I always love an Aerosmith concert but this particular one is not ringing a bell. The first time I saw the band perform live I was standing on a folding chair on the left side of the orchestra at the Nassau Coliseum. Aerosmith opened up with “Back in the Saddle” and when it came time for a Joe Perry guitar solo, they turned the volume up to 11 tilting me straight back snd nearly off my perch; it got loud fast. Stories of the band doing pop up club dates around Long Island after their peak, then drug fueled decline, and before they returned to the rock and roll mountaintop are the stuff of legend. To paraphrase Gregg Allman “the first million you just piss away” which apparently Aerosmith did, then amazingly came back bigger and better than ever. I saw the last Joe Perry Project performance at My Father’s Place in Roslyn where a YouTube video from that night reminded me that Steven Tyler joined the band onstage that night before an official reunion took place not long after. Aerosmith is scheduled to play Fenway Park this fall for a postponed 50th anniversary concert in their home town.

Kings and Queens

Aerosmith Rocks (on)

GQ