AeroNewsDaily

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 joining a permanent lineup that already includes Sorum, Dave Navarro, Donovan Leitch, Billy Morrison and Chris Chaney. Camp Freddy are also known for the revolving cast of superstar guests that joins them on stage at their live shows....

Sorum says that the band are hoping to finally release their debut album next summer. Macy Gray, Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) and Jerry Cantrell (Alice In Chains) have already recorded guest spots, and Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) has been asked to participate....

Aero Force One


Aerosmith:   Tacoma Dome, WA - February 15, 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) Cheney-Janie
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

Guitarist Joe Perry of Aerosmith and Buddy Guy perform at the Les Paul Birthday Celebration show at Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk on February 7, 2006 in Universal City, California.
(Photo by Karl Walter/Getty Images)

More at:  Getty Images

Boston Herald, MA
February 14, 2006

By Inside Track

. . . Steven Tyler hopping a jet for Phoenix at Norwood Airport . . .

Net Music Countdown
February 14, 2006



The 48th Annual Grammy Online Charity Auction is now underway, giving fans a chance to bid on one-of-a-kind items signed by the likes of Bono, Mariah Carey, and Madonna.... In addition, there are autographed items available from Paul McCartney, Aerosmith's Joe Perry, and more.

The 48th Annual Grammy Online Charity Auction runs through February 19th, and proceeds benefit the Grammy Foundation, which sponsors nationwide programs to cultivate the awareness, appreciation and advancement of music in America.

For more information or to bid on an item, click here to visit www.*bay.com.

48th Grammy Awards Unique Celebrity Drawing: Joe Perry -
Current Bid: $512.00
Time left: 5 days 7 hours
10-day listing, Ends Feb-19-06 15:17:00 PST
Start time: Feb-09-06 15:17:00 PST
History: 11 bids (US $150.00 starting bid)

Portland, Oregon - February 13, 2006


More pictures here taken by:  EbolaMonkey

Aerosmith:   Rose Garden, OR - February 13, 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) Chip Away The Stone
12) Dream On
13) Big Ten Inch Record
14) Baby Please Don't Go
15) Train Kept A Rollin' (Slow)

===Encore===

16) Love In An Elevator
17) Draw The Line

Thanks to: AeroFANatic.bigbig.com

Business Wire (press release), CA
February 13, 2006


Aero Force One, Aerosmith's official fan club, on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 9 a.m. ET, is launching ticket pre-sales for the Peoria, Ill., concert on Aerosmith's "Rockin' the Joint Tour," with Cheap Trick. Aero Force One (AF1) is now making pre-concert party passes available to fans who have purchased tickets for the Oklahoma City concert on Wed., March 29. Additionally, Aero Force One is notifying its members that the Aerosmith concerts that were recently postponed have been rescheduled for the following dates:

San Jose, Calif. - Tues., April 11
Denver, Colo. - Thurs., April 13
Sacramento, Calif. - Sat., April 15

.....The most convenient way to buy tickets, fan experience packages, party passes and access tour information is through www.aeroforceone.com. The fan club information hotline is 508-791-3853, 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. ET.....

Wall Street Journal
February 11, 2006

The Aerosmith frontman on what he's listening to now
By John Jurgensen


Aerosmith's Steven Tyler is known for transforming gritty roadhouse blues into arena rock, punctuated by his trademark yowls. Although his influences range from gospel to jazz, he always returns to the hard-edged sound of seminal rock acts like the Yardbirds and Jimi Hendrix. "It's like going back to the bible," says Mr. Tyler, whose classic songs include "Dream On" and "Sweet Emotion." Calling from Phoenix while on tour in support of Aerosmith's new live album, "Rockin' the Joint," he talked to us about some of his favorite recordings.

The Beach Boys, 'Smiley Smile'
(Capitol, 1967)

The group's first album after "Pet Sounds," this came out after Brian Wilson abandoned his planned follow-up, "Smile." It includes the hit "Good Vibrations," as well as more peculiar songs like "Vegetables." Mr. Wilson "planted a flag on the moon," Mr. Tyler says.

Muddy Waters, 'Hard Again'
(Epic/Legacy, 2004 reissue)

Bluesman Johnny Winter produced this album which signaled a comeback for Waters just six years before the blues pioneer's death in 1983. "These were songs that Muddy had done all his life, but he perfected them here," says Mr. Tyler.

Take 6, 'Take 6'
(Reprise, 1988)

On their debut album, this six-person vocal group performed a capella, bringing jazz and R&B influences to a selection of gospel songs. "That album is my Sunday. I put it on and there's God," Mr. Tyler says.

Jay-Z, 'The Black Album'
(Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, 2003)

On this album by multiplatinum rapper Jay-Z, Mr. Tyler's favorite song is "99 Problems." Marked by crunching guitar chords, it's the handiwork of Rick Rubin, producer of 1986's "Walk This Way," which matched Aerosmith with rap group Run-D.M.C.

Big Brother & the Holding Company, 'Cheap Thrills'
(Columbia, 1968)

The first major-label album from this psychedelic San Francisco band introduced the singing of Janis Joplin, whom Mr. Tyler cites as a major influence. "The interviewers saw my lips and equated me with Mick Jagger," but he says that his singing style owes more to Ms. Joplin.

Aero Force One
February 12, 2006

Sly has left the building! Thank you and goodnight.

Here’s the scoop on the Grammys. This was my 7th Grammy Awards show and I have to say it was one of the most bizarre. The first was in 1991 when the band played “Come Together” for a John Lennon tribute and they also grabbed a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal Category for "Janie's Got A Gun" that night.

This time, the whole thing started when Joe got nominated for his Grammy. He was still undecided about going and then the Sly Stone tribute came up. Steven was up for it and it was the start of history in the making. The guys have known Nile Rogers for a while now. Everybody in the band saw him and his band “Chic” perform at the Osaka nightclub, “The Blue Note,” a bunch of years back and that’s when the relationship began. Nile put the Sly tribute performance together. Steven didn’t make the first rehearsal but Joe did. We got to the Staples Center around 7:00pm the Monday before the Grammys (which was on Wednesday). Joe went over his gear with his tech, Jerry Sabatino (who was filling in for Mr. Survis), Jim was in Oakland getting ready for the show. The band ran through the whole tribute segment and then it was time for Sly to come out. The first time when it was time for Sly to come out there was no Sly. His peeps kept saying “he’s coming don’t worry.” The next time they did the run-through everything just clicked. Joss Stone (no relation to Sly) and all the others after her delivered their lines and hit all the right notes on cue and then when it was time for Sly to come out. A guy dress head to toe in camouflage with a hood over his eyes that would make Ted Kaczynski jealous came out and jumped up behind the piano. His chin was in his chest as he sang “Baby, Baby Baby, Wanna take you Higher! The song ends and I said to Jerry, “I think that was Sly,” and he said no, it was a stagehand standing in for him. I didn’t think twice about it until the next run-through - I checked out his boots and they were these monster Ace Frehley type things. There is no way a stagehand was going to wear boots like this and sure enough it was the man himself. I watched him closely the second run-through and he jumped off the piano to his right and moved out to center stage. He then began a little chant with the crowd that consisted of me and about 20 or 30 Grammy producers and sound and lights crew. It blew me away. You could really see that this guy is a legend and has influenced 100’s of artists like Prince and Lenny Kravitz, to name a few. Everybody just stood up with his or her jaws dropped and clapped. In a flash he disappeared into the blackness of the night. Joe felt really comfortable after that rehearsal and was visibly pumped for the show.

The day began pretty early on Wednesday. Hair and make- up at the hotel started at the crack of dawn. Then it was off to Staples Center for a final run through, this time with Steven. The show run-through was going like clockwork. Madonna, U2 and Paul McCartney and then it was time for the Sly tribute. It seemed a little disjointed but not too bad. Steven was nailing his vocals but the band seemed a little out of sync. You have to cut them a little slack because they haven’t played together for about 20 years or so. I was told that Sly had motorcycle accident on his way to rehearsals a week before and was nursing a broken hand and what looked to me as a bad back. Sly did his move to the front again but this time he looked a little uncomfortable going out to the front because of the congested traffic in front of him. The run through ended. Steven and Joe were headed back to their dressing room. They were walking down a long corridor when who should be walking the other way but Sir Paul McCartney. The guys stopped and chatted with Paul for at least 30 or 40 minutes. It was surreal. Paul was talking about how he has to save his vocals for Helter Skelter for the end of his set and Steven boasted that Aerosmith does it first. On cue I whipped out Phoenix’s set list and handed it to Steven to confirm. Paul looked the set list up and down and nodded with approval. Holy Shit this isn’t happening. I whipped out my trusty Sharpie and the rest is history! One strange thing that happened that nobody really noticed is when the guys were chatting up Sir Paul, Bruce Springsteen walked by like he was looking for the 8 items or less line at the A&P. He just kind of walked by. Master photographer, Kevin Mazur, took some shots of the gathering and they are up on his website Wireimage.com.

After that Steven had a little time to relax and Joe headed over to the Convention Center to take in the festivies of the pre-telecast awards. He was up against Les Paul. Les couldn’t make the trip out to La La land because he was just admitted to the hospital for pneumonia a few days prior. Joe called Les on Monday at the hospital and Les assured him he was ok and wanted Joe to have fun at his own tribute show the next night. Les got the Grammy over Joe but it didn’t damper Joe’s excitement of being nominated and getting to play with Sly Stone. The guys were in the dressing rooms right next to Sly and posed for pictures with old friend Ross Halfin. He got a couple of shots of the guys with Sly and Nile Rogers before Sly’s manager pulled the plug. Sly had a weird riding Helmut on. Joe and Steven then walked the Green carpet and posed for pictures for the massive press ensemble.

Showtime! It got weird didn’t it?

The band got introduced and now it’s time for Sly comes out looking like a cross between Mad Max and Travis Bickle complete with Mohawk and dark sunglasses. He looked so cool. This guy used to have an Afro from hell and he totally transformed himself. He comes out with the same boots he had on in rehearsal and then when the time came for him to jump down and do his call and response thing with the crowd he just kind of gave a wave and bolted. It looked like he kind of lost his place and didn’t really remember what he was suppose to do. There were still 8 bars of the song left but I guess he figured he did enough and split. After the song was over, Steven and Joe had to bolt right off the stage to some awaiting golf carts to take them directly outside the building into waiting cars to get them to the Burbank Airport. Steven got delayed getting his in ear monitors out and Joe spotted Sly who stopped and thanked him for doing the show. Sly was all smiles and rode off in his own golf cart to the next hole.

The guys then got a police escort out of there and jetted off to Oakland to resume the tour. We landed about 9:30pm and headed straight to the arena and after a quick change of clothes and some vocal warm up the band hit the stage. Right after the show it was back to LA with our heads finally hitting our pillows around 3:30am. It was one of the most unreal days… but they wouldn’t have it any other way and remember folks - as Sly once said, “We gotta all live together as brothers and we’ll all die together as fools.”

See you on the Road!

John B.

Ross Halfin Diary Excerpts
RossHalfin.co.uk


February 11

Don't get out of the venue until 1.30. Drive south to the border, then fly back to LA - it takes twenty minutes. Spend the flight chatting with Steven, about the only time I can get him on my own. Back in bed at 4.am. I used to enjoy this - well, I still do, I'm just tired...

February 10

...Drive down to San Diego with Krippa Jones and his posse....

San Diego Sports Arena is another place I haven't been to in years. Last time was with Motley Crue on Doctor Feelgood around '88. See Rick Gould, a fellow photographer and a fine human being.

The place is packed. Aerosmith play Big Ten Inch - I'd rather a bit of Kings And Queens...

February 9

We fly back at 1.30am. Steven is still going strong... Back to LA at 3.30am... I still wake up at 7am. It's 88 degrees - time for a nap by the pool....

iPay One Center @ Sports Arena, CA - February 10, 2006

Thanks to: Punk

International News Service, Australia
February 11, 2006
By Jeff Miers


...Here are some moments gathered at random from throughout the televised broadcast that moved me, one way or another.

Surreal moment I'm not so sure about yet: A bizarre cast of characters, some of whom had no business playing true, honest funk, honored Sly Stone, who deserved it. Then Stone showed up, for the first time in decades, with a silver mohawk. Wow. His keyboard and vocal were mixed way too low to be audible.

Sly's the man, but why were Joe Perry and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, the only performers who seemed to summon his spirit?


Complete article:  here

Aero Force One


Aerosmith:   iPay One Center @ Sports Arena, CA - February 10, 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) Big Ten Inch Record
13) Baby Please Don't Go
14) Train Kept A Rollin' (Slow)

===Encore===

15) Back In The Saddle
16) Draw The Line

The Oregonian, OR
February 10, 2006

Over the past 35 years, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and their bandmates in Aerosmith have taken on -- intentionally or not -- just about every guise a rock career can have.

They've been wannabes (the poor man's Rolling Stones), bad boys (Tyler and Perry weren't called the Toxic Twins for nothing), arena-rock heroes ("Toys in the Attic," anyone?), has-beens (the early '80s), rehab role models (sobriety was a great career move), comeback kids ("Walk This Way" redux with Run-D.M.C.) and even, to some old fans, sell-outs (later hits such as "Pink" weren't exactly hard-rock classics).

By now they've become elder statesmen; Tyler's 57, Perry's 55.

Yet you'd be hard-pressed to find performers half their age with the combination of energy, skill and charisma that these guys still bring to the stage. When Aerosmith last played this market in the spring of '04, the band was tight and powerful, the show was perfectly paced, the set list smartly chosen. But if this is the quintessential American rock band, that's largely because it's led by such quintessential performers -- cool and cocky and to the limelight born.

Because if there's one role that for them is not guise but essence, it's called rock star.

7:30 p.m. Monday, Rose Garden arena; $35-$125 advance, Ticketmaster; 503-224-8499. Lenny Kravitz opens the show.

The Bone - 107.7, CA
February 10, 2006

Click here to listen to the legendary Aerosmith Guitarist talk to the Bone's Paulie Mack on 02-07-06.


Thanks to:  Bret6262

The News Tribune, WA
February 10, 2006

Aerosmith delivered “Just Push Play,” its last original studio album, way back in 2001. Since then, diehard fans have had to be content with a collection of blues covers (2004’s “Honkin’ on Bobo”) and a live album (last year’s “Rockin’ the Joint”).

But new tunes aren’t far off, according to bassist Tom Hamilton, who will join his band mates – singer Steven Tyler, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford and drummer Joey Kramer – on the Tacoma Dome stage Wednesday night.

“We’ve been talking about it a lot,” Hamilton said, calling during a recent day off in Phoenix. “We don’t actually have material that we’ve been working on recently. But we do have a lot of stuff we’ve had for a long time that we’ve really wanted to finish. We’ve got a lot of cool stuff that’s been laying in wait.

“We’re not at a point where we’re saying, ‘OK, this is our deadline.’ … We’re not great at deadlines. But we’re definitely in the mode. Everybody’s thinkin’ about it, you know. I’m sittin’ here in my hotel room with my Mac and my keyboard. I’m always writin’ riffs and stuff like that.”

Aerosmith plans to go into the studio some time after the tour winds down in April. “We’ll take a break and then see exactly what we wanna do,” Hamilton said. “We’re gonna be doing more touring, most likely, in the fall. At this point what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna challenge ourselves to see how much of the record we can get done before that.”

He hinted at a harder-edged sound. “We don’t usually have a meeting or discussion about what kind of album we wanna to do. There are certain ways that we gravitate. And, you know, the band has a major appetite to do an Aerosmith hard rock album. But it’s always a fluid situation.”

Not that Aerosmith really needs a new album to pack an arena. The Boston-bred unit has 33 years of hits it can cherry pick from, after all.

“When we start a tour and we’re in rehearsals, we’ll spend a lot of time thinking of the basic structure of what we want to play for a set,” Hamilton said. “And there are slots throughout the set, maybe three or four places, where we switch stuff in or out – usually esoteric stuff, like ‘Lord of the Thighs’ or ‘Walkin’ the Dog,’ ‘Mama Kin.’ And we kind of switch ’em around, and usually on a whim within an hour before we go on stage. But the basic structure of the set pretty much stays the same because we have a light show, too.”

Hamilton pointed to late ’90s smash “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” as a number that had recently been put on ice. But don’t expect Aerosmith to skimp on too many hits.

“There are a lot of songs that we really feel we’ve got to play. We don’t want to disappoint the audience,” Hamilton said. “I remember one particular gig when I went to go see Cream, and I just couldn’t wait to hear all the cool songs off of ‘Fresh Cream’ and ‘Disraeli Gears.’ And they didn’t do ’em. They played slow blues for about 45 minutes. That was at the beginning of the set. And I remember how disappointed I was. So I just never believed in that kind of thing.”


The rise, fall and rise of Aerosmith

Aerosmith is the band with “Nine Lives,” as the title of its 12th studio album implies. And they are on at least their second, having imploded under the strain of drug abuse, personal conflicts and personnel changes only to mount a successful comeback in the mid-1980s.

Bassist Tom Hamilton recalled being told to shape up by their manager in the ’80s.

“He did a very brave thing,” Hamilton said. “After about a year he came to the band and said, ‘You guys are either gonna have to deal with this or you’re not gonna have a band.’ And we needed that objective observation.

“And eventually what became clear was that there wasn’t one or two guys that needed to get into it, but everyone had to get on board,” he said. “It was difficult for me to accept that I couldn’t sit down and order a steak at a restaurant and have a beer beforehand. But eventually all five of us kind of came around to say, ‘Let’s commit to doing this.’ It was difficult, but we were rewarded....”

Contra Costa Times, CA
February 9, 2006


Steven Tyler... Aerosmith's concert in Oakland...
Doug Duran/Times


It was 80 minutes past set time at the Oakland Arena and the natives were getting restless.

Opener Lenny Kravitz finished almost 90 minutes earlier, and the crowd was chanting for Aerosmith, whose singer and guitarist were making a mad dash from the Grammys, 400 miles away in Los Angeles. One couldn't help but think of "The Blues Brothers," when Jake and Elwood were late for the big show, thanks to no gas and a gun-toting Carrie Fisher.

You know what they say. All good things come to those wait past their bedtime on a Wednesday night.

Around the time the tape-delayed Grammys showed Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry taking part in a long-awaited (and very strange) Sly and the Family Stone reunion at the Grammys, real time in Oakland had them finally taking the stage. It didn't take long for them to earn the forgiveness of the packed house.

The fellas must have still been pumped up from seeing Sly. In what had to be one of the great Aerosmith shows in the Bay Area, Tyler and Perry led their band on a powerhouse romp through old material that had just about everyone standing from beginning to end.

Opening with a much better (and louder) version of "Helter Skelter" than Paul McCartney performed at the Grammys, Tyler slithered and twisted through all the poses we've come to love. He showed none of the vocal problems that saw him canceling two shows last week, including one in San Jose. With very little preamble, they rolled from the Beatles' cover right into "Walk this Way," then "Same Old Song and Dance," with Tyler and Perry stalking up and down two long ramps extended halfway through the crowd.

When Aerosmith rolls like that, they're still one of the world's great rock bands. There's a familiarity that's like watching your favorite neighborhood cover band, which isn't to say Aerosmith has become a parity of itself. During "Cryin," Perry brought Tyler his harmonica, on which he promptly wailed, then dropped into a fan's beer. Even "newer" songs like "Livin' On the Edge" now mix well with the old material, though nothing compares to when the band slows down, allowing themselves to feel the gritty blues of their early days.

Tyler stepped off to allow Perry to do "Shakin' My Cage," from last year's solo record, infusing it with lots of nasty slide playing. Even so, it was kind of a time-killing speed bump in an otherwise great set. As good as the long-haired, ageless Perry is, nobody was there to see him do solo stuff when there's more than 30 year of Aerosmith material to be mined. After Tyler returned to blow some slow blues harp, mixed with dueling leads between Perry and the underrated Brad Whitford, they plunged back into the old catalogue with a lesson in big dynamics on "Sweet Emotion."

Then came the high point for which fans of the new live record had to be salivating -- the rarely performed "Seasons of Wither." Contrasting the breakneck pace, Tyler bathed in a spotlight on an elevating ramp on stage right. He projected power, just standing there gradually pushing the song's tension to a huge soloing climax between Perry and Whitford. They kept the feel through "Dream On," again with the two guitarists blending and weaving and building. It set up the rollicking fun of fan favorite "Big Ten Inch Record," before which Tyler recalled the Day on the Green days at the stadium next door. An ensuing cover of "Baby Please Don't Go" showed how easily they slide back into their blues roots.

They were in a ridiculous groove, with Perry laying on the ramp, bending and wrenching and squeezing a locomotive out of his guitar for the beginning of "Train Kept' a Rollin.'' At this point, it must be said that, while the good-looking Perry was prancing around like a pirate, the low-key Whitford kept up lick-for-lick. Perry and Tyler next went head-to-head -- literally -- during "Back in the Saddle," with Tyler pushing his voice past any reasonable place a 57-year-old with throat problems should.

Somehow they still had the required punch for the encore, the ultimate Aerosmith-posing song "Draw the Line." At the end, around midnight, Tyler beat on Tom Hamilton's bass while Perry ended the show by laying down his guitar and mock-whipping it with his scarf. It was perfectly exhausting. A two-hour set like that is worth the wait every time.

It better be, with an opener like Kravitz, who turned in his typical no-frills show that simply rocked. He rolled through the hits, peaking with a very large "American Woman," and "Fly Away," before bringing the entire crowd into the groove of "Let Love Rule." Kravitz finished with the big rock of "Are You Gonna Go My Way." Just like Aerosmith, Kravitz is so good live, any discussion of stylistic flaws flies out the window. It's a show to be enjoyed, not over-analyzed.

Photo Gallery:  here.

Aerosmith - Oakland, CA - February 8, 2006





Thanks to: Bret6262

Aero Force One


Aerosmith:   Oakland Arena, CA - February 8, 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) Big Ten Inch Record
13) Baby Please Don't Go
14) Train Kept A Rollin' (Slow)

===Encore===

15) Back In The Saddle
16) Draw The Line

Record-Searchlight, CA
February 9, 2006
Jim Dyar


...Tuesday night... I rushed back across town to Burbank to catch what I could of the Les Paul party -- minus Les and Hag.

The concert wasn't missing all that much. I walked in and managed to get pretty close to the stage to see guitarist Slash and the bluesman Edgar Winter. They played a killer version of "Superstitious," Slash holding his guitar vertical and doing some epic metal leads.

Then followed Aerosmith's Joe Perry and blues legend Buddy Guy (who plays Redding's Cascade Theatre on Feb. 21). They knocked me out with that Freddie King tune "Going Down."

I managed to get backstage and you have to know that concertgoers were completely geeking out. You know how it goes down here, anyway. "I know so-and-so, and I played with so-and-so, and blah blah blah blah."

A little of that goes a long way. Imagine how people lit up with this group in front of them: Buddy Guy, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Edgar Winter and Slash.

Oh, wait a minute! I'm doing the geeking out thing, aren't I? Am I saying, "look how cool I am to be backstage with Steven Tyler"?

Guilty, I guess.

San Diego Union Tribune, CA
February 9, 2006

Along with his role model, Mick Jagger, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler has become one of rock's most dynamic, and manic, frontman. (Peggy Peattie / Union-Tribune)

Joe Perry, here playing at Coors Amphitheatre in 2001, says Aerosmith's history is straight out of “Spinal Tap.” (Crissy Pascual / Union-Tribune)

Some years ago, an antagonistic writer asked Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry whether he supposed, as an “aging” rock star, that his group remained relevant. Perry sagaciously explained to the interrogator that he, too, was “aging,” that every living thing on the planet was, in fact, “aging” – hence, the question itself was foolish.

This Zen-like response from a veteran, A-list rawk star – a breed not renowned for its collective, grounded temperament or notable intellect – was a remarkably measured rejoinder. Perry's melodic, bluesy guitar playing had always been my pet component of Aerosmith; I was now enamored of his wit and character as well.

This regard was reinforced during a recent phone interview wherein Perry, 56, called earlier than scheduled, spoke candidly for more than an hour, then offered his cell phone number in case I had further questions later on. Perhaps it was my own advanced vintage that induced Perry's cooperation; I prefer to believe that he's simply a down-to-earth kinda guy....

Continued here.

Yahoo!News



Steven Tyler (L) and Joe Perry (C) of music group Aerosmith and Nile Rogers (R) take part in the tribute to funk music pioneers 'Sly & The Family Stone' at the 48th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles February 8, 2006.

More here.


Reuters UK



Funk music pioneer Sly Stone (R) makes his first major public appearance in almost 13 years during a tribute to "Sly & The Family Stone" at the 48th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles February 8, 2006. Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

More here.


Wire Image



Steven Tyler performs "Groove" as part of the Sly & The Family Stone Tribute The 48th Annual Grammy Awards - Show - February 08, 2006

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Wire Image





Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith
The 48th Annual Grammy Awards - Arrivals -
February 08, 2006

More here.

Wire Image



Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith
The 48th Annual Grammy Awards - Rehearsals - Day 4 -
February 08, 2006



Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Paul McCartney and Joe Perry of Aerosmith
The 48th Annual Grammy Awards - Backstage and Audience -
February 08, 2006



Joe Perry
The 48th Annual Grammy Awards - Distinctive Assets Talent Lounge -
Day 2 - February 06, 2006

More here.

RossHalfin.co.uk

Diary - February 8

Arrived back to the hotel at 12.30 am and ran straight into Billy Gibbons with his chum JP... Billy and I arranged to get together later this week.

Grammy's - off to the Staple Center at 10am with Steven and Joe. They are rehearsing at midday with Sly Stone. We arrive - it would be easier getting in the White House, security is so tight.

We all watch Paul McCartney run through Helter Skelter. Sly doesn't turn up to rehearse so everyone does it without him. As we walk back to the dressing room, we run into Paul McCartney who chats for half an hour. I don't have a camera - Steven is not very pleased. By the dressing rooms a strange figure walks towards us wearing platform boots and a polo helmet, he's bent over like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. It's Sly - we ask him to do a photo, he nods. I get three frames when the manager informs me with much huffing and puffing that these are not to go anywhere...

It is a long day doing not a great deal. At 7pm Sly appears again with giant platform boots and a silver mohawk. He looks, er, impressive... I grab Steven to try and get another photo, the manager says 'No way'. Steven and Joe join an all star medley to perform the best of Sly Stone, Sly comes on stage, grins, and does nothing. Straight off stage we have a police escort through the traffic to Burbank Airport. Off to Oakland for an Aerosmith show. I am knackered, worn out, so Steven and Joe must be half dead...

Arrive at 9.30, straight on stage. Steven seems to be having a great time. I just want to go to bed. The last time I was here with Aerosmith was Rock in a Hard Place, 1982 (according to John Bionelli). Steven tells me afterwards he thought it was the best show of the tour, he is in a great mood. He is also surprised when I tell him when I was last here... 'Really - when did you start shooting us?' "Reading '77.'   'Ah, the mudbath,' he grins - and it was...

February 7

...Off to the Clive Davis party this evening at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Rock 'n Roll John and I are going, as a couple, with Billy and Joe Perry. John's very excited because I told him Paul Stanley may be there. 'If Paul's there, you're on your own - do you think he'll jam? He'd steal the show!'

Ended up late last night at the Gibson Amphitheatre for a Les Paul tribute show - it was the most disorganised thing I'd been to in years. Everyone working was a pain with a camera. I spent most of it hanging out with Slash in his dressing room having a good time. Took some photos of Slash and Edgar Winter, which made a good picture - one black and one white...

Steven and Joe arrived, did a picture of them with Buddy Guy. Joe jammed on Going Down with Buddy. Then we escaped...

February 6

Off to LA today to shoot Aerosmith... See Rock 'n Roll John Bionelli, we arrange to go for dinner. He's off to a Grammy rehearsal with Joe Perry. Rock 'n Roll returns at 10.30. We head off to Blowfish, a rather upscale sushi bar in Beverly Hills....

Calendarlive.com
February 8, 2006

"You have to have faith. Right?" Ken Ehrlich, the producer of tonight's 48th Annual Grammy Awards was saying Monday night with the sweaty brow and queasy smile of a gambler who has just pushed every last chip across the felt tabletop.

The reason for the sweat: Ehrlich is betting big on Sly Stone.

For years, the Grammy producer has called and wooed Stone in hopes of bringing the mercurial music icon to the show. This year it worked. A tribute to Stone is a centerpiece of tonight's Staples Center show, airing at 8 p.m. on CBS. That's the good news. The problem is, um, well... Sly Stone...

On Monday, Ehrlich seemed far less giddy. Rehearsals had hummed along all day (even when one of Keith Urban's amps caught fire, the veteran crew took it in stride). After dinner, when it came time for Stone's tribute, the day came to a screeching halt as a stage full of big-name musicians cooled their heels and waited for Stone.

An hour ticked by.

"I heard he's in the building," said Walter C. Miller, director of the show. "Well, supposedly, he's in the building."

...he (Will.I.Am) sat at the foot of the stage. Behind him was Maroon5, last year's best new artist Grammy winner, and John Legend, a favorite in the category this year. There was also British soul singer Joss Stone, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, R&B singer Van Hunt and others. Joss Stone was barefoot and flirting with Adam Levine of Maroon5 as the other artists on stage were noodling, comparing chords. Looking out at the Staples Center floor, all the folding chairs had placards with the faces and names of the stars: Tom Hanks was in the front row, and, not far behind him, Tony Bennett sharing a row with the Neptunes.

And the minutes ticked by. Will.I.Am left.

Finally, a voice came over the arena PA: "Security, please clear the arena."

The assembled musicians again ran through their medley of Stone hits and then … there he was, in a hooded, camouflage rain slicker, matching pants and 3-inch platform boots. He came to a keyboard at center stage and made eye contact with no one. Still lean, but beneath the hood he seemed smaller than he was in the '60s.

The teleprompter told him how to reintroduce himself to the world: (SLY): Ow Ow Ow.

He sang "I Want to Take You Higher," and his voice was robust and clear. Looking straight down, his chin bounced on his chest. His left hand and wrist were in a cast. From under the hood, he peeked at the musicians next to him, grinned … and then he was gone. Adam Levine stared at the long lost star like was a museum piece. Perry, beneath a black cowboy hat, smiled and shook his head.

Legend gave the first review of the performance: "It was great — I mean, hey, he showed up."

Afterward, John Cossette, executive producer of the show, looked a bit ashen. Stone sounded great, no doubt, but he also looked a bit … nutty. "No comment. He's not doing this, he's not hiding out for 15 years to do what you just saw."

He was right. Stone came back and did it again. This time, his plastic pants were tucked into his boots and, at the song's close, he stepped away from the keyboard, bobbed his head and beamed. And then he was gone again.

Ehrlich, like a man who wants to recheck his lottery ticket, called for a third run-through. This time, though, when it came to the point where Stone should have dashed out on stage, there was a long lull and empty air. Finally, a crew member jumped up behind the keyboard and played the part of the enigmatic star.

Two out of three is good — unless the third one is live on the air in front of the world. But maybe it doesn't matter. Young R&B star Van Hunt said afterward that, on stage or not, Stone is a presence. "When he came out, I have to tell you, I didn't even look at him. I couldn't. I mean, it's Sly. I was afraid to look. I don't even think the guy is real."

Wire Image



Steven Tyler, Billie Perry and Joe Perry
2006 Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Awards Party - on the Red Carpet
February 07, 2006 (Pimentel)

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Beverly Hills, CA - February 07: Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, (L) guitarist Joe Perry (R) and wife Billie Perry (C) arrive at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy party held at the Beverly Hilton on February 7, 2006, in Beverly Hills, California.
(Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)

More here.

Aero Force One
February 7, 2006

02-06-06:   Sly Stone Rehearsal and More...

You gotta be a member to listen! John B called - on the Sly Stone Rehearsal, the Les Paul birthday celebration, and who else? Ross Halfin. Gold and Platinum Members of AF1, listen (here).

Calendarlive.com
February 7, 2006

A bout with pneumonia has forced guitar hero Les Paul to miss his all-star 90th birthday celebration concert tonight at the Gibson Amphitheatre, but the show will go on as a salute to the guitar and recording innovator. Paul is expected to be released in the next few days from Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J., his son, Russ, said Monday. Les Paul was hospitalized Friday after X-rays revealed fluid in his lungs.

"I'm really upset," Paul, who is up for two Grammy Awards this year, said Monday from the hospital. "I wanted to go to the tribute and I wanted to go to the Grammys, but now they mean more to me than ever... "I've got all my guys here now, talking about what a bummer it'll be for me to not be there in L.A...."


Les Paul & Friends: 90th Birthday Salute
Gibson Amphitheatre Stage - Universal CityWalk, Universal City, CA
Tue, Feb 7, 2006, 08:15 PM

* Featuring: Merle Haggard, Buddy Guy, Alison Krauss, Neal Schon, Edgar Winter, Joe Satriani, Joe Perry, Steve Lukather, Kenny Aronoff, Vinnie Colaiuta, Abe Laboriel Sr., Plus Surprise Guest.

RossHalfin.co.uk
February 7, 2006

January 2006 -

Shots from Dallas:   (here)

Forbes.com
February 6, 2005

...Like a jackhammer to a catcalling road worker, a guitar is much more than a mere instrument to a rock 'n' roller... If you're planning on tuning in to the 48th Annual Grammy Awards on Wednesday, Feb. 8, you'll see plenty of such personal relationships, as rock 'n' roll heavyweights, including Coldplay, Maroon 5, Bruce Springsteen and assorted members of Aerosmith, are among the luminaries scheduled to take the stage. When they do, keep an eye on their guitars, because what they're playing will be as key to their performances as how well they play... We've identified--with the generous assistance of Michael Molenda and his crew at Guitar Player--a selection of ten primo guitars used by the current crop of Grammy-nominated rock stars....


© Getty Image

Joe Perry
Album: Joe Perry
Up For: Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Mercy"

Clean, sober, John Varvatos advertisement-ready and, for the moment, solo, Aerosmith's long and lanky lead guitarist has been there, played that and keeps coming back to play more. Perry, who is seen here with a Gibson Joe Perry Signature Les Paul based on his early 1960s sunburst Les Paul Standard, has had plenty of guitars in his collection over the years, including a Dan Armstrong Plexiglas, a re-issued Mary Kay Stratocaster, a custom Washburn with snake images on the neck and an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Joe Perry Boneyard, which lists at $1,332.

The Sacramento Bee, CA - Sunday's Ticket
February 5, 2006

Editor's note: Aerosmith's scheduled concert Monday at Arco Arena has been moved to April 15 due to illness. The show was postponed after Sunday's Ticket was printed.


Playing bass for Aerosmith sometimes doubles as a wicked game of dodgeball. Tom Hamilton has been pelted with a size 9 high-heel shoe, knocked in the eye with a deflated football and pegged with pocket change, all while trying to rock out on stage.

On those nights, Hamilton probably wished he was wearing a helmet.

"That used to be an every-night occurrence," says Hamilton, 54, in a phone call from San Antonio. "People used to throw (stuff) at you, and it was usually bottles, quarters and lighters. When we would play 'Dream On' people (would) hold up their lighters, and it seemed like every time we played 'Dream On,' we'd get hit with one."

Fans sometimes go a little wild when Aerosmith cranks through "Walk This Way" and "Sweet Emotion," but that's just part of paying your dues in a veteran rock 'n' roll band. Aerosmith's endless road trip kicked off more than three decades ago - a dance at Nipmuc Regional High School in Upton, Mass. - and continues Monday with a concert at Arco Arena.

That's a whole lot of rocking, and it would seem, a whole lot of potential for burnout. Think of all the times that Hamilton's played "Walk This Way." On this tour leg alone, he'll play the tune more than 30 times. And then he'll play the song again and again when Aerosmith tours later this year. Multiply that by the band's tours over the last 30 years and ... well, you couldn't blame him for performing on autopilot once in a while.

But Hamilton insists that performing always feels fresh.

"Whatever made me want to do this, whatever that ingredient is, that ingredient is still there," says Hamilton. "With some people, I guess it gets used up and stops being interesting. But I never seem to run out of that. I still really identify with how I used to feel listening to Led Zeppelin records when they first came out. It was more that listening to music. It went really deep for me."

Hamilton's will to rock has carried him through some hairy times on the concert stage. Most nights, people just want to party down with Aerosmith, but there was the time that somebody lobbed cherry bombs onto the stage. It happened during one of Aerosmith's first headlining gigs at the Spectrum in Philadelphia and ... wait, hold on. Hamilton's cell phone rings in the background.

"That was Joey (Kramer)," says Hamilton, after hanging up with Aerosmith's drummer. "It's our on-the-road ritual. Usually around noon one of us will call the other and say 'let's go eat.' "

After more than 30 years as a band, sharing hotels, buses and heaven knows what else, you'd figure that the Aerosmith guys would crave some elbow room from each other. The band members do tend to travel separately, but still buddy-up during downtime.

"It's better than hanging out alone," says Hamilton. "Joey and I wind up hanging out a lot. (Guitarist Joe Perry), he's traveling in (his own) sort of a way. It's kind of funny. We don't all travel in the same vehicle."

But back to the cherry bomb story. Here's how Hamilton remembers it:

"We had played a couple of songs, and (singer Steven Tyler) and Joe were kind of like huddled together doing something and somebody threw an M-80, which is like a cherry bomb, and it went off," Hamilton remembers. "And they both had to go to the hospital. That was the end of the show.

"The next time, when we finally came back, it was sold out and we were psyched that people wanted to come back and see us. So we're on stage, and somebody threw an empty liquor bottle at the stage and it smashed on a monitor cabinet right in front of Steven, and the glass cut his lip. So, end of show."

Not that touring has just been about broken glass and split lips. Aerosmith's latest album, "Rockin' the Joint," captures the band live at a cozy club gig at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel.

"We added songs (in the set) that we hadn't been playing," says Hamilton, "I thought we played really good that night. I was really happy ... about how I played when I was walking off stage. There were a couple of people in the band going, 'What a waste that was. We sucked.' (Later) we dug out these recordings, and sure enough we played really good that night.

"We're still into this to the point where we want to do it better and better," Hamilton adds.

"We're still in the learning process. Maybe that's when bands get sick of it and break up, when they're not hungry for any more musical knowledge or knowledge about how to go into a big gig or a big hall and have a good time. You always have to continue being a student of music and the environment of playing live."

The Sacramento Bee, CA
February 4, 2006

Telephone Interview from San Antonio:

Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton talks about more than 30 years on the road and in the spotlight.

Download to listen:  (here)

February 2006 Issue



Issue 7 of Burn Magazine is available from February 1st... at places like Borders... If you have trouble finding it... buy it online by clicking here.


Thanks to:  Waffleuk

Cape Cod Times, MA
February 3, 2006

What do celebrities listen to? Here are some sample playlists:

Joe Perry of Aerosmith doesn't have any of his band's songs listed (most musicians did). He has "I Go Wild" by the Rolling Stones, "Kite" by U2, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by the Righteous Brothers and "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley.

PR Newswire.com
Wed., February 1, 2006 - Tues., February 7, 2006

This Weeks Top 20 Countdown:

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

Billboard.com
February 3, 2006

Run-D.M.C. principal DMC (Darryl McDaniels) will release his long-in-the-works solo debut, "Checks, Thugs and Rock'n'Roll," March 14 via RomenMpire. The CD/DVD set boasts collaborations with Ciara, Sarah McLachlan, Kid Rock and Doug E. Fresh, among others, and production by slain Run-D.M.C. member Jam Master Jay.... The first single from the new offering will be "Machine Gun," and the album will be followed by an international tour. Among the other guests are Aerosmith's Joey Kramer and Tom Hamilton, the Cars' Elliot Easton, Buckcherry vocalist Josh Todd and Run-D.M.C. colleague Rev. Run...

The Sacramento Bee, CA
February 3, 2006

Aerosmith fans, hold on to your tickets. The band's Monday night show at Arco Arena has been bumped to Saturday, April 15, because of an illness in the band. This is especially bad news for fans of Lenny Kravitz, who was set to open Monday's show. Kravitz won't perform on the make-up date, and a new opening act will be announced soon.

Note that an interview with Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton is running in Sunday's Ticket section, which went to print before the postponement was announced.

All tickets for Monday's show will be honored on April 15. Refunds are available at the place of purchase until March 17. For more information: (916) 649-8497 (TicketMaster).

Jackson Hole Star-Tribune, WY
February 3, 2006


Various Acts - (Epic/Legacy) - Sometimes a remake sounds as if the original song has been put on a throne while the cover act feeds it grapes. In other cases, it seems as if it has been taken hostage and tortured within an inch of its life. On "Different Strokes by Different Folks," the hits of Sly & The Family Stone are rounded up by a gang of rowdy friends and taken places they normally wouldn't, and shouldn't, go, though ultimately little harm is done.

In keeping with Sly & The Family Stone tradition, the tracks on "Different Strokes" are free-for-alls, a vibe enhanced by the multiracial and/or multigenerational collaborations like the searing, guitar-focused version of "You Can Make It If You Try" by Buddy Guy and John Mayer, a soulful "Family Affair" by John Legend, Joss Stone and Van Hunt, and a raucous "I Want To Take You Higher" by Aerosmith vocalist Steven Tyler and steel guitarist Robert Randolph....

TheDenverChannel.com, CO
February 3, 2006


Aerosmith, who were scheduled to perform at the Pepsi Center on April 12 after postponing this week's concert, have moved the concert date again.

The new show date is Thursday, April 13. Aerosmith will be performing with Cheap Trick and not Lenny Kravitz. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The concert was previously postponed because of an undisclosed illness in the band.

Tickets for the Jan. 30 and April 12 shows will be honored at the April 13 show, concert promoters say. Refunds are also available at the point of purchase. If you have questions, call Ticketmaster at (303) 830-TIXS or (719) 520-9090, or the Ticketmaster outlet where you made your purchase.

ContactMusic.com
February 2, 2006

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry is eyeing up a new venue to make the band's next live show stratospheric - outer space. The veteran rocker feels he has to top Ozzy Osbourne's legendary 2002 performance at Buckingham Palace for British monarch Queen Elizabeth II. And by venturing outside of the Earth's atmosphere with his guitar and bandmates, he is convinced a new benchmark could be set.

The 55-year-old says, "I'd love to be able to play in space some day. That'd be wild. There's always something new to do, somewhere new to go. "I mean, who'd have thought that after all this time Ozzy Osbourne would be playing in front of the Queen. That's some crazy s**t right there."

Aero Force One
February 2, 2006

Aerosmith, who were scheduled to perform at HP Pavillion on Friday, February 3, have had to reschedule their show. At the rescheduled show, Lenny will not be performing; Cheap Trick will replace him.

The show has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 11.

Tickets for the February 3rd date will be honored at the April 11th show. Refunds are available at point of purchase. Ticket prices remain the same for the rescheduled show.

RollingStone.com
February 2, 2006

Recharged rockers plan to hit the studio after Joint tour

Aerosmith, whose last studio release was 2004's bluesy, covers-heavy Honkin' on Bobo, will start work on a new album in late spring. "It's going to be just like what the White Stripes are doing, and like a couple of songs on Sheryl Crow's new album," says frontman Steven Tyler. "You'll listen to it and be like, 'I've heard that before' -- but you never did." The band hopes to release the new album by year's end.

"I want to take elements of those experimental things like we did on [2001's] Just Push Play," adds guitarist Joe Perry. "I always start with bits and pieces, and hopefully they inspire other people to throw things in. I have stuff that I didn't put on my solo record [2005's Joe Perry] that may be up for grabs."

But before they return to the studio, Aerosmith have some business to attend to: They've recently extended their Rockin' the Joint tour by five weeks. Lenny Kravitz has been rolling with them since October, and Cheap Trick will take over support duties beginning March 2nd.

Aerosmith are especially enjoying getting back to their roots on this outing. "We're re-establishing our foothold as a rock band," Perry says. "I think that got a little blurry when we came out with those last few ballads. Every year we go out, there's another generation of fourteen-, fifteen-, sixteen- and seventeen-year-old kids who are interested in hearing classic rock, and that's the backbone of our set."

Aero Force One
February 2, 2006

Deep in the Heart of Texas:

The tour is in full swing now but has hit a minor snag. The Denver show has been postponed, it will be made up on April 12th.

The band is finally out of their adopted state of Florida. Now it feels like we are finally on the road. Different city every day, different hotels, it’s great! Rockin’ stops in Charlotte, Atlanta and Greensboro. We stocked up on the boiled peanuts in the land of red clay. Speaking of peanuts, Jimmy Carter sent the guys an autographed copy of his latest book. It arrived backstage at the show at Philips Arena. The band then signed a beautiful Les Paul for his Habitat for Humanity charity. Derek St. Holmes of Whitford St. Holmes was in attendance. If you get a chance, pick up the Whitford St. Holmes or Pandora’s Box CD’s and listen to the song “Sharpshooter” on 11.

After the show in Houston all the guys, except for Joe, headed to San Antonio. On the off-day, Joe and his family went to the opening night of “Cavalia.”
As I told you a few reports back, Joe, Billie and Roman toured the stables in Washington, DC. Joe and I had to miss that show to catch a red eye flight to LA, but Billie and Roman stayed and saw that show. First let me tell you about “Cavalia.” The show is set up in a big tent but there are no signs of Barnum or Bailey here. It’s Horses, Horses and more Horses! It’s almost like the ballet for horses. I can’t get my dog to give me his paw and these animals are doing handstands.
Joe spent a lot of time again in the stables and this time in Houston he got to see the show. If it’s in your town, I highly recommended seeing it.

Old Ross Halfin was in Houston bitching and moaning like a young school-girl. I can’t even remember what it was about but it probably had to do with someone spilling a Texas-size beer on him. If he wore pants instead of daisy dukes and white tennis socks with the pomp pomp’s snipped off, he might stay dry once and in a while - and not get picked on by rowdy Texans. I had the pleasure of having breakfast with him in San Antonio but later learned he charged the meal to my room. I got him back a few days later in Dallas. He told me in confidence that when he dies, he wants his ashes spread out on Brokeback Mountain, all friendly. He did bring some amazing photos from the last go-round for the band to approve.

Lenny couldn’t make the San Antonio show due to illness but he was back at the Dallas show. He was replaced in San Antonio by a local band called “Sexto Sol.” They reminded me of a cross between Los Lobos and Santana. Steven gave them a shout out at the end of the show.

The Dallas show brought out Ted Nugent. He hung out with the guys and gave Steven and Joe some kind of medal before the show. I am not quite sure what it was for and I don’t think the twins of toxic knew either. He joined the guys on stage for Train. He took to the stage looking like it was the first day of hunting season. The end of the song climaxed with each guitarist taking a solo and Brad just shredded. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - Brad is the most underrated guitar player in the history of Rock and Roll. I feel fortunate to get to hear him play each night and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a great guy and fellow 3 Stooges fan.

Old friend John Kalodner made a surprise visit in Dallas. It was good to see John. I’ve known him for about 15 years now and he will always tell you like it is. He’s a class act!

The long awaited 3rd leg tickets are on sale and going like hot cakes. Cheap Trick will be back aboard as support. Rick may even throw a pick or two this tour. Rumor has it he goes through a couple of hundred a night.

Aerosmith will be playing a lot of the lost cities that they don’t get to that often. I’ve got to say I have been to a lot of cities, but I’ve never been to Lansing. I’m sure it’s going to be nuts!

Looks like Steven and Joe will be at the Grammy’s and play with Sly Stone. Sly hasn’t performed in 25 years, but then again, he’s been busy. Joe will be at the pre- awards that take place next door to the Staples center at the convention center earlier in the day. Joe, as you all know, is up for a Grammy for the instrumental, “Mercy.” The song is on his critically acclaimed, self titled, solo album that was released last May. He is up against Les Paul in that category. Les is playing the night before at the Gibson amphitheatre and Joe will join him on a few songs. Les is up for two Grammys. I’m hoping he wins one...

After the show, Steven and Joe will board a private jet and head straight for Oakland to play at the Arena. This isn’t the first time the guys have gone from one stage to another. Remember the United We Stand show a few years back where the full band played in Washington, DC, in the early evening and flew to Indy to play a scheduled show that night?

Tommy Lee was at the Phoenix show and had a visit with the guys beforehand. He was in town doing some DJ gig. He asked Joey and Tom if they would play Last Child and they obliged. The guy was like a caged animal and acted exactly like you would expect. He’s the real deal! Steven gave him props. If my memory serves me, Motley was in Vancouver recording “Dr. Feelgood” while Aerosmith was recording PUMP. Some of the Aero guys even sang on a song or two on Feelgood. It was video taped by Keith Garde who was the guy responsible for making “The Making of Pump.” Maybe some day that killer documentary will see the light of day.

Also at the show were Boston Red Sox hurler, Curt Schilling, and his wife, Shonda. Curt also hung out with the guys before the show and was sporting his Red Sox World Series ring. When you look up guts in the dictionary, you will see his picture and not some girly-man ready to swipe at a guy’s glove on his way to first base. Ouch! How’s that catcher’s mitt taste A-Rod? Before you Yankees fans get all hot under the collar, just remember what kind of pain us Sox fans have been through.

Next time I’ll give you a complete Grammy update!

See you on the Road!

-- John B

(All Photos by John B)

The Arizona Republic, AZ
February 2, 2006


Aerosmith performs Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2006, at Glendale Arena.
Carlos Chavez / The Arizona Republic


Lovers of straight-ahead American rock and roll enjoyed a one-two punch Wednesday night when Aerosmith and Lenny Kravitz shook up Glendale Arena.

It was actually more of a one-two-three assault because Aerosmith features the most dynamic old-school duo this side of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, while Kravitz has honed his live show to brisk perfection.

Aerosmith screamer Steven Tyler and guitar god Joe Perry may be in their mid-50s, but their funky brand of rock had women as young as 20 dancing all night and shooting lustful glances their way as they worked a catwalk stretching down both sides of the arena floor.

Aerosmith has top billing on this tour, and the Boston band deserves it. "Youngster" Kravitz at age 41 has his own string of hits, but he’s got a way to go to match Aerosmith’s legendary career.

After tours to support 2001’s "Just Push Play" album and a 2004 blues collection, Aerosmith is going the greatest-hits route this time around. And that didn’t bother the sellout crowd of 17,000 one bit Wednesday.

After opening with their electrifying cover of the Beatles’ "Helter Skelter," Aerosmith front-loaded things with hits stretching back to the mid-70s, including "Walk This Way," "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Cryin'."

Tyler’s look still says "rock star" in high decibels: He took the stage in leather jacket, sunglasses, long scarf and jeans embroidered with playing cards, complete with a pair of dice hanging off one leg.

But Perry was not to be outdone, decked out in an outfit that seemed especially selected for the Wild West of Arizona. With a black cowboy hat, calf-high boots and spurs, a long jacket, vest and silver concha belt, Perry could have strolled onto the set of HBO’s "Deadwood" series.

Tyler’s still got most of his moves, flirting with the females, gyrating, slapping hands with fans and running all over the stage, his famed scarf-draped microphone stand in tow.

At a few points, Tyler’s voice sounded a bit road-weary, including "Last Child" and "Cryin'." He skips a few more high notes now, but his shriek is still one of rock’s signature sounds.

Perry was the man on fire Wednesday, bending over backward to play a fiery lead on "Livin’ on the Edge" and venturing into the audience for jaw-dropping work on "Train Kept A Rollin'. "

Perry started a solo song, "Shakin' My Cage," with blistering slide guitar and ended things wearing two guitars. With Jimmy Page on concert hiatus, Perry is the flashiest axe man out there. (Perry even brought out a theremin, made famous by Page in Led Zeppelin’s "Whole Lotta Love," during "Sweet Emotion.")

Perry and guitarist Brad Whitford had an old-fashioned riff fest during "Train Kept A Rollin." They were backed by the always-solid rhythm section of bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer Joey Kramer during the band’s 90-minute set.

Guitarist Kravitz kicked things off with a well-paced, 65-minute set that found his vocals sounding stronger than ever.

After an intro of gospel music and strobe lights, Kravitz and his sprawling band burst into a tight take on "Where Are We Runnin'?," from 2004’s "Baptism" album.

Tyler and Perry have got nothing on Kravitz in the rock-star department. His hair closely cropped, the New York-born Kravitz sported his own shades and sparkling scarf and a leather jacket topped with some fringe that stretched nearly to the floor.

Kravitz also knows a few things about working the women who flock to see him.

"The beautiful girl with the 'Kiss me' sign, I’m gonna sing this one for you," he said before launching into the no-nonsense rocker "Lady."

Kravitz traded leads throughout the night with Craig Ross and used two backup vocalists and a pair of brass players.

He introduced 19-year-old "Trombone Shorty" as "one of the people who lost everything" when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans last summer. Shorty excelled on an instrumental break of gritty soul during "Always on the Run."

Kravitz kept up his enthusiasm during such well-traveled hits as "American Woman," "Believe" and "Fly Away," with the crowd happily providing the "yeah, yeah, yeah’s" during the last song. He walked into the crowd and all the way around the arena floor during a reggae-tinged version of "Let Love Rule," urging his fans to "not take life for granted (because) there are some bad situations we could be in right now" around the world.

With longtime drummer Cindy Blackman bashing away, the guitarist strapped on a white Flying Vee and closed his set with his classic, "Are You Gonna Go My Way."


Photo Gallery:  (here)

Aero Force One


Aerosmith:   Glendale Arena, AZ - February 1, 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) Last Child
13) Baby Please Don't Go
14) Train Kept A Rollin' (Slow)

===Encore===

15) Back In The Saddle
16) Draw The Line

Contra Costa Times, CA
February 1, 2006


Aerosmith's Steven Tyler gives his all during an Aerosmith performance
at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View
Dan Honda/Times

Ask Steven Tyler how he's doing, and brace yourself.

Even with a voice so raw he had to cancel a concert and fly home to Boston on Monday, Tyler can't help turning a 15-minute interview into an hour that flies so many directions, it's hard to keep up. By the time the hyper 57-year-old Aerosmith frontman is done answering a question, nobody can remember what they were talking about.

Rarely is a rock star everything one would like, but just like his career, Tyler defies expectations. After calling 30 minutes late, apologizing, taking a call from Japan, and apologizing again, Tyler tackled everything from standing next to Sly Stone to why he hasn't been to outer space. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was resting up for Aerosmith's show on Friday in San Jose (they also play Oakland a week from today) while talking to the Times about whatever's on his mind. And that's a lot. Taking notes verbatim is nearly impossible, especially with how quickly Tyler jumps between subjects, but we'll give it a go. Unfortunately, there's not space for everything he said.

And just for the record, Tyler was "so (expletive) great" on Monday.

Q: So you're a grandpa now. How's that feel?

A Can you believe that? It's amazing. I'm 57 years old and in two years I'll be able to say I'm the new 40. I stand next to Joe Perry every night. I have such a big ego, and I don't want to look like a (schmuck) up there when Joe Perry's playing 'Train Kept a Rollin' ' every night.

Yeah, a grandpa. It's another sweet thing of life. You look at the kid, and I just can't wait to teach him how to fish. Then my son-in-law is looking at me like, "Wait a second, I want to teach him how to fish." I told him "You teach him how to golf, I'll teach him to fish." My son is 14. One of the greatest joys in life is watching him...putting him up in a tree and watching him fall off the wood pile. Seeing him pull the wings off a bee and get stung. It's the greatest."

Q: You've been to the Bay Area a lot the past 30-plus years. What are some of your best recollections?

A I looked over and Sly Stone was standing next to me at an after-hours club, and (the whole scene) reminded me of Sweden, with all the blow and all the outfits. Janis Joplin was just leaving. This was before I was in Aerosmith.

Q: You're playing the Sly Stone tribute at the Grammies next week, aren't you?

A Yes, I'm playing with Sly. I don't know exactly what we're doing. Nile Rogers is putting it together. I did "Want to Take You Higher," on the Sly tribute album that came out, what, four months ago?.

Q: Do you still feel the temptation on the road?

A I've been clean 19 years. I think about it. I just had an ACL reconstructed and I had Vicodin for four months... You don't take anything without telling your sponsor. Drugs were my best friends for years...I don't do (prescription) drugs unless I let someone know. Yeah, sometime you miss a cold beer on an August night. Now I drink non-alcoholic beer. But I waited ten years before I would even do that. I got my children and my wife and my band back from not doing drugs.

Q: How does making a live record now compare to back in the days of "Live Bootleg?" (Aerosmith just released "Rockin' the Joint: Live at the Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas.")

A This band has learned the secret. Some of these songs are 30 years old. We have not forgotten how they were played. We have not forgotten that you want to hear it they way you heard it 30 years ago. You want to go into a time machine. We do it even better now. (Tyler goes on to explain some recording technicalities, then began cursing when asked if anything was overdubbed later, which apparently meant "no").

Q: What can we expect on this tour?

A We did "Kings and Queens" just the other night. We pull things out all the time. Before I die, the band will do "Toys in the Attic," and "Rocks" in their entirety. But people still want to hear "I Don't Wanna Kiss Your Thing..." I mean, "I Don't Want to Miss A Thing." So we'll do it.

Q: Most rock stars don't do press mid-tour, especially when they have a sore throat.

A I love to do phoners. Seriously. As long as people don't ask me why I look so much like Mick (Jagger) now. I mean, we've come a long ways. People ask cool questions. Today it's you and the Wall Street Journal. I got an attitude of gratitude.

Q: Do you purposely take people like Lenny Kravitz (The opener in San Jose and Oakland) on the road. People who will push you live?

A Lenny's the (expletive). I went and saw him the other night at a small theater (pauses to scream "My Mama Says" in that typical Tyler scream). It's awesome. He pushes me, but more than that -- and maybe I'm showing my age -- but I love melody, and he's got it. Call it retro, whatever.

Q: How are you using technology to get the band out there?

A I don't think we use it, it uses us. It's like damned if you do, damned if you don't. You win the lottery and then your mom dies...it destroys people's careers and it saves people's careers. There's thousands of bands you would have never heard of (if not for Internet).

Q: If Aerosmith was coming up now, how would you do it?

A I don't know. We were just baby birds in the nest that chirped and waited for the worm that mama would bring. I would probably be using the same technology like these other bands (for the record, Aerosmith does, with a very thorough web presence).

Q: How far are you into the latest record deal?

A We're out after the next record (which he says will come later this year). I don't know (what happens then), but if Aerosmith sold only 100,000 copies on the Internet, we'd make more than selling a million for a big label...no matter how you slice it, everybody's making more than the band.

Q: How different is it now, with corporate guys running labels instead of 30 years ago when maybe you had more music lovers running the labels?

A I don't know of anybody who's running a label and not looking at the final numbers, after the dollars they make. We're a band. We split a quarter.

Q: So are you saying (you'll record without a label)?

A I don't know. Maybe.

Q: Is it hard to draw a line between being friends and being business partners in a band?

A I've hated my bandmates over some business decisions they've made. We traded in the cocaine for the business suits. I'm really proud of this band. I throw parties for 20,000 people every night. I can't believe I'm in this band with Joe Perry. I can't believe it.

Q: What else do you want to do:

A I wanted to go up in the Space Shuttle. I met the guy who's going up (next time).They let us go in the simulator, and they only let presidents do that. We were the first civilians. I took it up and crashed on re-entry. I (expletive) blew it. But the (astronaut) said he'd take up my skull ring and the album of my choice. I chose "Get Your Wings." The simulator is (expletive) amazing. You get scared. You feel like you're going.

Q: Have you thought about going up with the Russians?

A Yeah. I got my $20 million. I got a corporate sponsor and I was going to go on educational TV and write a song with U2...and I told my family at dinner and they cried (so I didn't). I was next in line after Lance Bass couldn't go. I had my money down and was ready to go, and my kids cried. I've got three daughters, imagine that? They're sweet and beautiful. My son kicks my (expletive).

Q: Tell me five things about your bandmates people don't know. Like didn't (drummer) Joey Kramer go to Berklee School of Music. He's classically trained?

A Yeah (laughing). Joey went there, but he didn't. He went for six weeks. Let's see, Brad (Whitford) is secretly a race car driver. Joe Perry has a hot sauce that'll kick your (expletive). Hang on a second (he went and got a bottle). J.P. Rock Your World Mango Peach Tango Hot Sauce, and it is delicious. I'm not blowing smoke up your (expletive). I'm not.

Kramer is partners with Corvette Mike on the East Coast. He's secretly always wanted to sell cars. (Tom) Hamilton? I don't know. Oh, he's got a company called "Obsceney Babies," you know, like Beanie Babies. They sued him so he had to change the name. They got (expletive for certain body parts). ) I've got a pair of wild turkeys in my back yard, Harley and Davidson. They follow me around.

Q: I have to ask this before you have to go. Of all your records, I always thought "Rock in a Hard Place," (the 1982 LP Aerosmith made without Perry) got a bad rap.

A Yeah, it's one of my favorites. Wasn't "Cry Me a River" on that? Yeah, "Bolivian Ragamuffin." Unreal. (The band hired replacement guitarists) Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay, an out-of-his-mind player who should have been in the Small Faces. When we played with Crespo, he was good. But he looked like Joe, and I wanted Joe back. Somebody told me that Joe was thinking about playing with Alice Cooper. I called Joe and said "Are you (expletive) kidding? Please don't. You're Joe Perry (and he came back to Aerosmith). Joe will tell you he made the call. But it was me. And you can put that in your pipe and smoke it!