Review: Aerosmith still a force as live act

Kirk Baird

Monday, Jan. 14, 2002 | 8:20 a.m.

If only every rock act composed of fiftysomethings played like Aerosmith.

After Friday night's sold-out performance at Hard Rock's The Joint, it was obvious the veteran band seems to have found the fabled fountain of youth and horded the elixir for itself.

Both Aerosmith and opening act Cheap Trick put on a wildly entertaining show that nearly merited the cost of tickets: $175 and $300.

That's the price you pay, though, to take Aerosmith out of the MGM Grand Garden Arena it sold out in August and into the cozier club setting of The Joint.

If the ticket prices were an issue, no one in the audience -- an odd mixture of mullets and GQ -- seemed to hold a grudge. They happily sang along, pumped their fists in approval and, in at least in one area, turned the floor into a makeshift dance floor. The fact the show was being filmed for possible inclusion in a live DVD this spring, also seemed to add excitement to the proceedings, for both the band and crowd.

Aerosmith opened with "Beyond Beautiful," a song the group converted to a love offering to America after Sept. 11.

During the holidays Steven Tyler developed a nasty case of bronchitis that forced the band to cancel a few shows. He showed no signs of lingering effects, though, during "Beautiful" -- or any of the band's other 20-plus song set.

The ageless wonder wailed at will and danced, pranced, posed, mimicked, cajoled and did almost everything a frontman is supposed to do in concert. Tyler is the kid in elementary school who was always up to something, the one everyone kept an eye on, lest they miss out on the mischief.

Even during extended versions of "Toys in the Attic," "Love in an Elevator," "Just Push Play" and "Big Ten Inch Record," when it was Perry's spotlight moment of nimble guitar work, Tyler was impossible to lose focus of.

That's how it went through much of the concert, as Aerosmith seared through both its classics and newer material. Until a technical glitch killed audio mid-song -- though the band played on, as if nothing was wrong -- and brought the group's momentum to a halt.

The sound was resurrected, however, in time for the next number, "Dream On," and by song's end the crowd was back into it again.

The band then played "Drop Dead Gorgeous," a "deep cut" off its new album, followed by a cover of a Peter Green/Fleetwood Mac blues number, "Stop Messin' Around."

While both songs were politely received, the audience clearly wanted the hits they knew -- the ones they listen to on CDs, cassette tapes and hear played regularly on classic-rock radio stations.

They didn't wait long as Aerosmith got back to its hits: "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," "Cryin'," "Walk This Way" (with a fun scat-style segue from "Mother Popcorn") and finally "Sweet Emotion."

It was much the same for Cheap Trick, whose 10-song set list, with a couple of exceptions, played like a greatest hits album: "I Want You to Want Me," "Dream Police," "She's Tight," "The Flame" and "Surrender," among others.