Aerosmith...LIVE

Wow, was my last post really on July 12th?  I could have sworn I put something up since then.  Oh well...Camp ended middle of August, I got survived the summer and got back to Portland just fine.  A couple weeks ago the company had our annual meeting in Santa Barbara in a ridiculously nice house.  It was great to see all my 'coworkers' that I only get to see once a year.  I have inherited the promotional DVD as my big fall project.  Onward!

Last Thursday Debbie and I road (or for my Settlers playing friends - roADD) tripped it up to Vancouver B.C. to see Aerosmith, LIVE at Rodgers Arena.  There were some free tickets with our name on them (thanks for the hook up, Pops).  For those of you who aren't in the know 1) yes, all original members of the band are still alive and playing together and 2) yes, they are old as hell.  That being said, they still know how to RAWK!  Sort of.  Here are my observations of the show, in somewhat chronological order:

* Joan Jett and the Black Hearts opened.  They were awesome.  Her voice is as strong as ever and still sounds like a finely tuned revved up chainsaw when she screams.  She opened with 'Bad Reputation' and then played 'Cherry Bomb' from when she was in the Runaways.  This consists of 2/3rds of the Joan Jett songs I really know, so the middle of her set was a bit less invigorating.  Then she ended with the classic 'I Love Rock & Roll,' rounding out the last third of my Jett knowledge, and all was right with the world.

* In between bands Debbie and I enjoyed some good people watching.  There was a group of 10 or so guys and gals a few rows over who really pulled out all the stops, dressing in 80's period arena rock garb.  All the guys had on neon spandex tights and giant wigs.  It was pretty awesome.

* After the stage was reset, it was time for Aerosmith.  They came out and opened with 'Love In An Elevator,' which was fitting because it's the only song of their's I have on my iPod and Debbie and I had listened to it in the car on the ride up.

* We had great seats, 10 rows off the floor and directly in line with the stage.  We also had a great view of the GIANT 20' tall video screen that was directly above the center of the stage.  It showed live cameras from around the stage as well as pre-produced video pieces that went with specific songs.  This was good and bad.  The screen was HD, so even though we were aways away we still go very close up looks at all the band members.  They are all old.  They all have at least some gray hair.  Steven Tyler wears a lot of make up to hide the lines on his face.  For the first few songs he had sunglasses on and looked decent, even in 20' HD.  Then at some point he took his glasses off and there was an extreme close up on his face.  His eyes are so sunk into his skull at this point that look into them is like looking back to the origin of the universe.  Looking into his naked eyes you can literally see galaxies swirling, being pulled towards two bottomless black holes.  Spooky.  As for the rest of the band, Joe Perry (lead guitarist) still wears makeup and a 'rock 'n roll' wardrobe.  The drummer also dressed a little like he was trying to keep the hard rocking 70's alive.  The other two: rhythm guitarist who I will call Not-Joe-Perry, or NJP, and Bass Guy, both looked like they were in it mainly for the money.  Neither really strayed from his appointed spot on stage.  Also, if you've been keeping up on the turbulant band dynamics that have transpired over the last year or so, you'll remember that the rest of the band has gotten pretty fed up with Steven's antics/drug problems, at one point even putting out a press release saying that if Steven couldn't keep it under control they had no problem finding someone else to front the band on tour.  Something to the effect of "Steven is a fantastic singer, but he's not the only fantastic singer."  Ouch.  Well, whatever, they either patched things up or the paycheck was big enough that it didn't matter.  This was the 'Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour;' who could pass up the chance to be part of that?!?

* So, perhaps unsurprisingly, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry are the real show here.  They both still know how to work the crowd, and Steven's voice is still awesome.  The drummer did have one moment in the spotlight, where he got the stage to himself for a majestic, 10 minute drum solo.  In which, about minute 8, he slowed his pounding to a crawl and then threw his sticks into the front row.  So, he's done, right?  NOPE.  This is arena rock folks, and that means he proceeded to solo another couple minutes with his bare hands and his head.  He used his head to play his snare drum.  Some shit you just don't see at the Doug Fir.

* When you've been around as long as Aerosmith, and had as many hits, you can play nothing but you're really well known songs for two full hours.  And that's what they did.  Including, but not limited to: love in an elevator, crazy, that song from that astroid movie, sweet emotion, walk this way, dude looks like a lady, Janie's got a gun, pink, livin' on the edge (a personal favorite), and ending with an awesome performance of Dream On.  Whew.  I got tired just typing all those out...Also, the lighting rig was so over the top that it more than made up for any slips in performance ability that may result from the bands advanced age.  Seriously, if you're prone to seizures, or have ever thought about having a seizure, don't go see this show.  And at the end of Dream On, Joe Perry made his guitar feedback a crazy amount, then laid it on the stage, took off his belt, and started whipping his guitar with it.  Again, some shit you just don't see at the Doug Fir.

All in all, it was a great show.  You can not underestimate the added fun in knowing every song a band is going to play and being able to sing along.  They still rock, and it was great time.  After the show Debbie and I jumped back into the Won Lee Wheels and headed right back to Portland, getting in just before 5 a.m.

**NOTE** If you live in Portland and I haven't seen you since getting back from camp let's plan something!  I'll even wear my new Joan Jett and the Black Hearts shirt.