Call Aerosmith the American Rolling Stones if you want, but one difference sticks out: Despite the hype, the Stones have generally rocked truer on record than onstage, and Aerosmith have proved the opposite. So fan-wings flapped when Aerosmith announced streams of five previously unavailable full live shows every Friday for four weeks, each viewable for seven days only and each representing a decade of the band's career.
Last week's (7/29/22) selection was culled from shows on June 24 & 25, 1977, at the Summit in Houston. Although '70s-style psychedelic FX suggest that the footage was intended for a contemporary TV broadcast, the credits offer no clue as to the origin. Aerosmith have long incorporated the "bootleg" aesthetic into official releases, and here's another.
Hope it's available for the library someday, cuz this restored product deserves its own Dewey Decimal number. Though the mixologists couldn't compensate for a drum-heavy balance, it detracts little from Aerosmith's rocking flexibility, which teeters betwixt Joey Kramer's slammola fulcrum on the opposing guitar poles of Brad Whitford (precise) and Joe Perry (crazy). The band have had a few years to fatten up the "Get Your Wings" versions of the chunkin' "Too Bad," the leering "Adam's Apple" and the sleazy "Lord of the Thighs," the last serving as carpet for a luxurious Perry slide workout -- damn, this band can just jam at the drop of a plectrum. Talking slide guitar, well, "Draw the Line" would not even be released for some months, and the dudes are all over the song like a water chute. Steven Tyler, meanwhile, is screeching and bitching at his best, and his eyes insist he's actually not wasted on either night.
By contrast, sample the out-of-print but still semi-accessible "Aerosmith Live Texxas Jam '78." Outdoor festival a year later, same state, better sound, great performance, but take a squint at Tyler's peepers: nobody home. The band would soon be fragmenting, and it's no accident that the next installation of thet rare-concert series hails from 1989, the approximate start of what might be called The Clean Years, though there have always been exceptions. Aerosmith's current Las Vegas booking, Sept. 14-Dec. 11, in fact, is a postponement of a stint originally scheduled to start in June but moved due to Tyler relapsing on pain pills after foot surgery.
Rolling the dice in Vegas? Kinda perfect.
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Some songs from the Summit and all upcoming full previously unavailable weekly concerts can be found here.
Listen to "Same Old Song and Dance" from "Live Texxas Jam '78" here.