Aerosmith Launch Massive Summer Tour

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Earlier this year, it didn’t seem likely that Aerosmith were ever going to perform together again. Steven Tyler was in rehab for a prescription-drug addiction and wasn’t speaking to his bandmates ”“ who were auditioning new singers and trashing him in the press. “It was a real trying time,” says Tyler. “I don’t know what they were thinking trying to hire a new singer, but after two months in rehab, I told them, ”˜We gotta get the band back together,’ and we made nice-nice.”

Now, with the group’s 42-date tour hitting the US after legs in Latin America and Europe, things between Tyler and his bandmates are a lot better. “There’s still a lot of head-butting,” says Tyler. “It’s like any 40-year marriage.” During the tour’s first US date ”“ at Oakland’s Oracle Arena on July 23 ”“ Aerosmith opened with a frenetic version of 1976’s ”˜Rats in the Cellar’ before powering through two hours of hits and, unusual for the Boston crew, a handful of obscurities.

“We’ve had a lot of requests from the internet for deeper cuts,” says guitarist Joe Perry. “Before each show, we look at the set list from the past two or three years from that city and come up with something different.” The group broke out 1974’s ”˜Lord of the Thighs,’ 1989’s ”˜Monkey on My Back’ and the title track to 1977’s Draw the Line. Perry took the mike to sing a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s 1968 blues cut ”˜Stop Messin’ Round’ after addressing his recent motorcycle accident that sent him to the hospital seven days before the tour launched. “Contrary to rumours, I’m still alive,” he told the crowd. “I don’t want to sound like an old man, but put your helmet on.”

But the emphasis remained on Aerosmith’s arsenal of radio hits. “When you got ”˜Dream On,’ ”˜Sweet Emotion,’ ”˜Walk This Way’ and ”˜Love in an Elevator,’ you can’t leave them out of the set,” says Tyler.

When the tour wraps in September, Aerosmith plan to start work on their first album of new material since 2001’s Just Push Play. One potential hitch: Tyler has been writing songs for his solo debut, and he isn’t sure what he wants to focus on first. “That’s up in the air,” he says. “I’ve always been a little envious of Joe’s solo projects, and I’ve been writing a lot of songs with a lot of different people. But I’m also looking forward to getting in the studio with the rest of the guys again.” Perry says he’s ready to cut another Aerosmith album as soon as possible. “I feel like we haven’t made the best record we can make yet,” he says. “We owe it to ourselves. We owe it to the label. We owe it to our fans.”

Whatever happens with the next disc, there’s another Aerosmith project that’s way -closer to fruition: Tyler’s autobiography, which he says will be out next year. “It’s almost done ”“ I’ve just got to do a couple of rewrites and put it to bed,” he says. “It’s a whole lotta funny, I’ll tell you what.”