Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Steven Tyler’s life-and-limb show a great fit for Vegas

Steven Tyler Out on a Limb

Erik Kabik Photography/ MediaPunch / Courtesy of The Venetian

Steven Tyler performs July 2, 2016, with Marti Frederiksen during the opening night of the “Out on a Limb” tour at the Venetian Theater.

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Steven Tyler performs July 2, 2016, during the opening night of the "Out on a Limb" tour at the Venetian Theater.

We’ll call it "The 9 in 2 Strategy," where a superstar entertainer plays nine shows in two weeks. This concept can be altered to “The 10 in 16 Strategy,” 10 shows in 16 dates, or something similar, but you likely get the point.

This is type of restricted but effective time pocket where big names — such as Steven Tyler — can reliably fill intimate venues — such as the Venetian Theater — in short, explosive bursts. This concept has proven popular in that very theater, where John Fogerty, Diana Ross, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill have shown they can deliver crowd-pleasing, mini-residencies short in length but high in response.

Beyond the Venetian, every small-scale concert venue in Las Vegas — including Axis at Planet Hollywood, the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and even the under-construction MGM Park Theater — is grasping this idea. If this trend supplants the extended, or open-ended, residencies of years past, fine. We’ll take variety, as long as what’s generated onstage kicks high tail.

That brings us back to Tyler, a man who should be recruited for such a quick-shot run, if he hasn’t been already. “Out on a Limb,” the theater tour by Tyler backed by the burning lineup of Loving Mary, is such a showcase.

As Saturday’s one-off performance opened, the appeal of Tyler as a Strip headliner was evident in about seven seconds, as he arrived onstage with a showgirl on his arm. “This is how you do it in Vegas, right?” he said. I was half-expecting an Elvis impersonator to show up to duet on “Walk This Way,” but Tyler did invoke just enough Vegas flair, remarking to the showgirl in Sinatra-esque fashion, “I’ll see you later,” in a way that made you think he was not kidding.

Steven Tyler Solo Tour: 'Out On A Limb'

Steven Tyler kicks off his solo tour at the Venetian. Launch slideshow »

Grooving easily and singing in his still-remarkable range, the 68-year-old front man and co-founder of Aerosmith ventured “Out on a Limb” in key moments in this 90-minute flurry. sliding in samples of his new album, “We’re All Somebody From Somewhere,” available July 15. The release is fittingly described as “country” but had some robust rock elements, as fresh tunes “Love Is Your Name" and “Red, White and You” indicated. Tyler also unveiled the single, “My Own Worst Enemy,” performed live for the first time at the Venetian.

Elsewhere, Tyler unleashed some of the more highly anticipated Aerosmith classics from the top, with “Sweet Emotion,” “Cryin’” and “Jaded,” and all dealt in the early segments. As the show was to incorporate autobiographical context and influences, he wailed through “Another Piece of My Heart” by Janis Joplin and a rocking Beatles medley of “I’m Down,” “Oh, Darling,” and a favorite Aerosmith cover of “Come Together.”

But this was not a purely autobiographical retelling of Tyler’s career in the same way the Eagles recalled their career in their final “History of the Eagles" tour.

Instead, Tyler’s storytelling was kept tight, as he held conversations with the audience rather than unspooling a chronological account of his path to stardom. In one fun moment, he pointed out a fan he’d met earlier in the day and promised tickets to the show, referring to the guy as “Mr. Vegas!” He also told another guy to “put your shirt back on; I can smell you up here!”

He did mention that the time he met “Toxic Twins” partner Joe Perry for a first performance in 1969, the guitarist picked him up in an MG midget and “was wearing these horn-rimmed glasses.” That night, during a show in Sunapee, N.H., bar called the Barn, Perry’s band covered Fleetwood Mac’s “Rattlesnake Shake.”

“They played it better than the original,” Tyler said before unloading his own cover of the song. Later, he took to the piano for “Dream On,” hitting the high screech at the end of the song as the LED screens showed his hands — fingernails painted black — pumping out the song on piano.

Tyler is off now, cutting across the story to promote this new album and sustain his identity away from his legendary band. But that night at the Venetian, it could be a recurring thing. Keep that showgirl on alert.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow Kats on Instagram Instagram.com/JohnnyKats1.

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