THEY ARE BACK ! (oakland 2012)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Format: 2 CDR,  23 tracks, ~ 115 min

Label: Zone 51 Prod 059.01/02

Disc1 : 55.30

01.Opening

02.Draw The Line

03.Love In An Elevator

04.Same Old Song And Dance

05.Living On The Edge

06.Oh Yeah

07.Brad Solo/Last Child

08.Drum solo/Tyler joins

09.Rag Doll

10.Peter Gunn

11.Boogie Man

12.Combination

Disc 2 : 59.42

01.Stop Messin' Around (false take)

02.Stop Messin' Around

03.What It Takes

04.Legendery Child

05.Come Together

06.Rats In The Cellar

07.Sweet Emotion

08.Walk This Way

09.Dream On

10.Train Kept A Rollin

11.Tyler Talks

Recorded at:

Coliseum Arena

Oakland, California

August 4, 2012

Comments:

Aerosmith has become quite the ensemble onstage. Aside from the usuual 5 guys and a keyboard player, the band is now augmented with two female backup singers (one playing a sax) and Joey Kramer's son playing congas on some tunes. Add to that Kramer's wife doing a strange dance at the end of "Combination" and you have as many as 10 people on stage, very Rolling Stones-like, I guess.

The band seemed pretty engergized and maybe the "slickest" I have seen them and that's not a bad thing. Tyler's run on "American Idol" brought new prominence to the band. I heard several people say "This is the first time I'm seeing them."

I always wrestle with this band..I loved there stuff from 1973 through 1986, well even through 1990, then they got hard to listen to for me...now I'm making peace with them. You sorta take the good with the bad with these guys. It's not just me, Tyler is aware of the duplicity.."Do you like the old shit or the new shit?" he aks the crowd. The "old shit" was the crowd's choice...and with that they launched into "Rats In The Cellar" which was the highlight of the evening, just a cool, long drawn out rock and roll jam.

Other old tunes came off well too, "Draw The Line," "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Last Child." I heard they were doing "Combination," and while cool to hear, with only Perry's vocals it lacked some punch. When Perry starts "Stop Messin' Around" the band isn't ready and he has to re-start it, oops. The new tunes are kinda clunkers I thought, with "Legendery Child" riff sounding like Zep's "Wanton Song" without the balls. Luckily not too many of the late 1980/90s tunes on this night, with "What It Takes" being the most barfworthy. Overall I liked the show, they still have the ability to rock out and they are the last of a dying breed.Audience recording