This week’s concert is Aerosmith live in Houston on June 24, 1977, a few years prior to their need to “come back” with Run DMC in the 1980’s.
Are they New England’s best rock band? Are they America’s best rock band? This show has early classics like Back in the Saddle Again, Dream On, Walk This Way, Toys in the Attic, as well as some weirdness like the Batman theme.
(I was going to post a Beach Boys Fourth of July concert, but decided against it. For now.)
Love this! They are certainly
Love this! They are certainly one of the best bands – American or otherwise- I don’t think there’s any debate about that.
My dubious claim to “rock & roll fame” was that in the mid 80s Steven Tyler lived in Brookline, MA and we shopped at the same supermarket. He once stopped me in the produce department to ask which oranges were the best ones for juicing. He had a lot of chocolate bars in his shopping cart! So,there you go – a story to tell my great grandchildren.
Loving the heck out of these weekly concerts!
Pre-Ironic Aerosmith
This show was a lot of fun to watch, and reminded me that they had other good songs besides Dream On. And a ton of energy too, esp as they were sneaking swigs of whisky between songs… I’ve been an intermittently huge fan of Aerosmith since they came out. I never really got into Toys In The Attic that much, being under 12 at the time, and also I think because I perceived them to be a boy band, as in a band for boys. But I was blown away by Dream On, and enjoyed their hits ever after.
Their comeback video with Run DMC was brilliant, a great joke that everyone got and that worked for both groups. The rest was history, as they say. My theory on why they never made it to the level of, say, the Stones, is because they were funny and didn’t always play it straight and (mock) serious. But they were/are great musicians and Tyler can really sing. (I had forgotten that Joe Perry wore his hair in his face and played with his back to the audience…another innovation!)
Aerosmith
I love these weekly concerts too.
However, I’m chiming in to make a case against Aerosmith being the greatest American Rock Band. I don’t even think they’re the best band from the part of Boston they came from!
I could never hang with Aerosmith – They didn’t have enough of an edge to be considered heavy metal or truly hard rock, and they incorporated far too much boogie / bar rock – elements in music I can’t stand.
The greatest American Rock Bands are as follows (and this is my subjective opinion so that means it’s a fact 🙂
1) Creedence Clearwater Revival. When Steven Tyler can sing as amazing as John Fogerty maybe I’ll listen, but for now, CCR destroy everything Aerosmith ever did. Dozens of timeless songs.
2) KISS – “Rock ‘n Roll All Nite” is overplayed and kinda sucks, but they have dozens of essential tracks on their other albums, especially with Ace in the band. Ace’s solo on “Deuce” is a masterpiece. S/T, Love Gun, Destroyer, Hotter Than Hell, and the Elder are all essential albums.
3) Van Halen – Talk about innovation – guitar playing that had never been done before, and David Lee Roth’s showmanship was pretty much unrivaled. Van Halen have lots of bad songs, but when they throw down a good one, it’s absolutely perfect.
Diamond Dave and Eddie
I’d put Van Halen in the running as best American rock band, too. David Lee Roth years, of course.
In junior high, I had a friend who loved Kiss, Van Halen, and Styx. I was into the Beatles, so we’d arrange for our own battle of the bands, playing albums for each other and explaining why whatever was being played was the best and certainly better than what was played before.
I finally grew to like Van Halen when I got to see them in a stadium, opening for the Rolling Stones. And David lee Roth’s monologues on late night rock radio shows in the 80’s were like none other.
Now when I listen, I hear their roots in straight up 50’s songs. Take away Eddie’s guitar and you might have something that sounded like Bill Haley.
Aerosmith
If you were able to catch some of 60 minutes piece on Steven Tyler and friends, well his supposed friends or bandmates who really think he is basically an egocentric, narcissistic,overrated, conceded, obnoxious “aero”gant fool and control freak swindler (not quoted exactly of course, threw in a few of my own).
I caught a not so well attended show at a smaller venue on Lansdown Street in Boston in back of Fenway called the Metro in the early 80’s when the band was at an all time low attempting to ride out on fumes from their former glory days then consumed by drugs and alcohol and the bands forever internal strife, especially between Stevo and Joe Perry. Joe Perry had previously had a falling out with the group and was not present at the show I saw and that was a big piece to have missing.
Steven Tyler was so drunk or whatever, he had to read off a story board placed at his feet, an aid to read his own lyrics and when it seemed like he was reading more than entertaining, some guy threw a beer in his face just from the left side of where I was standing. To Steven’s credit , he did not even flinch( maybe he was getting used to it at this point in his career or just wanted more beer in any form) and the guy was literally thrown out of the club by two sizable bouncers, the show went on but you could notice people became less and less enthralled, I think we left early.
I never liked the group after that experience but did take a liking to the Joe Perry Project we used to see a bit for their short existence on the Boston nightclub scene, I think I even still have an LP of his from that era, he was the polar opposite to Tyler but in my opinion, they certainly did have their day complimenting one another(Jager & Richards style), at least two very good albums in the early days that any High School dance or Bruins game would be a loss for but please have mercy and do not let Steven Tyler sing the national anthem, please!!.
Oh man, that sounds like such
Oh man, that sounds like such a bumout of a concert!!
That’s the thing – their 80s/90s/00s material is just so lame in my opinion. “Love in an Elevator”?…Come on…Cheesy, spineless corporate garbage that didn’t even rock at all. They became like a Bud Light commercial for AM radio and Steven Tyler doesn’t impress me whatsoever.
This is all just my opinion. If others like Aerosmith, hey, that’s great.
I just love discussing all things music.
Now something that ROCKS is AC/DC.
Best live band in a big setting I’ve ever seen in my life. They kicked my ass all over the arena. Best thing to ever come out of Australia along with Kangaroos!!
Bon Scott, Rest In Power!!
AC/DC
We were too close at the AC/ DC concert I went to, like the tenth row and when those cannons went off my hearing must have suffered, but it was a great show (after Bon Scott died was amazed how much his replacement sounded alike). My brother who brought me was a bigger fan and he told me Angus doesn’t drink alcohol at all, only tea and I really admired his concentration and energy with continuous rhythmic bowing in sinc with chord banging. Some of their tunes( “back in black”) always made it in our mix of long distance road trip tunes (cassette tape), better wake up call than coffee to keep your eye steady on the road!
Have a Drink On Me...
AC DC was one of our first concert series concerts.
Not a US band, though..