Aerosmith Global Warming Tour Heats-up New Jersey

Article and photos by Robert Cavuoto

Aerosmith and Cheap Trick stormed into the Izod Center in New Jersey on July 24^th for their Global Warming Tour.

Aerosmith’s performance included more thrills, spins, and turns than their Rock N Roller Coaster ride in Florida. Just like the coaster that takes you from 0 to 57 mph, so did the band from the first note of “Draw the Line” when Joe Perry and Steven Tyler rose up from the ego ramp all the way to their  encore of “Dream On”, when Steven rose again with a white baby grand piano. Absolutely amazing! Buckle your seatbelts and keep your hands in the car, this was going to be one hell of a ride!

Mid-set Steven yelled to the crowd, “Do you like the new shit or the old shit?” the crowd launched into a thunderous scream for the old songs. The band obliged and tore into “Rats in the Cellar” off of Rocks.

You would never know that most of the band members were in their early 60’s as they ran the length of the stage and ego ramp for close to two hours. Steven, who spent the majority of his time dancing, prancing, and romancing down at the end of the ramp, entertained the crowd like no other. A master showman who taught a few American Idol wannabe’s tonight how it’s done! If your seat was in front the ramp that stretched three quarters of the floor, you were treated to an up-close and personal show.

For “Walk this Way” the fans at Izod witnessed a historic moment when the band was joined on stage by none other than Darryl McDaniels of Run D.M.C. Steven and Darrell truly owned the moment and they launched into a flawless performance playing off each other lyrically.

The videography was stunning as the band appeared on a circular jumbo tron screen high above the stage, capturing every nuance of the show. The only drawback to it was there were no less than two to three videographers on stage chasing the band members as they performed. This apparently got a little tedious when an overzealous photographer stood on Joey Kramer’s drum riser and proceeded to take some close-up shot of him as he tore into a drum solo.

After a few minutes, Joey had enough and yelled at the photographer in front of sold-out crowd to get the “fuck off”. The crowd exploded as the dejected photographer walked away.

The band had a nice array of old and new songs in the set and you have to love a band that mixes them up night after night, show after show.

Highlights included new song, “Legendary Child”, off their new highly anticipated CD due out this November, as well as “SOS”, “Cryin”, “Livin on the Edge”, and “Combination”.

There was also a nice mix of young and old fans in attendance as the band is reaping the benefits of Steven’s stint on American Idol.

The band put on a mind blowing performance showing us that Joe Perry and Brad Whitford are two of the best and most versatile blues guitarists out there.

From Brad’s extended intro on “Last Child” to Joe’s fiery guitar work on “Train Kept a Rollin”. This was a show that should not be missed!

GALLERY (Cheap Trick and Aerosmith)