By: Robert Cavuoto
“I feel the passion in the room tonight New York”, Aerosmith front man, Steven Tyler, said from the stage at Madison Square Garden after performing their opening tune “Mama Kin”.
No statement could be truer as the band sold out Madison Square Garden just after playing the Izod Center in New Jersey a few months earlier. Attribute that passion to having some of the most fanatic and rabid fans in the music business!
More notably, an estimated 35,000 of those fans came out to support the band when they threw a street party in their beloved Boston hometown to celebrate the release of their new CD, Music From Another Dimension, on November 5th. The gig was staged in front of 1325 Commmonwealth Avenue, the site of the band’s original apartment where they lived from 1970-1972.
After 40 years, the band is still going strong and within the last six months completed a summer/fall Global Warming Tour, released Music From Another Dimension, and are now hitting the road again to support the new CD!
There was also no shortage of energy on stage at MSG and even topped their New Jersey show in July. From the opening song of “Mama Kin” to the closer of “Sweet Emotion” the band put on a flawless show, a true spectacle.
Steven Tyler, the Demon of Screamin’, is the one of the world’s best singers and frontman out there…hands down and claiming the stage and keeping the crowd pumped for 90 minutes!
I’m always blown away by Tyler’s vocal abilities, but particularly tonight on his acappella intro to “What it Takes” and simultaneously poking fun at himself about his recent separation from his fiancée by emphasizing the lyric; “there goes my old girlfriend and another diamond ring”! He is the true American Idol!
New edition to the set from MFAD was “Lover Alot”, which replaced “Legendary Child”. “Oh Yeah” is still securely locked into the list. Where DMC of Run DMC came out to perform “Walk This Way” in July, Sean Lennon came out on guitar tonight to perform the Beatles hit “Come Together”. Graham Whitford also jammed with the band on his Dad’s signature song, “Last Child”.
Crowd pleasers, as always, were “Love in an Elevator”, “Dude Looks Like a Lady”, and “Dream On”.
Prior to the start of this tour, guitarist Brad Whitford told me, that the band wasn’t happy with the stage and presentation of the videos for the first leg of the tour, that they were going to be taking some new approaches by incorporating some old school elements.
This time around, the circular video screen atop the center of the stage was been replaced by a monster video screen which stretched the length of the stage. Also missing, were the five or six cameramen who were on stage with the band tripping over themselves and the band, while trying to capture the performance – thank you.
Still included in the show is Joey Kramer’s show stopping drum solo where he beats the crap out of his kit with his bare hands! Tom “Sweet Emotion” Hamilton owns the thumping bass on his signature song and lays down the solid back beat throughout the night, allowing guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford to do what they do best and ignite the stage with a duel attack of bluesy, balls to the wall rock!
Aerosmith is a remarkable classic rock act that remains relevant by incorporating all the same elements to their live performance and song writing as they did in the ‘70s when they were propelled to heights of stardom. They are a band that should not be missed live.
GALLERY
