Aerosmith is one of the best things to come out of Boston, and like Tom Brady, “Cheers,” and Larry Bird, it will soon be remembered only through nostalgia and playbacks. The quartet has given the world 50 years of classic rock and some of the most memorable songs of all time, such as “Dream On,” “Walk This Way,” and “Sweet Emotion.”
Aerosmith kicked off its farewell “Peace Out” tour Saturday in Philadelphia with a two-hour show that spanned the band’s extensive repertoire, giving the world one last chance to experience what propelled these scrawny lads from New England to the pinnacle of rock’s greatest artists. Singer Steven Tyler, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, and bassist Tom Hamilton all wore black cowboy hats as they ripped into “Back In The Saddle,” the song that has opened Aerosmith shows for decades, while a giant Aerosmith logo folded down from the rafters, flanked by an even larger set of wings.
Tyler and Perry sang from either side of a microphone stand draped in Tyler’s trademark scarves, recreating one of rock’s most iconic poses. Tyler nailed the extreme high note at the end of the song, proving that even at age 75 and after a life filled with pharmaceutical misadventures, he can still bring it.
Love In an Elevator” and “Cryin’,” two major radio hits from the late ‘80s and early ’90s, followed, setting up the band’s controversial hit “Janie’s Got A Gun,” a song about a girl who was sexually abused by her father.
The band also tossed fans some rare chestnuts like “No More, No More,” on which Tyler forgot several of the words; “Adam’s Apple,” “Seasons Of Wither” and the Mississippi Delta blues-inspired “Hangman Jury.”
But there’s only room for so many songs in a two-hour show, and with a catalog as deep as Aerosmith’s, some of the biggest hits got cut, including “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” and “Train Kept A-Rollin’,” which often closed the show on previous tours.
That Aerosmith even played Philadelphia is amazing, given its fans’ history of injuring band members. In Oct. 1977, someone threw an M80 explosive onstage that went off in Tyler’s face, burning his cornea and opening a bloody wound on Perry’s arm. A year later, at another Philadelphia show, someone threw a bottle that shattered against an onstage speaker, sending glass shards into Tyler’s face and mouth.
Tyler referenced those assaults during Saturday’s show, recalling them as “the big bang theory” before Perry shushed him. Tyler quickly changed the subject to the fact that his mother’s family came from Philadelphia.
