Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ • Sunday, August 31, 2014
Wow, once again, I was off to photograph and see my all time favorite band Aerosmith. If Dusty Hill from ZZ Top hadn’t injured himself on his tour bus, having to cancel the rest of their tour, I would have seen my second all time favorite band the night before at Harrah's in Atlantic City. Aerosmith is now 42 years into their career and to think I've been seeing them 39 of those years is pretty impressive. Tonight they pulled into town on their "Let Rock Rule Tour" and what a night of Rock it was.
Slash and band hit the stage at 7:30 and opened with "You're a Lie", from his 2012 release Apocalyptic Love, and "Anastasia,” from the same album. Then the band threw in crowd favorites from his days with Gun N' Roses with "Night Train", "You Could Be Mine", "Mr. Brownstone" and “Sweet Child O' Mine." Slash and company sounded great and did an awesome job on Velvet Revolver's "Slither" and "World On Fire," a new song from their upcoming album of the same name that will drop Sept. 16th. They closed out their set with another GNR classic "Paradise City."
Now it was time for the "Bad Boys of Boston" to take over. As the lights went out, band drummer Joey Kramer, rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford and bassist Tom Hamilton walked out onto the stage that had a catwalk running out into the crowd with ramps going to both sides of the arena and a huge video screen behind them that would display band and crowd photos all night. Then at the end of the catwalk, the smoke began to pour as guitarist Joe Perry and lead singer Steven Tyler rose up from the floor to the opening sounds of "Train Kept A-Rollin' that got the sold-out crowd to their feet. Their 19 song, 2 hour set was just a sampling of their impressive history of what else they could have played. But at least this time around they did change up the set list. Next was "Eat the Rich", which they always opened with on the "Get A Grip” tour. Then another crowd pleaser "Love in an Elevator" with Tyler running up and down the catwalk and both sides of the ramp and putting his face into the camera all night. He is definitely the best front man in the business. "Cryin'” slowed the pace a little followed by "Livin' on the Edge" and then ""Kings and Queens" and “Rats in the Cellar," which I have not seen them play live in years; a great treat. Next "Jaded" seem to put the crowd asleep a little, but "Rag Doll" picked it back up when Joe Perry played a slide guitar on the song. Then Perry sings a Fleetwood Mac cover, "Stop Messin' Around," while Tyler sat on the drum riser playing harmonica. Then Tyler asked the crowd, "do you wanna hear the old shit or the new shit" with the majority of crowd yelling old, which kicks out "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Movin' Out", the first song Tyler and Perry wrote together, and "Walkin' the Dog," from their first album. The band closed out their first set with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," "No More No More" and another one not played in a while, the Beatles cover of "Come Together,” ending with an always crowd favorite, "Walk This Way."
After a short break with the lights still out, smoke pours up again at the end of the catwalk. After the smoke clears, there is Tyler sitting at a white baby grand piano playing the intro notes to "Dream On" while Perry walks down the catwalk and climbs on top of the piano for his guitar work. As Perry gets down, Tyler now climbs up on the piano to finish out the song. Then he introduces bassist Tom Hamilton to the crowd as Mr. “Sweet Emotion" as he begins the chords on his bass to the same song. The cool thing here - the frets on the neck and the body of the bass actually illuminated with the body displaying some pretty psychedelic colors and patterns. As the song neared its end, all band members, except Kramer, are now out at the end of the catwalk to end the night with Tyler addressing the crowd, "What a f**king concert, huh?” He said it was the best of the tour, and after a last band intro he says, we will see you again soon, goodnight. Now like I said in the beginning, I have been seeing these guys for a long time live, and they have never disappointed. The next time you have a chance to see them, go. They give 110 percent plus every show and that's why they’re still doing what they do after all these years.
– Gary Crouthamel, Concert Photojournalist
