Live-Report: AEROSMITH - The Global Warming Tour (O2 World Berlin, 09.06.2014)

It seems like all those big rock legends love Berlin these days. It's stunning how many great bands played in the capitol of Germany a few days ago. Everything started with Black Sabbath (June 8th). Yesterday (June 10th) the Rolling Stones played their asses off and in just two weeks Bon Jovi guitar-hero Richie Sambora visits the city, too (Live-Report will follow). Yeah and another legend came to town: the "bad boys from Boston", Aersomith, visited Berlin during their Global Warming tour on June 9th, 2014! It was my first Aerosmith show and I waited a very long time to see them live ... up to 12 years.


You know, Steven Tyler & Co. don't travel that often to Europe. It must have been 7 years since their last visit. So an Aerosmith show is something really special here in Germany. The concert took place in the O2 World arena. The venue was packed with around 15.000 people. It looked quiet impressive. To my surprise the audience was very young. I expected to see much more people of the "older generation", but that shows that Aerosmith is still an iconic and timeless band.

Before Aerosmith started their show the support act Walking Papers tried to warm up the crowd. It was a pretty solid performance, but their music wasn't really my cup of tea. It was classic blues rock. Aerosmith have also lots of blues elements in some of their songs, but not as much as Walking Papers. The band rocked, but I missed some great melodies to sing along. But I don't want to judge them because it's simply not my favorite style of music.

Before the headliner of this evening entered the stage, we got a glimpse into the backstage area. That was really refreshing and a very different way to start a show. The camera moved to every band member and each one greeted the audience. Suddenly the cam turned to the crowd and captured lots of  fans, which led to some very funny moments when the people saw themselves on the big screen.

I was one of the lucky ones who were standing in the first row (at the big catwalk). It was an awsome feeling when suddenly Joe Perry and Steven Taylor were standing right in front of me, while playing the first song "Train Kept A-Rollin'". Lots of the action took place on this catwalk ... at least when it comes to Tyler and Perry. The other bandmembers remained more in the background. That was a bit sad, but the focus was definietely on the "Toxic Twins" Steven and Joe. Tyler has still an impresse vocal range and sounds still like he did in the 80's. His performance was top notch. It's unbeliavable how a 66 year old man can deliver such a high-energy show. Together with his extravagant outfit he really showed what a Rock superstar is all about.

Same goes to Joe Perry. He is a guitar-god. Point! I've rarely seen such a talented player, who looks so damn cool and has so much entertainment in his blood. To all those young wannabe guitarists out there: take a look at Joe Perry and you know how it's done! The rest of the band sounded also really tight. Brad Whiteford on guitar and Tom Hamilton on bass were both great, but these guys have become pretty old. You know, they didn't move that much like the other two guys and so they remained somewhat pale. Joey Kramer on drums kicked also much ass, so all in all the performance was fantastic and the band was in great shape.

When it comes to the setlist Berlin got the longest set here in Europe during this tour so far. Aerosmith played 21 songs at this evening and it was a very good mixture with songs from every decade. "Eat The Rich", "Love In An Elevator", "Cryin'", "Jaded" and "Toys In The Attic" were a blast and made the whole crowd sing-along. With "Janie's Got A Gun" and "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" the band slowed down a bit, just to start the next Rock'n'Roll attack with "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and "Walk This Way". With these two songs the show reached its climax. 

The encore featured two more songs: For "Dream On" a piano was brought on the stage and it wasn't only used for playing. After a few minutes Perry jumped on it and delivered another great solo. With "Sweet Emotion" the show was coming to an explosive end. Confetti rain covered the audience and after two hours of pure entertaining Rock'nRoll the band said goodbye.

So, there is no doubt that this night was awesome and nobody should miss Aerosmith on their tour, but there were also two little things that annoyed me a bit. First of all: there were three or four cinematographers, who were running around and on the stage and the band perfomed way too often into those cameras. For sure it was good for the big screen in the background but sometimes it felt like they would shoot a DVD or a music video, so the interaction with the crowd remained on track sometimes. Many big bands work  with cameras, but they still perform to and for the audience and not into cams. Then there were some little problems with the sound. Sometimes it was a bit too loud and shrill for my ears (especially on high notes).

To come to an end: Aerosmith proved that they are still one of the biggest Rock'n'Roll bands on this planet and I just can recommend you to check them out on their current tour. These guys have stood the test of time and outdo many younger bands. So, buy your ticket (to fair prices by the way) and celebrate 40 years of Hard Rock history!
  
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Setlist:

01. Train Kept A-Rollin'
02. Eat The Rich
03. Love In An Elevator
04. Cryin'
05. Oh Yeah
06. Jaded
07. Livin' On The Edge
08. Last Child
09. Rag Doll
10. Freedom Figther (Joe Perry on vocals)
11. Same Old Song and Dance
12. Toys In The Attic
13. Janie's Got A Gun
14. I Don't Want To Miss A Thing
15. No More No More
16. Come Together
17. Big Ten Inch Record
18. Dude (Looks Like A Lady)
19. Walk This Way

Encore:
20. Dream On
21. Sweet Emotion 

http://www.aerosmith.com/
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