THE GOOD
5 (and final). Aerosmith, Farm Show Arena, Harrisburg, December 1976
From among many, many options to wrap up the "good," I selected this as a representation of a legendary band at its peak, akin perhaps to seeing the Stones in '69 (instead of '78), The Who in '70 (as opposed to '82) and the Dead circa '72 (instead of the '80s through early '90s).
This was Aerosmith performing before the self-admitted years of decadent living took their toll, and before the '80s comeback with more pop-oriented music. This was Aerosmith going beyond a Stones/Yardbirds hybrid to develop its own distinctive five-man persona. The sound was good for the mid-'70s, loud but not deafness-inducing; the visuals included a giant "A" lighting up just before the encore, which seemed high-tech for the time; and the song selection drew heavily from the band's best two albums, "Toys in the Attic" and "Rocks."
I had a chance to see the two biggest heavy bands of '76 and selected this one over Kiss. No offense to Gene, Ace, Paul and Peter, but I think I made the right choice.
5 (and final). Aerosmith, Farm Show Arena, Harrisburg, December 1976
From among many, many options to wrap up the "good," I selected this as a representation of a legendary band at its peak, akin perhaps to seeing the Stones in '69 (instead of '78), The Who in '70 (as opposed to '82) and the Dead circa '72 (instead of the '80s through early '90s).
This was Aerosmith performing before the self-admitted years of decadent living took their toll, and before the '80s comeback with more pop-oriented music. This was Aerosmith going beyond a Stones/Yardbirds hybrid to develop its own distinctive five-man persona. The sound was good for the mid-'70s, loud but not deafness-inducing; the visuals included a giant "A" lighting up just before the encore, which seemed high-tech for the time; and the song selection drew heavily from the band's best two albums, "Toys in the Attic" and "Rocks."
I had a chance to see the two biggest heavy bands of '76 and selected this one over Kiss. No offense to Gene, Ace, Paul and Peter, but I think I made the right choice.
1 Comments:
I was at that particular show too. REO Speedwagon was the backup band with Richrath as guitarist. Do you remember someone threw a bag of green leafy stuff on stage, which Tyler picked up and tossed to a stage hand. I still think of that show from time to time. Thanks for the memories.
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