Hey Diddle Diddle with the Kitty in the Middle

I saw Aerosmith with a band called "The Blackhearts" over the weekend.

I had thought I was going to see "Joan Jett and the Blackhearts" open the show...though it turned out to be an early 80's punk/clash like band fronted by a woman with a hot voice whose name was "Joan Jett" who, for your information, is simply the lead singer of a band called "The Blackhearts" from New York. If you don't get it right soon we are going to have to hit you in the face with awesome rock and roll! "Yah, Oh yeah".

Yes they finally played everything we know well like that "I don't give a damn on my bad reputation" song. That "I love rock and roll so put another dime in the juke box baby!!!" song. It's ok that the money amount sounds wrong, it was always just a euphemism anyway. Also "Crimson and Clover" over and over...I mean just once.

Joan Jett had 2 side stage bleachers of American armed forces V.I.P.s. She was able to honor their spirit of service while criticizing the government in a song for their opaque nature during the Bush administration...she even played some sound clips of the Whitehouse spokesman being deliberately confusing...and of George Bush failing to use the "fool me once shame on you...fool me twice shame on me" phrase correctly.

On to Aerosmith. First, this band is still really great. They play well, put on a great show with a lot of charisma. Much of the rock and roll charisma comes from Steven Tyler who is not afraid to be funny. They proudly employ his mouth as a band member all its own. There are a lots of shots where the stage cameras are zoomed in to his mouth which gets projected on 3 huge screens. It's funny and great and very "rock and roll" all at once.

Their show started with a retro style video showing their international destinations with a clip of a B29 flying from place to place and an old news-reel like voice talking about the major cities and destinations around the globe. That ended with...and now...the band arrives at the "rockinest" town of them all "Bristow!!!" (Bristow Virginia being the small town where the Nissan Pavillion concert venue is located outside Washington, D.C. It was so damn funny.

During "Pink", one of the big famous Aerosmith tracks...he actually wears a pink feather boa...(something you'd usually expect to see at an Erasure concert). Right at the beginning Tyler shouted to an audience member "get off the phone"...classic.

While they played a good solid 2 hours or so, they didn't seem to play end to end hits. It was more like...rock and roll moments interspersed with big familiar hits. This is noodle rock and they noodled around more than an Italian pasta maker. I guess the die hard fans know what they want to hear.

I did enjoy the big famous songs. My expectation for the show was that I would hear "Love in an Elevator" and then I'd go home happy. It was their first song...so the show went well for me and a Heineken Keg-can and a small group of friends.

=sw