Courtesy of Ross Halfin
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and lead guitarist Joe Perry perform with the iconic band Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, on opening night of the “Aerosmith: Deuces Are Wild” residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM.
Friday, Sept. 16, 2022 | 2 a.m.
What do Alicia Silverstone, Waybe Campbell, Garth Algar, Joseph Simmons, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz all have in common?
They all have a cameo in the newest Las Vegas Strip residency, “Aerosmith: Deuces Are Wild,” which opened Wednesday at Park MGM.
Five of the six appear in a 12-screen media presentation that preceded the concert. The effort, which included previously unreleased audio and never-before-seen visuals from Aerosmith’s archives, was an entertaining and fact-filled journey that detailed the 50-plus-years history of the band.
Let’s start with Wolfe and Fritz, better known as the “American Pickers” from the History Channel’s series of the same name. In a 2005 episode, the two found themselves in a rural area of Massachusetts and came upon a dilapidated 1965 International Harvester Metro. The green, oversized van had a comic-like character painted on its side with the word “Aerosmith” painted to its right. Turns out it was used by the band in its earliest days, driving from gig to gig.
Simmons, of course, is better known as the Rev. Run, one of the founding members of the hip-hop group Run-DMC, whose 1986 remake of Aerosmith’s 1975 hit “Walk This Way” rocketed up the charts and sparked a revival for the iconic Boston rock band.
Campbell and Algar are better known as Wayne and Garth, the characters immortalized by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey in the “Wayne’s World” skits on “Saturday Night Live.” Aerosmith made a couple of appearances in the skits in the 1970s, and also had a cameo in the “Wayne’s World 2” feature film.
Silverstone is the beauty who starred in such 1990s movies as “Clueless” and “The Crush,” but she might be best known for her role in Aerosmith’s “Cryin’ ” video in 1995. Parts of the video served as a backdrop when Aerosmith performed the hit, four songs into the concert.
Yes, there was a concert. With frontman Steven Tyler and his featured sidekick Joe Perry at front-and-center most of the night, Aerosmith delivered 90 minutes of songs from their heralded career.
Tyler’s well-known addiction problems resurfaced earlier this year after an injury and led to the postponement of the residency’s original June opening. Wednesday night, Tyler didn’t appear as spry as, say, the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger (a young 79), but give him credit: At 74, Tyler still commands the stage while performing, using his mic stand almost like a bishop’s staff in demanding attention.
Perry referred to Tyler as “the demon of screamin’,” and it continues to be an apt moniker for Tyler. His voice was strong and his vocal range was wide throughout the evening.
The band performed hits dating from 1973 (“Dream On”) to 1993 (“Livin’ on the Edge”). It also sprinkled in plenty of songs that, perhaps, didn’t receive as much airtime around their original release dates but nevertheless are held in high esteem by Aerosmith aficionados (“Hangman Jury” and “Seasons of Wither,” to name two). But for a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Stop Messin’ Around,” a bluesy tune sung by Perry, Tyler provided the lead vocals on all of the songs.
The theater was filled to the gills. In addition to the venue’s regular seating on three levels, fans lined two sections of VIP bleachers set up on both sides of the stage. Another VIP section was strategically placed within a triangular extension of the set and offered guests a close-up view of the band from below stage level.
The show had plenty of surprises and special effects to wow the audience, including the emergence of an all-female string quartet for “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” During the rendition of “Toys in the Attic,” from the 1975 album of the same name, giant-sized toys including a stuffed bear, elephant and frog, descended from the theater’s rafters to greet the audience. And, for their penultimate song, “Walk This Way,” Tyler and Perry climbed aboard an inclined catwalk lowered from the rafters, ambled to the top and performed at eye-level with the first row of the theater’s third level.
Back on solid ground after the song, Tyler introduced the rest of his bandmates, Perry, Brad Whitford (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass) and John Douglas (filling in for Joey Kramer on drums for the band's 2022 dates), thanked the crowd for attending and said, “We’ll see you Saturday night.”
As they played Muddy Waters’ “Mannish Boy,” Aerosmith left the stage, and left their opening-night crowd sated.
“Aerosmith: Deuces Are Wild” returns to Dolby Live with performances at 8 p.m. Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Sept. 23, 26 and 29; also Oct. 2 and 5; Nov. 19. 23, 26 and 29; and Dec. 2, 5, 8 and 11. Ticket information is available online at ticketmaster.com/aerosmith.
