It’s been a decade since the familiar voice of Steven Tyler has graced the ears of San Diegans, and leave it to the only mix-perience of it’s kind around, KAABOO Del Mar, to bring the legendary Aerosmith back to the most southern tip of California. There were thousands of people crowding around the Sunset Cliffs stage at the west end of the grounds as the sun was setting. There was already an electric atmosphere of excitement and curiosity and the band wasn’t even due on stage for at least 30 minutes. There were people of all ages and demographics around; this historic, yet still highly relevant, rock band drew them all together with the language of music…ROCK MUSIC!
Then came the explosion of sound and light with “Back in the Saddle” blasting through the speakers and causing power grids all around to flex. Steven Tyler was back where he belonged, under a full moon, in San Diego, on one of the biggest stages in the world, rocking to thousands of adoring fans. The scarves were flying as Tyler pranced around the stage with his microphone stand, making the familiar erotic gestures on every thing he could find, including an appropriately timed pelvic thrust to the camera during “Rag Doll.” That was after he crawled along the stage like stripper…
Yes, Steven Tyler was in full form Saturday night when he and the rest of Aerosmith played to a near sell-out crowd at KAABOO Del Mar. There was no denying who owned the stage that night, and which act owned the line-up that weekend. The entire ensemble was performing in peak shape, looking so good that one concert-goer even asked me if Joe Perry was wearing a “fake chest.” I explained that it was the oil that made it look fake but that man is definitely in shape to be able to do what he’s doing. Even around the minor technical difficulties that riddled the beginning of the show, these professional rockers powered through the glitches giving what this writer can comfortable call, a performance of a lifetime.
Aerosmith’s only North American appearance of 2016 was nothing short of magical from the harmonies of Tyler and Perry on “Love in an Elevator” to the plexi-glass drums of Joey Kramer and the bluesy riffs from Tom Hamilton on Bass and Brad Whitford on Guitar. Ah…the crew was back together, and you could tell how happy Steven was to be there, the 68 year old was bouncing around the stage like a five-year old who just raided a candy shop. He didn’t stop moving that way, even having to don a brand-new t-shirt before returning for the encore. The respect for all the musicians on stage was undeniable, he checked on every one of them after each song. These guys loved being up there together and it showed. The respect didn’t stop with the people on stage, it was obvious how much he respected the fans of his music, he played every song they wanted to hear, and never stopped to hold for applause or talk up the crowd, it was one chart crawling hit after another, and a couple deep cuts that made the crowd go nuts!
At the end of the evening, we heard the Top Ten hit “Walk This Way” lead into the familiar live closer “Train Kept-A-Rollin’” when people started to leave. I tried to tell people that there’s no way Steven Tyler would leave KAABOO without an encore, but many didn’t listen, one person even quipping “Dream On,” and he was right…sort of. Tyler came back out on stage about ten minutes later, sitting down to a white piano, playing beautifully and singing a sappy goodbye song before breaking into a melodic version of “Dream On” and being joined by Perry, Hamilton, Whitford, and Kramer for the real end of their North American Tour of San Diego…which echoes San Diegans’ thought on whether the rest of North America will get to see them live this year, “Dream On” and “Sweet Emotion.” It was a very Sweet Emotion to see Aerosmith healthy and back on the road…with a tease of something coming next year…is it more Aerosmith? Steven Tyler’s own music? Only time will tell, but I will go to see it!
