Source: Boston Herald / 8.23.02
by Sarah Rodman
Steven Tyler promised Aerosmith would flame the hometown crowd and last night he and his cohorts in creative cacophony made good on that promise with a scorching set that nicely kicked off their three-night stand at the Tweeter Center. The quintet kicked things off smartly with the spring-loaded tension guitars and screaming release of "Back in the Saddle' and didn't let up until almost two hours later with a jubilant gang-shouted version of "Walk This Way' featuring openers Run-DMC and Kid Rock. In between they packed in a healthy dose of the songs that everyone from bikers to schoolgirls have come to love from their recently released compilation "O,Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits.' The boys in the band played with a jubilant feistiness that had everyone in the sold-out crowd on their feet dancing to the dirty boogie of "Same Old Song and Dance,' bopping to the hard-rock candy sweetness of "Jaded,' banging their heads to "Train Kept A Rollin'' and holding their lighters aloft and their honeys close for power ballad "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing,' which may be maudlin pap, but damn if Tyler doesn't sell that song. As they did last year the guys made their way through the crowd to a satellite stage up by the lawn that was being drenched with rain and did a three-song set of '70s classics, including the harmonica-stoked blues rave-up "Big Ten Inch Record' and everybody's favorite power ballad "Dream On.' Tyler's voice was right on for most of the night, hitting those shredding high notes in "Dream On,' conjuring up that smoky old school growl for "Mama Kin' and joining his voice with indispensable backing from vocalist-keyboardist Russ Irwin for the warped harmonies of "Pink' and "Dude (Looks Like a Lady).' Guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford were equally hot burning up their guitars throughout the night on everything from the thunderous "Sweet Emotion' to a stinging "Walk This Way.' Perry was also firing on all cylinders for his solo spot on the swaggering blues of "Stop Messin Round.' The rock-solid rhythm section of bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer Joey Kramer put the tiger in the tank all night. Kid Rock and his Twisted Brown Trucker Band performed their hip-hop-country rock in an intermittently entertaining, but incredibly energetic and tautly played middle slot that featured most of the Detroit rap-rockers hits and a bunch of covers.
