Aerosmith
Aerosmith: Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Steven Tyler, Brad Whitford, Joey Kramer
Band: Aerosmith
Members, Instruments, and Good Points:Steven Tyler: Vocals, harmonica, additional percussion, sexy, so talented
Tom Hamilton: Bass, back-up vocals, hilarious, extremely crowd friendly
Joe Perry: Lead guitars, back-up vocals, hot, mysterious
Brad Whitford: Rhythm guitar, quiet, shy
Joey Kramer: Drums, has a blond 'fro, beats the hell out of the drums
Date and Time: Monday, September 16th, 2002; 7:30pm
Location: Polaris Amphitheater
Opening Bands: Cheap Trick, Run DMC
It's fucking Aerosmith! Yes, yes, indeed! First off, I'm sick of everyone saying, "Oh, yeah, Aerosmith. Steve, Joe, and, um, those other guys." Tom, Brad, and Joey, thank you very much, you hacks! So, anyway, Aerosmith is always a frickin' great show and away we go! Two more of these to do this week, man oh man... it's going to be worth it, though.
Well, Columbus is always an easy shot up. Polaris more so than Nationwide Arena and such because, well, it's north of Columbus, so you can just duck the city all together. Most of the way up we were doing 80 or 100, so we got there in relatively great time. Plus, we went there in my new hot car, which has a CD player, so we could jam Aerosmith all the way up and practice "Love in an Elevator." For the life of me, I will never understand what is so hard to understand about "Yeah, oh, yeah!" Ugh, anyway... We got stuck parking in D-3, the reggae section. Oh, well... at least it wasn't country! The walk up was long. I got in line to be padded down. As the woman behind me said, "If I'm going to get frisked, it's going to be by the cute guy!" Amen, sister! I grabbed a couple of shirts at the "please buy Steven Tyler another Jaguar" memorabilia stand. Okay, so it's not totally like that... totally.
We showed up when Cheap Trick was on stage. I can't say I'm heart-broken that I missed Run DMC. One of their guys was out with the flu anyway, so yeah to that. So, anyway, I showed up just as they were about to kick into "I Want You To Want Me." Nice! Their lead singer has some nice hair. I don't know why I wanted to mention that, but I did. They also did "Dream Police!" I know that means nothing to you, but it's a little joke I got going on, so just ignore me! The guitarist was super crowd friendly, tossing out handfuls (literally) of guitar picks all over the place. It was a wild shower of picks. Neato! The bassist had on a pink shirt and looked kind of like Joe Perry when he gets all pink shirt on us, so that was freaky. Their set was awesome, though. Afterwards, we went out to get a water and use the bathrooms. The line for the bathrooms was so long that I said I would stand in line while they went to get the water. The concession people were "slow"... mentally... I made it through the line, then took her place in line for water, and then she made it through just before we even really got a damn water. Stupid heads... Oh, well... What else did we have to do besides sit and wait for Aerosmith to come on? That's what I thought.
A little after nine o'clock, I could see through the cloth that was supposed to be masking backstage... what do I see, but Steven and Tom! Did I scream like a teenaged Beatles fan reliving '60s nostaglia? No... believe it or not. (Probably not!) I just pointed and went, "Oh my God! Look!" I don't know why, but yeah... "Look, a musician backstage at the place they're playing. Shock and surprise all at once!" I am such a dork. So, anyway, they killed the lights and roadies pulled down a huge white curtain. The lights hit it to outline the boys behind it... the crowd is going absolutely wild in the meantime. Steven was striking a cute little "I-am-God" pose, leaning up against his microphone while Joe was just kind of standing there, trying to stay awake. Brad was in pretty much the same stance on the other side of the stage and Joey was just parked at the drums. Tom, however, was pretending to poke Brad and Joey with their shadows, which was frickin' hilarious! Tom cracks me up so bad. Then, the curtain drops and the show begins. Tom is in a black shirt and red leather pants, Brad's in denim... I never saw Joey, oh well... Joe was in all black (surprise) while Steven opted for red plaid pants and a kick-ass red and black shirt with a leather jacket and sunglasses for a cool look... just for the first song. It's too hot for him to do that all concert, man... the jacket and sunglasses, I mean. A combination of the lights and his personal hotness... yeah, hotter than the sun, man.
"Toys in the Attic" was a pretty good song. Joe seemed distracted, lingering back by the amps and staring at them. (We found out later that he had the flu, but unlike those Run DMC kids, he sucked it up.) Steven was having a problem with the fans blowing a little too low. Whoa, not like that! The fans onstage were directing cold air too far down and he complained through gesture that not his crotch, but his chest needed air. Perverts! I know what you were thinking! (Although, later, Steven practically mounted a fan on stage... guess he changed his mind.) Steven had a thing going with his ass all night. He had on plaid pants with chains and they kept falling down. The first couple of times, he hid behind Tom or Joe to pull them back up and then just said, "fuck it" and dealt with it when it became a problem. Ass-crack city! I'm so evil. And he kept grabbing his ass, which was... interesting. Whatever gets you off, man. Steven is a laugh and a half. Steven also learned early that Joe didn't feel like being fucked with and spent time interracting with Tom and Brad instead. Steven was switched on all night!
Back to the concert as I am getting a little side-tracked by Steven's ass obsession... Before "Girls of Summer," Steven asked if the crowd liked "the old shit," just like he always does. "Oh yeah? Well, try this on!" It wasn't a great live song, but whatever... Next came "Sweet Emotion," which Joe did extremely well on considering. His new thing of doing the jam at the end with the amps and everything... it's kind of odd, but it's something he can have fun with and not look at the audience, so let's make Joe happy! On the line, "a month on the road and I'll be eating from your hand," Steven licked his palm. Nice! Steven did "What It Takes" a cappela for the first verse, which, in my opinion, is so much prettier than the album version, yes! After "Rag Doll," Steven made the announcement... "Hey, lawn! Any babies being born out there tonight? Well, you're at least trying right? We'll be coming out to see you!" With that, it was off to the lawn stage. They walked right by my aisle. I was so close to them, but it wasn't like I was fainting-screaming at them. I would do that if I actually met them, though!
Out on the lawn stage, Steven was desperate for a harmonica. Unable to find one, they launched into the first official Aerosmith song they ever did, "Movin' Out." I was standing on my chair, facing the lawn stage and the venue workers didn't get all anal about it this time. Yeah, take that. Then, a short blues intro led into "Big Ten Inch Record," one of their best covers ever. Figures Steven would cover this one! At some point, gold confetti shot out of the stage and covered the lawn. I'm sure the janitors and groundspeople were thrilled. (I'm sure they were equally thrilled when they did it again at the end during "Walk This Way" for the back of the pavilion. Damn, I guess good seats means no confetti.) "Dream On" and "Love in an Elevator" wrapped up the lawn performance. (Damn! Why did you do those out there?) They headed back the way they came, right by me again.
A little video clip, showing all of Liv's best moments in "Armageddon," played and they launched into "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing." I got a sentence of it sung in my direction, so yeah to that! Steven turns to Brad when it's over. "Brad 'Last Child' Whitford..." was all it took to launch into a great version of "Last Child." "Jaded" was next... out of all of "Just Push Play," I would have much rather prefered the title track, otherwise known as the "song of impish glee." (The radio edit of that sucks! As much as the idea of a word like "noodle-ay" amuses me, "fuckin' A" is just so... much more fun!) I would have even gone for "Sunshine." Ah, well. Steven turned the mic over to the crowd for portions of the song. Then, they played a bluesy (and with less punch) version of "Pink," getting all the way through the first two verses and a chorus before, to my relief, they did the regular version. The best part was when Steven did "Pink, when I turn out the lights"... he did this hand swooshing thing then pretended to blow something out of his hand and bam! Lights out. It was just really sexy. Ignore me again. He even went into the audience and manhandled a couple of blondes to sing along. I would have been all over that! Steven introduced "Joe Fucking Perry" to "sing his ass (not another ass reference!) off." Joe ambled to the microphone and coughed that he had the flu (told you we found out!), so he couldn't really sing. (Don't worry, Joe, we all have the musical disease.) Instead, Steven left and the rest of them did a blues jam. I can't wait for their blues album! When Steven came back, he giggled. "Joe Perry singing his ass off!" Two more songs, including a great blues cover called "All Your Love," then "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)," which they rocked the socks off of.
After a brief waiting period and clothing change, they returned for the encore. They did a great live version of "Draw the Line," which is an awesome song in itself. At the end, Joe took off his shirt (his pink one!) and beat his guitar with it. It's become a staple on the end of this song. Hey, I don't care, baby, take it off! Then, out came Run DMC for the final song of the night. Yes, they sang "What A Feeling." No, seriously, they played "Walk This Way." Steven rambled about it being the number one video of a generation and other hoo-ha. When Run DMC beckoned for the crowd to get their "damn hands up," I about bust a gut when Brad pumped up one of his hands with the "I love you" symbol. He cracks me up... not as much as Tom though! Steven rapped over them for the most part and wiped them off the stage. They did their little dance thing... you know, from the video. Sure you know what I'm talking about! Then, one of the guys from DMC and Steven had a little dramatic moment. He beckons Steven to dance. Steven shakes his head "no" like he's Puritan and he'll go to Hell. Then, he busts a move. I mean, seriously danced up a storm. Go Steven! You shake that mentioned-way-too-much ass! That was it... off they went with a goodbye. No introductions to the band, though, which was unusual. Poor Russ Irwin... no one must of known who he was... except Aero-freaks like me.
Polaris has this thing called Shocktoberfest, which means they turn the place into a haunted house. Well, on the way out, we had to walk through this dark tunnel with fog and strobe lights. We were all being dorks and screaming, pretending to be scared or pretending the strobe lights were going to make us hurl and stuff. It was funny... anyway. Had to be there, I guess. It was easy to get out and we were home near 1:40 in the morning. Great, great show! Now... just wait until Friday! How will I ever last?
Set List
Toys in the Attic
Back in the Saddle
Same Old Song and Dance
Girls of Summer
Sweet Emotion
What It Takes
Rag Doll
Movin' Out
Big Ten Inch Record (Blues Intro)
Dream On
Love in an Elevator
I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing
Last Child
Jaded
Pink (Blues Intro Version)
Steppin' Out
All Your Love
Cryin'
Dude (Looks Like A Lady)
Draw the Line
Walk This Way (featuring Run DMC)
The MVP for this show was Steven Tyler. (Let's all gasp in shock!) Click on the picture below to get to the Aerosmith official website. It's kind of crappy, but hey...
Other Official Links