritty axework representing the band's enduring balance of lightness and heaviness.

Without a new album to promote, there was a slight whiff of jukebox about the affair, loaded with such 1970s favorites as the salacious boogie "Walk This Way," the road-weary rocker "No More No More" and the quintessential power ballad "Dream On."

They sprinkled in a few '90s numbers and selections from 2004's blues collection "Honkin' on Bobo," but for some reason skipped their 1980s comeback phase entirely.

Even when Tyler stepped back and Perry took his frontman moment, it was for his 2005 solo tune "Shakin' My Cage" rather than anything from the Reagan-era Joe Perry Project.

Still, the party-on show was a reminder — in this pop era ruled by blinged-out rappers, thrashing gloom merchants and manufactured divas — of rock's populist allure, if not always its power and majesty.

Eh, but Aerosmith was never about power and majesty so much as gettin' down and dirty, blending blues and boogie and attitude and sexy nudge-nudge, wink-wink into a lean, alley-cat kind of hard rock that's proven more adaptable than many similar species.

And up close or far away, the crowd said, "Right on!"


Aerosmith

Where: Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, 2695 E. Katella, Anaheim
When: 7:30 tonight
Price: $55-$125
Contact: (714) 704-2500

ContactMusic
February 23, 2006


Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has blasted reports funk legend Sly Stone is using drugs again, insisting the Family Affair singer is "sharp" and "astute".

Concerns for Stone's health were sparked when he appeared at the Grammy Awards earlier this month (Feb 06), when he was introduced onstage by Tyler as part of a tribute to him.

Dressed in a silver suit and sporting a white mohawk haircut, he seemed less than comfortable to be back on stage, made no contact with the stars honouring him, and left before the song was over.

But Tyler caught up with his hero backstage and insists people are reading too much into Stone's stage appearance.

He says, "I take great pride in knowing that if I just met you, I could tell if you were on blow, pot or you just yelled at your old lady.

"Sly looked great. He was sharp, astute."

The Boston Globe, MA
February 23, 2006


...Today's Birthdays: Actor Peter Fonda is 66. Author John Sandford is 62. Singer-musician Johnny Winter is 62. Country-rock musician Rusty Young is 60. Actress Patricia Richardson is 55. Rock musician Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) is 54. Singer Howard Jones is 51. Rock musician Michael Wilton (Queensryche) is 44. Country singer Dusty Drake is 42. Actress Kristin Davis is 41. Tennis player Helena Sukova is 41. Actor Marc Price is 38. Rock musician Jeff Beres (Sister Hazel) is 35. Country singer Steve Holy is 34. Rock musician Lasse Johansson (The Cardigans) is 33. Actress Dakota Fanning is 12....

Aerosmith:   Staples Center, CA - February 22, 2006

 1) Helter Skelter
 2) Walk This Way
 3) Same Old Song And Dance
 4) Cryin'
 5) S.O.S. (Too Bad)
 6) Livin' On The Edge
 7) Shakin' My Cage
 8) Stop Messin’
 9) Sweet Emotion
10) Seasons Of Wither
11) Dream On
12) No More No More
13) Baby Please Don't Go
14) Train Kept A Rollin' (Slow)

===Encore===

15) I Don't Want To Miss A Thing
16) Back In The Saddle
17) Draw The Line

Thanks to: AeroFANatic.bigbig.com

Aero Force One
February 22, 2006

Let It Ride!


It was a pretty busy week. The guys based out of Portland Oregon for a few days. Portland is a great city! It’s kind of a combination of San Francisco and Seattle. Joe and Tom spent a lot of time at Old Town Guitars. Tom bought a great old Epiphone bass and Joe bought a slew of old fiddles that he immediately put into the set. Don’t worry, his main axe is still the “Billie” guitar. Nothing can come close to that one. The whole band made a visit to Niketown and left with bags and bags of sneakers and apparel. February 14th was Tour Manager, Jimmy Eyers’ birthday and the guys had a special dinner in his honor at a restaurant called “Harrison’s.” It was very intimate - just the 5 guys, Jimmy, Col. Donny Wightman and yours truly. Jimmy has been in this business for about 40 years and is the best in the world at what he does.

Vegas:

I was going to tell you all about Las Vegas but as the saying goes “What goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas!”

Ah, what the hell - here goes. Steven and Joe went to the Cirque du Soliel performance called “KÀ.” These shows never cease to amaze me. If you get a chance you gotta check it out. The guys went back after the show and got a tour of the facility. They stopped to chat with the performers and posed for pictures with the whole staff.


Cast of "KÀ" with Steven and Joe

Entertainment Tonight was at the Vegas show and taped a segment which will air this week. A longer version of the show will be on this weekend. They interviewed the whole band and also got something special that night. My old friend, Joe Esposito, was in attendance. Joe, as you know, was Elvis Presley’s road manager and head honcho for the King for the last 17 years of his life. He is the ultimate professional and spent time between Steven’s and Joe’s dressing rooms until Ross got them all together in Steven’s room for an impromptu photo session. Joe E works for big shot, Steve Winn, now and he brought his lovely wife, Martha, with him along with son AJ. The guys and crew love spending time hearing the stories he doesn’t tell on Larry King. It was great to see him again.

The ET shoot included some shots of Steven warming up and Joe on his bus getting ready for the show. It was quite entertaining and it brought you all into the inter-sanctum of Aero World.

Steven went over to Jet in the Mirage after the show at MGM. He hung out with Lenny and joined him on stage for a Run-DMC style version of “Walk this Way”.

Steven, Joe and Billie went to see “Zumanity” at New York, New York. What a weird and wild show. It was a mildly x-rated burlesque type show. Again brought to you by the fine people of Cirque du Soliel. It’s too bad Ross left town because he would have dug the scene of the 5 guys in a steel cage.

I got to see Cheap Trick at the House of Blues in LA. It was a great show and a preview of weeks to come.

Employee of the week honors go to Mr. Kripa Jones. Kripa is technically Steven’s assistant but the guy does more. Way more. He lives on about 3 hours of sleep a night but is wide-awake and primed for when anybody steps on the stage. You probably won’t make it too far because he has cat like reflexes and only has the safety of the band and fans in mind. He’s a great guy and friend. You all should have a guy like him in your corner.

Happy Birthday to Brad Whitford! He gets better with age.

-- John B

RossHalfin.co.uk



"Here's an ad of mine from LA Weekly for today's Aerosmith show in LA."

Aero Force One


Play Brad Trivia - "February 23rd - Happy Birthday Brad!!"


Play here.

PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance - Press Release
February 21, 2006

New Documentary, 'All We Are Saying'


Nearly 55 of the biggest names in music deliberate on the current state of the industry, work/life balance, and their personal inspirations in the revealing new documentary All We Are Saying, premiering on Showtime on Wednesday, March 8, at 8 p.m. PT/ET. The film is actor/director Rosanna Arquette's follow-up to her widely praised directorial debut, Searching For Debra Winger....

Revealing moments include...

* Steven Tyler discussing how internet downloading has greatly diminished
the Aerosmith catalog value....

ETonline.com
February 21, 2006











The band performs in Vegas........................
Jann Carl gets cozy with Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.


Grammy® winning rockers Aerosmith invaded Sin City over the weekend, and ET's Jann Carl is front-row center, rockin' with the boys!

"Okay, word is out: I'm a huge groupie," says Jann.

The veteran rockers, who have been jamming live since '71, are supporting their latest CD, Rockin' the Joint: Live at the Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas.

"We did this [recording] in Vegas, so it's come full circle," frontman Steven Tyler tells Jann. "But more than that, it was a club gig treated like a club gig. We did a lot of blues songs that we wouldn't do ordinarily."

"[Sometimes] it comes down to people shouting out songs from the audience," adds guitarist Joe Perry. "If they shout loud enough or are annoying enough, you know, we'll just play it. I'm a big believer that rock 'n' roll is 80 percent energy and tossing it back and forth with the audience, and 20 percent of it you plan. It's really about the fans and what they give back to you."

Still, after almost four decades of performing, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band insists they never lose the rush of stepping onstage playing songs like "Sweet Emotion" and "Walk This Way" to thousands of screaming fans.

"It feels like I'm the genie lamp, always being rubbed, and I'm not out of wishes yet," muses Tyler.

"Every night is pretty much different," says drummer Joey Kramer. "We've had a lifelong love affair with what it is that we do. There is nothing that I would rather do than sit up on the stage and play my drums. I still get such a charge out of it."

That incredible charge does not go unappreciated, either. Before their major '80s comeback, Aerosmith's highs and rock-bottom lows due to drugs and drama were well documented. But Tyler and the band insist those days are long behind them with lessons learned.

"Some of the mistakes, having made them, got us through the other side," he explains. "It's like a black hole: a lot of people are afraid of it because of what's in there, the mystery of not knowing what's on the other side; but we've been to the other side. As a matter of fact, we lived on the dark side of the moon way before that [Pink Floyd] album [of the same name] came out, and can tell you all about it."

"That's the era we come from, and that's what you see when you come to see us play live," says Perry. "Thirty years of 'The show must go on.'"

Watch ET for more with Aerosmith!


Watch Video - Jann goes backstage:  here

Aero Force One


Aerosmith:   Save Mart Center, CA - February 20, 2006

 1) Helter Skelter
 2) Walk This Way
 3) Same Old Song And Dance
 4) Cryin'
 5) Mama Kin
 6) Livin' On The Edge
 7) Shakin' My Cage
 8) Stop Messin’
 9) Sweet Emotion
10) What It Takes
11) Dream On
12) No More No More
13) Baby Please Don't Go
14) Train Kept A Rollin' (Slow)

===Encore===

15) Back In The Saddle
16) Draw The Line

Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV
February 20, 2006


... Steven Tyler and Lenny Kravitz, performing an impromptu "Walk This Way" at Jet (The Mirage) at Kravitz's after-concert party Saturday....

Fresno Bee, CA
February 20, 2006


That image of a perched Steven Tyler, mouth agape, scarves flailing from his microphone stand, doesn't leave much doubt about who we're talking about here, does it?

Aerosmith is just that recognizable.

The band, still rocking after more than 30 years, swoops into the Save Mart Center on Monday, sure to give a huge crowd everything it expects: A prancing Tyler, a high-energy show and, of course, "Dream On."

We nabbed a little time with Aerosmith bass player Tom Hamilton before a recent Portland, Ore., concert and grilled him about the band's place in rock 'n' roll history, the nifty staging for this tour, how they landed Lenny Kravitz as an opener and their crazy Grammy night.

Question: Last week, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were in Los Angeles to perform at the Grammys, then flew back to Oakland for an Aerosmith show just a few hours later. That's crazy. How did all that work out?

Answer: It worked out. I was pretty worried about it, ya know, but it actually worked pretty well. We went on, you know, about 45 minutes late, but the show went well.

Q. How does that rank among crazy pre-show situations that you guys have had over the years?

A. Stuff like that this is starting to lose its intensity as far as, you know, the drama behind it. We have done stuff like that so many times and it's worked. Everyone knows you should know not to get worried about it.

Q: A lot of people call Aerosmith "America's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band." Do you think you guys have sealed that spot in history?

A: I don't think so. [laughing] That's not something for any of us to ever say. It's really moving that people say that about us. But you know, the greatest American rock 'n' roll band? Of what, of the century? Or the millennium? Let's get clear here [laughing].

Q: What else is there for you guys left to achieve?

A: Well, we need to make a [kicking] rock record. It might sound corny, but every show is a new thing. I can think of a golf analogy: Every show is like teeing off on a new hole. You can't assume you're gonna play great.

Q: You guys have been able to stay relevant in every decade since the '70s. That's quite an accomplishment. What's the secret to that?

A: Oh, I don't know, it's some kind of hunger. When you put a band together you have to find four other people that are as desperate about it as you are and that they are willing to live through a lot ... to try to do something that feels like the feeling you got when you went to a Led Zeppelin show.

Q: With all this material, what goes into picking set lists for your shows? How does that work?

A: It's pretty hard. We usually do the main structure of the set list when we are rehearsing before the tour. Because we do have songs that people are expecting to hear. Sometimes we do not always play all those songs, but people are going through a lot of trouble and paying a lot of money to come to the show, so to a certain extent, there are songs that you need to play: "Sweet Emotion," "Walk This Way" and "Dream On." We consider that.

Then we consider our own head, what would be fun to play for us, and what would be fun to hear for people who are into sort of the esoteric, vintage Aerosmith -- more album cuts rather than the songs that everybody knows, so we need to cover that.

Then we need to cover stuff that we feel we don't know if the audience might like, but we really need to take a leadership position and show it to them and see what they think.

Q: One thing I've always wondered, where does Steve get the different streamers for his microphone stand? At this point, are people mailing him this kind of stuff?

A: Probably. I really don't know. It's funny, I really don't think about it anymore. You're making me remember back when he started doing the scarves on the mike stand.

Steven loves ornaments. He loves to take something and change it and make it look different. It's the basis a lot of his personality.

Q: Last time you were in Fresno, in 2003, you guys were with Kiss. This time, Lenny Kravitz. That's definitely quite a difference.

A: The Aerosmith/Kiss tour was fun because it was just totally bombastic, shallow entertainment which we enjoy doing sometimes.

Lenny -- this is a special opportunity. We are all fans -- I am a Lenny Kravitz fan from way back. We always run into each other from time to time. He's just a really good guy. I have so much respect for his writing and his musicianship, and his whole band is awesome musicians.

So having him available to do this tour, this idea of combining the two bands, there was a window of opportunity, which is a classic no-brainer.

Q: We've heard a lot about the staging for the tour. Can you explain the staging and what's so special about it?

A: Well, we've got these huge ramps that go right out into the crowd from the stage. If you were looking at the stage from above, they would go straight out from either side of the stage into the audience, and then they kind of hook in and to almost join, but there is a space there. If one of us wants to, we can go down to these steps into this little gap where the crowd is right there on the floor with you.

What the ramps do is get the band up closer to people who would typically not have great seats. It shrinks the room. That's the effect to me -- it shrinks the room and makes it much more intimate. It's just a by-product of technology that I can be, you know, 200 or 100 yards away from Joe, but still play really tight with him. We can play really good without being right on the main stage."

Q: With this intimacy, has anything really crazy or weird happened with fans?

A: Oh yeah. I'm usually kind of cautious. But I know Steven lost some jewelry. It basically got yanked off his neck.

The other night, Joe had to fight for his guitar. It was incredible. He was out on one of the ramps, he whipped his shirt off, and he was going to do this funny thing he does with his guitar, and somebody grabbed it and started pulling it into the audience. He was literally pulling with all his might from on stage. It was really weird. But there was Joe not giving up. He was like, "That's my guitar."

Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV
February 20, 2006


Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler belts out a tune Saturday at the sold-out
MGM Grand Garden arena.


Rock 'n' roll veterans are back in the saddle and up to their old shtick

Aerosmith has become rock 'n' roll comfort food, its appeal as tried and true as fried chicken and beer. Like a drunk slowly balling up his fist, you can see this band coming a mile away.

But familiarity ceases to breed contempt when it's squeezed into a pair of airtight, figure-forming pants, blowing kisses to your mom.

At least this seemed to be the case at Aerosmith's packed gig at the MGM Grand Garden arena Saturday. The band hit on the crowd hard, like a bunch of dudes fresh from jail and looking for some action.

Sure, they used the same old pick-up lines -- the aptly titled "Back in the Saddle" and a heavy-breathing "Sweet Emotion," which contained all the pent-up sexual energy of an achingly slow striptease.

The audience could do little more than bat its eyelashes and blush, happy to be the object of this band's affection, if only for a night.

And that's how Aerosmith continues to garner big crowds, by masking its occasional creakiness in a haze of pheromones. Aerosmith has been the most unabashedly libidinal band on rock radio for decades, the tunes Viagra for the airwaves.

On stage, it's much the same. Frontman Steven Tyler adjusted his crotch so many times, you'd think he was manning first base for the Padres.

Seriously, it's a wonder that his pelvis has never cost anyone an eye. It just keeps coming at you, his pneumatic hips forever thrust, thrust, thrusting.

Standing in front of the thing feels kind of dangerous, like confronting a pit bull with a big, juicy steak tied around your neck.

But the ladies squealed and squealed with delight as Tyler toyed with them, licking his fingers and touching their outstretched hands.

Older gals clasped their chests, while their daughters shouted catcalls far too randy to print here.

Lustiness aside, the show had more peaks and valleys than the Himalayas.

Tyler was always impressively strong of voice, but Aerosmith's rhythm section occasionally lagged behind.

The bass and the guitar too often congealed into a muddy, indistinguishable blur of sound that packed all the punch of a winded prizefighter.

None off this helped songs like the later-day hit "Livin' On the Edge" or the band's show-opening cover of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter," both of which felt stiff and slow-footed, like they'd been dipped in wet cement.

Still, Aerosmith continually resuscitated its show by hamming it up on two large L-shaped ramps that jutted into the crowd and by bringing out show opener Lenny Kravitz to join in a sweaty take on the Beatles' "Come Together."

"You ain't never gonna hear that nowhere but here," Tyler panted at song's end.

As the show wore on, Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry's clothes came off.

By night's end, the two had wielded their sex appeal like a couple of Louisville Sluggers, relying on their rippled stomachs to titillate when their songs failed to do so.

But those moments were rare, and the ladies weren't arguing.

Neither were the fellas, for that matter, many of whom seemed eager to capitalize on the heightened state of arousal that Aerosmith gigs are practically marinated in.

And that goes a long way in explaining this band's allure.

For as long as folks continue to pursue carnal knowledge, the quest for Aerosmith tickets won't be too far behind.

None of this has been lost on Kravitz, who kicked off the night with a similar mix of swaggering '70s rock riffs and hot-under-the-collar tunes.

But whereas Aerosmith's catalog is often brazenly hedonistic, Kravitz is much more of an idealist when it comes to matters of the bedroom.

He's a lovey-dovey dude, a post-modern hippie smothered in leather who still takes time to stop and smell the flower power.

As a result, Kravitz's songs can get a little maudlin, with lyrics that often seem cribbed from some dime store romance novel.

"Love is gentle as a rose," he sang on "Let Love Rule." "Love can conquer anything."

Obviously, this guy's never seen an episode of "Trading Spouses."

None of this really detracts too much from Kravitz's repertoire, though, considering that his Les Paul speaks louder than his words.

Kravitz's biggest accomplishment in recent years has been to keep the guitar from becoming extinct on pop radio.

In concert, his tunes take on even more heft, fleshed out by an eight-piece backing band highlighted by an ace trombonist.

Together, they knocked the stuffing out of hits like "Mama Said" and "Are You Gonna Go My Way."

Thankfully, Kravitz doesn't treat his tunes as tenderly as his lovers.

Diary

February 19

Escape after the show with John B and Joe Perry, leaving Steven still wet and in his stage clothes surrounded by people at 1am...

Get up early to shoot the blue sky - it is overcast and raining. I still try but give up - it's freezing... End up lost in Excalibur, the Knights of the Round Table Hotel. It is beyond description. I get back to the sanity of the Four Seasons. Back to Los Angeles later today....

February 18

Walk around the strip. It is a BEAUTIFUL day, the clouds look like paintings in the blue sky. See The Statue Of Liberty outside New York New York. I don't have a camera - must shoot this monstrosity tomorrow morning...

Last night, while John Bionelli and I were in the House Of Blues, an Aerosmith fan cornered us and was nearly in tears. He asked to take a photo with us - then asked if he could kiss me! This morning I was recognised by a female fan of my website in the very awful (but sooooo awful you have to go there) Venetian Hotel. She asked to take a photo. I said ok, she then jumped in the air crushing my little toe - I'm very fragile.

Aerosmith backstage at the MGM Grand is chaos, well, controlled chaos. Entertainment Tonight is filming. The band soundcheck with Lenny on Come Together. Shoot Joe and Steven with Joe Esposito, Elvis' tour manager, Joe and Slash. Slash and Steven. Joe walks Steven and Joe to the stage just like Elvis. The venue is packed, you can't move. At least the audience is polite, not so drunk or redneck - all friendly. The band and Len do a very rocking version of the Beatles...

The local Las Vegas paper has used a large Aerosmith photo of mine on it's front page - and I got a credit. I'll put it up...

Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV
February 19, 2006


...Aerosmith's frontmen Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, backstage after attending the early performance of KÀ (MGM Grand) on Friday....

MGM Grand Garden Arena, NV - February 18, 2006

Thanks to:  AeroCarol

Aero Force One


Aerosmith:   MGM Grand Garden Arena, NV - February 18, 2006

 1) Helter Skelter
 2) Walk This Way
 3) Same Old Song And Dance
 4) Cryin'
 5) S.O.S. (Too Bad)
 6) Livin' On The Edge
 7) Shakin' My Cage
 8) Stop Messin’
 9) Sweet Emotion
10) Seasons Of Wither
11) Dream On
12) No More No More
13) Come Together (w/Lenny)
14) Baby Please Don't Go
15) Train Kept A Rollin' (Slow)

===Encore===

16) Back In The Saddle
17) Draw The Line

Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV
February 18, 2006

Aerosmith keeps defying expectations, both with its live act and durable sound


Over the years, Aerosmith has made a career out of disproving many widely accepted conventions, among them:

• Young women don't hurl their underpants at grandpas.

• No one would pay good money to watch a grown man ride a mic stand like a hobby horse for a couple hours and then dry hump the stage.

• If you're not a gypsy or Stevie Nicks, it's not cool for your wardrobe to consist primarily of scarves.

And now Aerosmith has taken aim at another truism, one that has doubled as this city's motto in recent years: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Not anymore.

Last fall, Aerosmith released "Rockin' the Joint," a raw, off-the-cuff live disc recorded during a particularly overheated gig at the Hard Rock Hotel in January 2002.

Full of seldom played chestnuts like the dirt-beneath-the-fingernails blues shuffle "No More No More" and a throttling of Fleetwood Mac's "Rattlesnake Shake," the album strips the studio sheen from a band that's become pretty slick sounding in recent years.

"Listening back to the tapes to make this record, it was just one of those nights," recalls Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. "Usually when you put out a live record, you kind of cull them from a series of shows -- you get the best performance of each song and hone it down. But with that one, we just kind of let it fly."

And understandably so. After all, this city has a way of making visitors forget their inhibitions.

"Playing in Las Vegas is a really unique experience," Perry says. "There's certain audiences around the country where you can go, 'Well, they're really tough to impress in L.A.;' 'We know we always got a crowd in Detroit.' Every area has its little nuances.

"But in Vegas, everyone's just there to have a good time," Perry continues. "There's definitely a party atmosphere going on."

Having toured for more than three decades now, Aerosmith's back catalog should be getting moldy enough to double as penicillin. But, ironically, the group's bluesy, loudmouthed rock 'n' roll has sounded increasingly contemporary in recent years.

This is largely attributable to the fact that scads of young acts, from Jet to Silvertide to the Living Things, have attempted to adopt the beefy, blustery guitars and all-eyes-on-me swagger that defined much of the best '70s rock.

Granted, rock 'n' roll has always been a young man's game -- only strippers age less gracefully than rockers.

But Aerosmith has remained popular primarily because few next-generation bands can pull off all the larger-than-life, rock god peacocking as unself-consciously as this bunch does. It just seems to come naturally to them, as if these guys sprung from the womb with a week's worth of gigs already booked.

"(Our music) doesn't sound dated, because there are so many new bands that are trying to replicate a '70s sound or a '60s sound," Perry says. "The playing field is getting kind of leveled. If you want to go out and see what a big rock show can be, we're there to do it."

Still, in recent interviews, the band has started to hint that they may soon begin scaling back their overstuffed annual tour itinerary.

"I'm sure we'll ease into it," Perry says. "I don't know if we're really contemplating that at this point. It's not going to be some big change. It's a gradual thing."

After the current tour ends in April, the band is scheduled to begin work on its next LP just two weeks later.

"It's about just trying to top our last effort," Perry says of Aerosmith's next album. "We always feel like we're being chased. I look back at some of the records that we've done recently, and there's things about them that I like, and some that I don't. Those are the things that you lean on for inspiration."

Of course, the band will be back on the road this fall, whether or not the album gets finished. They're still selling out arenas, still one of rock's biggest draws. Like skintight leather pants, some things never grown old.

"There's something about it that still works," Perry says. "To draw on a sports analogy, there's a certain excitement that you get from watching that ball go in the hoop. That's still there, even though the sneakers are fancier."

"And there's still an excitement to that kind of rock 'n' roll," he adds with a chuckle. "It's still the same beat, you know?"

Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV
February 17, 2006


...Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and other Aerosmith members, along with
Lenny Kravitz, reportedly are heading to Jet nightclub at The Mirage
tonight....


Sightings

Tyler and daughter Mia, 27, having dinner Thursday at Eiffel Tower
Restaurant at Paris Las Vegas with friends....

RossHalfin.co.uk

February 17
Bump into Roger Daltrey. We discuss The Who (I just can't help being a grovelling fan). I'm going to do a quick photoshoot with him on Monday, back here in LA.

...Off to Las Vegas this afternoon for Aerosmith.

February 17, 2006

John Katsilometes on the happy convergence of Smoothies, a teen journalist, a mom, and the immortal Steven Tyler at a Harley dealership

We start with a list of the players and a flurry of disclosures. Chiara Velotta is the daughter of Rick Velotta, who is a business writer for the Las Vegas Sun. Chiara is also a reporter for the review- Journal's rJeneration page. Christine Velotta is the wife of rick, mother of Chiara, and band director at Lamb of God Lutheran Church and First Good Shepherd Lutheran Church schools.

And I played tambourine for Aerosmith in the late- 1980s. Of course, I joke. But what remains to be reported is true. A little more than a month ago Chiara, a 17- year-old senior at Valley High School, and a group of friends were slurping Smoothies at a Coffee bella stand inside the Harley davidson dealership on South eastern avenue.

Not surprisingly, up walks aerosmith vocalist Steven Tyler.

Why Tyler was roaming through a Harley davidson shop on South Eastern avenue could be explained in any number of ways, but he was there. Eventually he made his way toward the girls, who happen to be musicians (Chiara plays clarinet in the Valley High band).

A few of the Valley students started firing photos of Tyler on their cell phones, so he stopped to say hello and said he was in town for a corporate gig at the Consumer electronics Show.

Aerosmith would return in February, he added, to play at the MGM Grand Garden arena - that show is Saturday night - and Chiara seized the moment: "Can I interview you for RJeneration?" Tyler was skeptical that she was an actual journalist and made her pinkie-swear on her role with the paper (I am not kidding).

Nonplussed, Chiara called her folks - that's the aforementioned Rick and Christine.

As she started to tell her mother the story, Tyler returned and asked for the phone. "Mom, Steven Tyler wants to talk to you," Chiara said, handing her phone to Tyler while nervously twirling her hair.

The two had quite a confab - Christine spoke of teaching students to play hand bells; Tyler noted that he is a rock star but actually older than Christine (he's 57, she is not).

Tyler finished the chat, shook hands with Chiara and said "thank you." Chiara is looking forward to her exclusive - a five-minute interview with Tyler on Saturday night.

Five minutes, unless Mom calls, of course....

  
Tacoma, WA - February 15, 2006


Thanks to: AeroCanuck

OregonLive.com, OR
February 17, 2006

Tres Shannon was doing what he always does Monday nights at Dante's...

Meanwhile, just up the street, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler was bursting from the shackles of his rock star suite to walk a little on the city's wild side.

How exactly did he get his Portland groove on? Tyler dropped by the downtown Pizzicato on Alder and Broadway and had himself a slice. No big deal, said the doughboys. Jerry Seinfeld was in the other day.

February 17, 2006

A Grammy Party to Remember - Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Billie Perry

Pictures here.

NicksFix.com

Excerpt From January 14th, 2006

I haven’t written in my journal for weeks. That is very unlike me... I think it is because my last 3-day trip to Bethesda, Walter Reed and Arlington National Cemetery deeply affected me. It happens every time I go~

...We floated from room to room down thru the halls of the 2 hospitals over a three-day period. We gave out all our iPods. Right before I left for D.C., Steven Tyler and Joe Perry dug into their pockets and came up with $10,000 for me. In my eyes, they went from the coolest rock stars to generous great men~ as my press agent Liz Rosenberg said~ every returning wounded soldier should be given an iPod. It will be an integral part of their recovery...


Thanks to:  Enchanted by Aero

Sturgis-Rally.com, SD
February 16, 2006

The 66th Annual Black Hills Motorcycle Rally - Rock'n the Rally at Glencoe
August 9, 2006 - 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Concert Series Featuring Aerosmith

Aerosmith, Deep Purple, Foghat, and Georgia Satellites.
Tickets will be available at the amphitheater.

More information at  Sturgis.com.


Thanks to:  Twfn

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, WA
February 16, 2006


Aerosmith became rock stars in the 1970s, icons in the '80s and now, after more than 30 years of touring, 14 studio albums, bootlegs, live albums, box sets, Grammys, a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they must be what, gods?

Whatever they are, they put on one hell of a show Wednesday night.

When the lights went down at the Tacoma Dome, a video collage projected on the stadium-sized screen introduced the world-famous Boston five-piece. Following the truncated career retrospective, the band rushed to the stage thundering directly into the Beatles' anthem "Helter Skelter."

Two catwalks extended from the stage deep into the main floor, while two more ran to the sides. From the very beginning, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry used every opportunity to strut down the runway and play directly into the hearts and hands of their adoring fans. One lucky fan even got to dance with Tyler, while another simply threw her panties.

The hits "Walk This Way," "Same Old Song & Dance" and "Cryin'" came so fast and furious, there was barely time to relish the moment. Luckily, the band slowed it down by digging deep into their repertoire to 1974's "SOS." The song allowed only a breather before "Living on the Edge" gave the event a Tyler jump kick.

Although the two songs from Perry's Grammy-nominated solo career were impressive feats of guitar calisthenics, their obscurity lulled the performance.

Tom Hamilton corraled the momentum with his sinewy bass, teasing the crowd by drawing out his intro to "Sweet Emotion." When the song finally kicked in, every head for miles could be seen blissfully bobbing.

Between songs, Tyler asked "Does anyone read the papers?" He then snatched a sign from the audience and held it up for all to see. It read: "Cheney got a gun." Tyler then dedicated "Janie's Got a Gun" to the vice president.

Although it seemed a likely candidate for an encore, "Dream On" found its way into the show even before the finale, which included covers of Muddy Waters' "Baby Please Don't Go" and the Yardbirds' "Train Kept a' Rollin'."

With plenty of hits still to chose from, Aerosmith encored with "Back in the Saddle" and "Draw the Line". To make up for these lackluster choices, Perry took off his shirt to whip his guitar while Tyler's signature microphone scarves dangled into the hands of fans wishing either to make off with a souvenir or Steven himself. Either way, his bodyguards intervened before Tyler was pulled into the crowd. No scarves were harmed in the incident.

Lenny Kravitz and his band, which did not include Slash of Guns and Roses but did include a guy who looked just like him, opened the evening. Kravitz's two favorite words are "Baby" and "Yeah". He uses them in every song. Not once or twice as subtle bits of emphasis. No. He uses them to the point that half the song becomes those two words repeated ad nauseam. He hides his limited lyrical vocabulary behind his formidable pop hook sensibility. Somehow this formula has earned him four Grammys.

Nevertheless, Kravitz stormed through his set including the hits "Fly Away" (I want to get away/ I want to fly away/ Yeah, Yeah, Yeah) and his remake of "American Woman" before an elongated version of his 1989 breakthrough "Let Love Rule". The crowd so loved him he returned for a rocking "Are You Gonna Go My Way".

TheNewsTribune, WA
February 16, 2006


I got a call from an Aerosmith hater the other day in response to an interview with bassist Tom Hamilton.

"Aerosmith died in the '70s," the guy says. Except I'm still recovering from a head cold at the time, so I'm hearing, "Darryl Smith died in the '70s," which leads to a brief, confused silence.

But he adds, "They should start taking drugs again" - a cheap shot aimed at the band's embattled past -- and something about the poor quality of albums that followed "Toys in the Attic." I realize he's calling the Boston hit makers washed up.

But I and apparently the bulk of the 14,500-plus who turned out to see the venerable quintet rock the Tacoma Dome Wednesday night beg to differ. Over the course of 90 scorching minutes they proved there's still some good rock left in those old bones.

The lights went down to a recording of Sly & the Family Stone's "I Want to Take You Higher" (Joe Perry and singer Steven Tyler recently paid homage to Sly Stone at the Grammy Awards) followed by a montage of Aero clips on a big screen above the stage.

Bright LED curtains ascended to reveal the band - also guitarist Brad Whitford and drummer Joey Kramer - which kicked off, oddly enough, with a cover of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter."

The stage featured runways jutting to the sides and longer, L-shaped catwalks that fenced in part of the crowd, allowing band members to meander about and get up close and personal with hundreds of lucky fans down front.

Tyler displayed his usual charisma, galvanizing fans during early numbers "Walk This Way" and "Same Old Song and Dance" as he lead them in waving their hands in the air and extended his tasseled microphone as a cue to sing along. The singer was mobbed by a cluster of fans when he went down to the floor for "Cryin'," but was back onstage in time for his harmonica solo.

The front man introduced Perry after '80s hit "Livin' on the Edge," and the guitarist took center stage to sing lead on "Shakin' My Cage," a song recorded for his solo album last year. The legendary guitarist's sweltering licks made up for muffled vocals on that and follow-up "Stop Messin' Around" (the latter also enhanced by lively pounding from keyboard player Russ Irwin.)

Hamilton delivered a funky, crowd pleasing solo lead in to "Livin' on the Edge." "You know what the next song is," said Tyler, pulling a handmade sign for "Janie's Got a Gun" out of the audience.

But those '80s hits couldn't hold a candle to "Dream On," one of the most enduring rock anthems of all time. Fans held their lighters high and roared their approval as Tyler shrieked the song's finale.

Another rarity, "No More No More," felt a bit anticlimactic after that. Bluesy follow up "Baby, Please Don't Go" was a bit more satisfying but lost focus as Tyler kept mugging for the camera. But the band pulled it together for a primal delivery of "Train Kept a Rollin'" before taking a bow.

Aerosmith whipped fans back into a frenzy with "Back in the Saddle" - literally. Tyler swung the tassel on his mike like a big cat o' nine tails, and roadies had to rush out after Tyler tried to walk away and fans at front of the stage wouldn't let go. They were back a moment later as fans ripped the jacket from the singer's back.

Aerosmith remained in the '70s for a fitting set closer "Draw the Line."

Opening act Lenny Kravitz' popularity may have waned in recent years. But he was a perfect compliment with a classic rock aesthetic that owes a lot to Jimi Hendrix.

He and his band kicked off with "Why Are We Runnin'?" and delivered a solid hour of hits, including "Dig In," "Believe" and "Fly Away."

"Always on the Run" is his best song for my money. And it was a clear set high point, as it morphed into a sprawling funk jam during which Kravitz' band mates got a chance at the spotlight during a series of solos. A 19-year-old horn player from New Orleans, identified only as Trombone Charlie, was an especially big hit.

Kravitz appeared to be pulling some random guy out of the crowd during late '80s hit "Let Love Rule," and surprisingly the guy could play a mean guitar. It turned out to be Earth, Wind & Fire's Seldon Reynolds (a friend of Kravitz's who is also married to Hendrix estate caretaker, Janie Hendrix) who happened to be down front taking photos.

Kravitz took a bow only to return, sans horn section and backup singers, for his biggest hit "Are You Gonna Go My Way?"

It was a solid set, but it would have been better if Kravitz had subbed something like "Mr. Cabdriver" or even "Rock and Roll is Dead" for that boring cover of the Guess Who's "American Woman" he had a hit with a few years back.

Blabbermouth.net, NY
February 16, 2006

Scott Weiland has found himself another band. Speaking to ABC News Radio at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party last week, Weiland's Velvet Revolver bandmate Matt Sorum said that the singer is being added to Sorum's all-star cover band Camp Freddy. He'll be joinin