A year ago I swore I would not do outdoor concert venues in Phoenix in the summer ever again. But, there was no way I was going to miss AEROSMITH'S "Just Push Play" tour, so I hoped for the best and got the worst - record temperatures the entire weekend of the concert, which was on Sunday night.

After sunset it was still 109 degrees outside the venue before being packed into a WAY sold out show. It had to be at least 5 degrees hotter inside! But, this was AEROSMITH! I think I sweated off about 10 lbs. that night (it was still 100 degrees when we left near midnight) and it was worth every minute. 

Having seen the band on the "Nine Lives" tour, I have to say this was a totally different - and welcome - experience. There was TONS more interaction with the audience and also between the band members, especially Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. It was like the difference between night and day from "Nine Lives." The stage set was amazing, although I've seen similar sets recently, with metal "architecture" all over the place. A lot of it was actually part of the lighting system, but it was way different than the huge inflated snake behind Joey Kramer on the last tour. This time a huge ramp curled around the drum kit and major speaker action was happening below the ramp. There was a roped off area of fans at the far left ON the stage who were frequently visited by Steven Tyler. A new addition to the tour was situated next to them - keyboard player and backing vocalist Russ Irwin. I don't remember ever seeing a keyboard included on stage before this tour, but I may be wrong about that. There were also ramps at each end of the stage that extended into the audience and were used frequently by Tyler and Perry, along with a HUGE robotic hand right off the middle of the stage. The hand was also a frequent stop for all the band members throughout the concert. It even had lighted fingernails with different colors for different songs. 

A huge video screen at the back of the stage provided many moments of entertainment as well as being very useful when AEROSMITH travelled to a SECOND stage in the very front of the lawn section of the Pavilion. More about that later, but getting back to the video portions, there was some extreme camera work of the live show that ended up there and is probably the most innovative video action I've seen. It even out shown the famous video sequences from Ozzy and Black Sabbath.

I snagged some facts out of the program that make this show sound more like a Broadway production than a rock concert at times. It takes 135 touring personnel 3,700 man hours of labor, 360 meals, 12 trucks, 8 buses, 1 plane 1,150 gallons of diesel fuel, 4,324 feet of gaffer tape, 1,200 feet of guitar strings, 120 guitar picks, a 40,000 lb. 670,000 watt lighting rig, a 30,000 lb. video screen with 1,267,200 LED lights, 60,000 feet of video tape and a 300,000 watt state-of-the-art, computer driven, sound system to do ONE show! I'm impressed! 

The show opened with the dial tone that opens the album and a video of the upper body of the female robot moving towards the audience through teal colored space. When the lights came up, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were in the center of the ramp high above the drum kit and they were off into "Beyond Beautiful." Normally I don't pay that much attention to who's wearing what at a rock concert, but Tyler was hard to miss in white bell bottom pants, sleeveless shirt and cowboy hat with an "Aerosmith" bandana tied around the crown pointing up. Even when he was dancing around there was a touch of country hip swivel mixed in. That was absolutely not what I was expecting to see! The rest of the guys were dressed normally for AEROSMITH, including Perry's leather pants. I can't remember going to a concert where the songs weren't extended by impressive instrumental bridges and this was no different. However, Joe Perry is one of the best guitar players out there and he ran a solo through "BB" that was totally killer. So was the rest of the band, as Tyler seemed content to dance and glad hand the crowd, giving the band ample opportunity from the first song on to showcase their talents. I thought "Beyond Beautiful" was a cool song on the album and live it was just awesome.

Heading back to the late '80s, "Love In An Elevator" was the next song. This was the first audience participation song of many (damn the lights they pointed at the crowd were bright!), and it also included an outstanding guitar solo while Perry was at the end of a ramp into the crowd. The video shots coming from there were a sea of hands reaching for him. Tyler did a lot of dancing and various other things with the microphone stand and for the first time the fingernails in the hand were lit - this time blue. Anybody who's ever seen AEROSMITH knows how good this song is live and if you haven't had the opportunity, trust me, it's great! 

As the first notes of "Jaded" were heard, the audience went crazy. Obviously this song is every bit as popular as some of the greats from the past! This time the video screen cut back and forth from the action on the stage to the weird looking acrobats in the video for "Jaded." Every time the line "My, my baby blue" was sung, the stage was bathed in blue light on the word blue. If you stop and think about it, AEROSMITH has color mentioned in a lot of songs and their light show has always coincided with the color in the song in some form or another. Actually their light show has always surpassed what I've seen from any other band both in color and effects. Anyhow, as the song progressed the cuts from the video played on MTV & VH1 continued to alternate with the live shots from the stage and ended the song with another shot of the circus type scene. 

Lately, just about every album out there has some kind of "hook" in the form of echo microphones, loops, the wah-wah mics, or something and "Just Push Play" is no exception. Only this time I finally got to see how different "special vocal effects" were done! There's an odd tone that sort of goes back and forth in the "sing-song" words in the verses of "JPP." This is accomplished by Russ Irwin trading vocals with Stephen Tyler, but Irwin's vocal is sung through a white electric bullhorn lined with red sequins. Near the end of the song, Tyler ended up with the bullhorn and used it to sing the remainder of the song, except the guitar fade out, where he duplicated the notes Joe Perry was playing on the guitar with his voice. "Just Push Play" is a fun song on the album, but it was both fun AND fascinating watching it done live. I totally missed what the next song was. The name is probably buried deep in my memory, but I just couldn't place it. A big "10 . . . ." on the video screen didn't help me either. 

Next up was "Pink," and in addition to hearing the only song from "Nine Lives" that got anywhere, some unique video and light tricks made this one much more interesting. "Pink" isn't particularly one of my favorites, but I have to give the band credit for blowing me away with the live version - even better than when it was performed on the "Nine Lives" tour. The stage was bathed in pink light (of course), but the really cool thing was the video screen. The live feed from the stage was done like an old newsreel in black & white with pink filling in the rest of the screen around the rough edges. There were also cut ins of the actual video, also done in black & white. Steven Tyler left his pink boa home this time, but there were some ladies in the audience flaunting theirs!

"Home Sweet Home" featured some really great lighting effects and a  long guitar solo, one of many major solos by Joe Perry. The next video vignette I believe was after this song, but I can't remember for sure. The video showed the AEROSMITH plane at the airport and all the guys getting out and walking out the front door that had a banner reading "Aerosmith Airlines." Under that was the usual running light sign at Sky Harbor Airport that reads, "Welcome to Phoenix" followed by the temperature "116º" I didn't catch everything Steven Tyler said, but it was something about " . . . it's okay, it's SUMMER!" followed by "Mama Kin." This was a real down and dirty version, with Perry and Tyler down the ramp into the crowd and a long instrumental bridge. During the bridge, Tyler got up on the ramp on stage, grabbed a rope hanging down and played Tarzan swinging out over the audience 3 or 4 times before returning to finish the song. 

Tyler asked if the audience wanted them to come visit and if they would behave. He received a roar of "Yes!" and with this, the whole band headed off the stage and proceeded to wend their way through the main aisles to get to that second stage I mentioned earlier. While this was going on, the main stage was bathed in blue light, flashing strobes and the walking robot video. Stage two was a stripped down platform with light towers and some huge fans (now I figured out how they were keeping the band at least slightly cool). The first song from this location was "Same Old Song And Dance," and the crowd went nuts. Since the second stage was so far behind me, I watched the action on the video screen on the main stage and again there was a different kind of video being projected. It was done in black and white with ragged edges and static type spots on it so it looked really old. The whole crowd was singing along to this song and the whole place went up a notch when the band started "Dream On." It may be one of

the oldest songs by AEROSMITH, but people love it. You could hear the crowd singing to the point of drowning out the band. They did one more song on that stage which I just could not make out because of the noise, then headed back to the main stage from the opposite side of the venue of where they went up. Surrounded by security, a video camera in front of them recording the parade and the famous mic stand held way up in the air, they arrived back at the main stage - or so we thought! 

At this point another "story" video came up on the main stage showing the band in a locker room, laughing about how the audience thought they were still outside in the middle of the security guys until Steven asked where Whitford was. A minute later he comes staggering into the room with torn clothes saying "They're animals out there!" After this brief interlude, the band was back on the main stage.

 "Eat The Rich" was another "audience participation" number with more than a few little extras added. The crowd was singing along and was appropriately loud for their part when the lights were shone at them. The non-audience portions had some really cool lighting and lots of strobes. Oh, and the robot had now had yellow fingernails. Joe Perry did a solo in this song that was totally outrageous. He was standing on the hand playing, then he knelt on the stage and started jamming his guitar down into the hand while he played it upside down. He got about half the neck in there as he proceeded to do a wild solo, then jumped up with what looked like a bent neck on the guitar to finish the song.

I know I mentioned this before, but this show was SO much more entertaining than the last tour, I was just amazed. I was also amazed at how Joe Perry spent almost as much time fronting things as Steven Tyler did. They did a lot of harmonizing together throughout the show and this was something else that was very obviously different from the last time around. There was so much camaraderie among all the band members that you could just feel it radiating from the stage. My personal opinion is that because the most recent album was recorded in Joe Perry's and Steven Tyler's home studios, and contributions from all the band members were part of this album, as well as the fact that it was the first album they produced themselves, that it brought these five guys closer together than they've been in a while.

Moving along, the next song was another one from the new album, "Drop Dead Gorgeous." This was another one that is way cool on the album, but was even better live. I'm sure I just missed this in the past, but Joe Perry was the one singing the first four lines of the verse with a tiny bit of distortion mixed in and a whispered echo from somewhere. The next four lines were Perry and Tyler singing together and then Tyler moving into the chorus. Perry and Tyler did some really awesome harmonies on this song, there was a major guitar solo, then Perry continued with his part of the verses and repeat above. This is one of my favorite songs from "Just Push Play" and I was thrilled with how it all came out live. 

Time travel backwards brought "Draw The Line," an oldie but goodie. My notes are kinda scarce on this song, but they do mention another major guitar solo. There were no bad or even mediocre songs at this concert, so trust me, it was good. Even sketchier notes leave me without the next song. It was about this time in the show when a couple girls snuck down from the cheap seats to right behind me and they were screaming so loud they were actually drowning out the band! I didn't miss the next one though! 

It was time for "Sunshine," also off the new album. The effects for this song were perfect! Bright yellow lights on the stage for the chorus and totally psychedelic paint flowing on the video screen through the whole song enhanced what I think I called a sort of "trippie hippie" tune when I reviewed the album. This one was just plain fun from beginning to end. No tricks here, just old fashioned rock & roll done extremely well. Another crowd favorite, "Cryin' ," was up next. During this song, cuts from the video with Alicia Silverstone were mixed in with the live stage shots. Both Tyler and Perry were at the end of the ramps into the audience at opposite ends of the stage for this song and again a sea of hands were reaching in the air - slapped when possible for them to reach. This is the first time I've seen the video for "Cryin' " without having the end of the video censoring Alicia's hand. Why they did that in the first place was beyond me! 

AEROSMITH'S first number one song was next and it was SO awesome! "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" brought a HUGE reaction from the crowd. Starting with part of the instrumental theme from "Armageddon," when the band finally moved into the actual song the crowd was in a frenzy. I don't know the name of the next song, but it featured a lot of individual band members doing solos and some great music. It even featured Steven Tyler mooning the crowd, but it was caught on video from behind him and projected on the screen. When he turned his back to the crowd he didn't push his pants down far enough to be a real "moon." Of course all thegirls went crazy for this!

"Walk This Way" had the whole audience singing along and was  totally awesome. I'm so used to hearing the version with "Run DMC" that it was kinda weird hearing the verse sung instead of rapped, but it was still amazing. The crowd was REALLY into this one! A long instrumental intro, sounding very much like the theme from "Armageddon," led into the next song, but it didn't have anything to do with the movie. This time it was the intro to "Sweet Emotion." This was a major production of a song, and also the last one of the set. Joe Perry was using a wah-wah microphone for his vocal and there was major attention on him throughout this particular song. The song itself was a knock down, drag out version with different band members standing in the hand at different times and the fingernails blinking all different colors. Then a spotlight was on Joe Perry and all these square speakers (amps?) on the stage were lit green for the most unusual solo I've EVER heard. Perry used his guitar to create feedback, then proceeded to do about a 5 minute feedback solo that blew me away. He was making music, but he was NOT playing the guitar. What a way to bring on the last lines of the song and the end of the set. 

Of course the show wasn't over. There was still the obligatory Encore to be performed, but at least the band didn't wait too long to come back. They did make us wait though - deservedly! They had to be dying from the heat by now, as well as being dehydrated! When the band returned to the stage, Tyler and Perry were now "topless" and the other guys sleeveless. Tyler also changed into jeans with slits under the butt that let him come shining through!

The first song of the Encore was "Livin' On the Edge." There were screens set up to either side of the main one now, with the Aerosmith logo projected onto both of them. Joey Kramer started with the drum beat for the song that made those side screens vibrate! He was soon joined by Tom Hamilton with some major fuzz bass and then Brad Whitford with fuzz guitar and Joe Perry with feedback. Steven Tyler was standing in the middle of the hand singing, while Joe Perry was at the highest point of the ramp behind the drums. This whole song was very intense with amazing lights and sound! I believe this is the song where panels of video were showing up on the main screen with a live stage shot alternating with images of all the AEROSMITH album covers in four panels. I'm not positive this is the song where that was projected, but it was one of the last songs and it was way cool. This was probably the best song from "Get A Grip" performed during this particular show. It was drawn out even longer than the 5 plus minutes it runs on the album and everybody was singing and dancing and just going crazy - off AND on the stage!! 

Going back to "Pump" was "What It Takes," with a lot of individual band member solos and an especially long one by Joe Perry. Steven Tyler sounded like his voice was about to give out, but he gave it his all and never screwed up even a note. We should all be so lucky to be his age and still be able to move and sing the way he does, because the guy holds absolutely nothing back!! When the song was over, all kinds of different lights were pointed at the crowd, from strobes to up and down moving white bulbs to bright spotlights. This was for the last song of the night and I'm ashamed to say I'm not sure what it was. By that time I just couldn't hear any more. I THINK it was "Train Kept A Rollin'," but I'm not positive. At that point it didn't really matter. People were still having a great time, as was the band, and it was a bang up finish to a bang up concert! After the band left the stage, the lady robot returned to the screen with her back to us, walking away through teal colored space as the house lights went end - although a new bottle of water was welcome when we finally could get out of the seating part of the venue! 

Since this tour is still going on for a few months and stopping in  several Mid-West, Ohio Valley and East Coast states, if you don't have tickets yet, beg borrow or steal (well, not literally steal!) to get them. If you've already bought yours, it was worth every penny you spent plus! Be prepared to have a fantastic time and remember you really ARE seeing America's Greatest Rock & Roll Band!!