Aerosmith’s origins are endearing. Steven Tyler, originally a drummer, met Joe Perry at an ice cream shop in Sunapee, N.H.
The band’s legacy is impressive. Aerosmith was one of the biggest rock bands from one of the biggest rock decades, the ’70s. It also enjoyed huge success in the 1980s.
But the reality of Aerosmith, which plays a sold-out Pepsi Center on Monday, is problematic for serious music fans. Some bands know when to say when. They know it’s more than a little sad to play songs in middle-age that the band wrote when they were strutting twentysomethings. Yet it still works. In big numbers, even.
Aerosmith’s durability surprises even Joe Perry, the band’s guitarist and an icon in his own right.
“This Aerosmith thing constantly blows my mind, and it does the other guys’ too, that we’re able to carry on like this,” Perry said recently via telephone. “It’s been interesting, this classic rock swelling up underneath all the pop stuff that’s going on. I don’t know, there’s something about good music – and it isn’t just that I have a soft spot in my heart for those songs that I grew up with, that I cut my musical teeth on.”
Aerosmith circa 2006 doesn’t sound the same – listen to current recordings of their 30-year-old songs including “Dream On,” “Walk This Way” or “Sweet Emotion” – and the members definitely don’t look the same.
And what of the new music: Is it important enough, adding to its legacy in such a way that it justifies being made? They answered that question with the abominably named “Honkin’ on Bobo,” the band’s alleged blues record from 2004 that was received with less enthusiasm than either of the band’s last two live records.
On the live-music front, the band still sells out arenas. Is it Aerosmith’s time to launch another tour? Or is it Aerosmith’s time to say goodbye?
Perry says absolutely no to the latter, and nostalgia-hungry fans who have helped this tour sell out nationwide are in overwhelming agreement with him.
“I’ve never been in any other band, so I can’t say why they stayed together or why they didn’t, but I know that everybody here gives the best they can from night to night,” Perry said. “It all ties in with the whole idea about being together for 35 years and how come we’re still out there and playing. It’s a legacy, and we have a certain amount of respect for that – and a lot of respect for our fans who have supported us throughout the years.”
Fanning the flames
The fan support has been tremendous. And the band’s ability to get along is remarkable.
“It still has its bumps and grinds, and we still have our arguments about stuff, but they seem a lot further apart,” Perry said. “We still have a bigger mountain to climb, and that’s keeping the band strong and keeping the music strong. And that hasn’t changed in 30 years. We’re constantly trying to play a better show than the one last night.”
An admirable sentiment, but when you’ve been around for 35 years and honestly believe every show can be better than the previous one, you’re a tad delusional. That’s physically and musically impossible.
Still, Aerosmith has come a long way, and the band does have an unmatched legacy of brash rock ‘n’ roll and loud power-ballads – amid American bands, at least. The group came out of the gate strong in 1973, making seven potent records in seven years. The group stumbled into a druggy haze in the early ’80s but hauled itself off the mat for what was, at the time, the greatest rock ‘n’ roll comeback story ever told.
The late ’80s were kind to the band, and it sold more records than ever. The ’90s were solid, with a massive soundtrack hit courtesy of the 1998 blockbuster “Armageddon.” While its records aren’t performing as they once did, the band – almost inexplicably – continues to sell well on tour.
Or maybe the band’s enduring live popularity can be explained.
“You still have to go out and prove to the audience that you’re worth the money they paid to see you,” Perry said. “We managed to keep up with the technology, so the fans really get the whole thing – the lights and sound – and everything is better than it used to be.
“They don’t want to watch people falling down, and nor do I. If I go see a band, I don’t give a (expletive) about the personal problems. I paid my money. All it took for me to realize this was putting myself in their seat for three seconds and I saw, ‘This has to be good.’ ”
The other harmony
The working relationships inside the band mean better organization, Perry said, and ultimately better shows.
“There’s a lot less ego involved,” he said. “Speaking for myself, I’m a lot less inclined to slam my point home. You know what I mean: There’s a lot more parity amongst the band members as far as working things out, and everybody’s got their strengths and weaknesses, and we all recognize them for what they are and it makes it a lot easier to make decisions and work together creatively.
“There are times where we’re sitting in the room going over stuff, deciding on dates on a tour or talking about the color of T-shirts, and I swear it could have been 30 years ago,” he said. “It’s the same people, and when you feel those feelings about what the band is as a touchstone, it seems timeless. In our personal lives, we all have our own system for making it work, but as the five guys putting it together and playing rock ‘n’ roll, we do all that together.”
In his months away from the band, Perry relishes time with his family in homes in Vermont and Florida. He says his life outside the band is crucial to his sanity. “It’s so fleeting, this lifestyle,” Perry said. “To hang your life on it is certain death.”
The rock star must be left back on stage, Perry said, so he can fill other roles, including dad – his proudest title.
When it’s time to rehearse or record, Perry and their bandmates head to Boston … “and it’s like we’re still those 18-year old kids in the garage.”
The current top headline on Aerosmith’s website isn’t about a band achievement, rather Perry’s individual triumph: a Grammy nomination for rock instrumental performance. His track “Mercy” was the final song on last year’s eponymous solo record, his first in more than 20 years. He’s up against the likes of Stewart Copeland, Steve Vai and Les Paul for the Grammy.
“It really hit me sideways,” Perry said of the nomination, noting that “Mercy” wasn’t even a single. But it’s what he said about the solo album that proves his musical dedication.
“With the solo record, I had a pile of music I felt I had to get out there,” he said. “And it was a different set of circumstances than the solo record I put out 20 years ago. (This one) was from loving and recording music and playing my guitar and putting it out there, and that still burns inside for me … It’s still all there, intact, and it still blows my mind.”
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
