The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, April 4, 1978-Page 7
Aerosmith electrifies Masonic
- U.
-
By TIM YAGLE
IN WHAT was termed a "special per-
formance" by the promoter one of
tye best bands in the world, Aerosmith
sent a capacity crowd at Detroit's
Masonic Auditorium (yes, Masonic) in-
to a frenzy Sunday night.
It was advertised that the band wan-
ted to play to a "small gathering in in-
timate surroundings" before they em-
bark on their U.S. tour later this month.
A five-man band from Boston
(Aerosmith's home base, and what they
were formerly known as), Street,
opened the wild evening with a lot of
high-energy but very unoriginal rock
'n' roll. Their last number was so loud,
you couldn't hear the drums or the
cymbals. The spotlighting was off
during their entire set. But they did a
decent job of getting us ready for one of
Detroit's favorite rockers -
Aerosmith.
MOST OF THE audience was already
on their feet as the five-man
powerhouse came out and broke into a
pulsating rendition of "Rats In The
Cellar."
A tune from Aerosmith's latest album
Draw the Line, "I Wanna Know Why",
followed. Lead guitarist Joe Perry then
showed off llis talk-box talents on the
powerful "Walk This Way." But Perry
wasn't so great during his solo - we
couldn't really hear a lot of it, and what
we could hear didn't have any feeling.
A well-played but not really exciting
"Sight For Sore Eyes" came next and
this song marked the beginning of some
vocal problems with flamboyant
vocalist Steven Tyler. His vocals
weren't very intelligible and weren't
audible. It seemed as if the guitar amps
were overloaded and the strident sound
overpowered the vocals.
"SEASONS OF Wither" from Get
Your Wings was next and things were
just about right here.
Aerosmith recently headlined
"California Jam II" and they played
the intense rocker "Chip Away the
Stone", a single to be released from
that album.
Perry again "mouthed" his talk box
during a decent "Sweet Emotion".
While Tyler and Perry shared the
spotlight here, guitarist Brad Whitford
and bassist Tom Hamilton had the rest
of the dark stage to themselves. They
just stood around and played. When the
spotlight wasn't on Perry, he was cam-
ped in front of drummer Joey Kramer
with his back to us some of the time.
During much of the period they were on
stage, it was as if each member was in
his own cylinder while Tyler flew
around the stage, waving his mike
stand around with multi-colored scar-
ves dangling from it.
THEN THE one-two punch from
Draw The Line - "Get It Up" and
"Draw The Line" hit us. Both sounded
clear and the guitars were crisp. It was
practically non-stop rock from "Sweet
Emotion" to "Draw The Line."
The opening chords of "Dream On"
were played but the band instead
played "Same Old Song and Dance". It
was here that all hell broke loose. The
crowd rushed the stage and it was one
big mob scene up front.
Then Tyler, apparently spotting
someone in the crowd not clapping
yelled, "Whatsa matter? Ya got
hemorrhoids?"
The scorching "Toys In The Attic"
ensued. Here, the crowd got even fur-
ther into the act, yelling "toys!" on
Tyler's cue. This ended their set but the
crowd noise was so loud (and I mean
LOUD) that Aerosmith came back and
started about a third of the way into one
of their biggest hits, the driving "Train
Kept A Rollin' ", with the crowd yelling
"All night long!" It became so loud and
intense at the end that I figured
everyone in Ann Arbor could hear it.
"Train" provided a fitting ending to a
good evening of frenzied Aerosmith
music.
"
"
. i
0
9I'lI"j
Join the
Arts Staff
Styx gives Detroit a
dazzling rock display
INSTANT
WE'RE PAYING
$1 -$2 PER DISC
FOR YOUR ALBUMS
IN GOOD SHAPE.
"RECORDS
OPEN MON.-SAT. 10-6
209 S. STATE
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February 2-4
SIDESIDESONDHEIM
StEicat1 HUnErtaiMnuet
MUSIC & LYRICS BY
STEPHEN SONDHEIM
October 6-8
The, Sound of Music
starring Susan Watson Vincent Edwards Theodore Bikel
November 3-5
0 0--
a .0 '
By TIM YAGLE
STYX IS probably America's hottest
band right now due to the
phenomenal success of their latest
album Grand Illusion. They gave sold-
out Cobo Arena a taste of their success
Friday night in a show that not many
will soon forget.
Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush
began the show with a fair reproduction
of their latest LP Live - a mediocre
live album. The Hendrix classic "Pur-
ple Haze" preceded an incredible finish
with "World Anthem" in which Marino
showed his mastery of the guitar,
producing some unbelievably harsh
bass-like sounds.
During the intermission a Detroit
radio station (WWWW) personality
came out and gave away a beautiful
white sunfish sailboat courtesy of the
show's promoter, W4 and Brass Ring
Productions.
STYX BEGAN their long
Detroit appearance with an exubierAn;
"Grand Illusion", and a Grand Illusion
album cover backdrop. Both got the
night off to a great start.
. "Lorelei" followed but was too loud,
and except for the beginning, I had a
'bard time figuring out it was "Lorelei".
well-played 'Mademoiselle" from
Crystal Ball came next, except the
uitars weren't loud enough in the spots
to make the tune sound really good.
Lead guitarist Tommy Shaw donned
the 12-string guitar and strummed a
lively "Foolin' Yourself". The
background vocals, so integral to the
tune, were just loud enough. Then Shaw
began to talk about looking into the
future and said, "Come look with me in-
to the crystal ball." You guessed it -
the mellow "Crystal Ball" ensued.
STYX SHOWED me a lot of good
things about themselves on stage. Each
member knew exactly what the others
were doing at all times. Their timing
and choreographed movements are
flawless. They know how to conduct
themselves and move around the stage.
Shaw and guitarist James Young would
frequently saunter to either side of the
stage simultaneously, and energize the
crowd with brilliant guitarwork.
I was also very impressed with Styx's
song selections: a pleasant mixture of
old favorites ("Lady", "Lorelei",
"Mademoiselle") and new material
from Grand Illusion.
An exciting "Light Up Everybody"
came next and got the audience buz-
zing. Keyboardist Dennis DeYoung sat
down at his white grand piano and
fooled around for a bit, and then we
suddenly recognized "Lady." It was
totally unexpected, which made the
song sound that much better.
PERHAPS what everyone was
waiting for came at last. The crowd was
captivated during "Come Sail Away,"
which was accompanied by white blot-
ches (resembling clouds) projected on
a screen at the rear of the stage.
An older hard rocking' arrangement,
"Midnight Ride," about a girl who ac-
cepted a ride from a stranger, followed.
Shaw and Young here traded
screeching solos. Unfortunately, the
melody was practically unintelligible
so it sounded like one long, loud noise.
Styx's regular set ended then but the
crowd noise approached the deafening
level, so the band reappeared and per-
formed another hard-rocker crowd-
pleaser - "Miss America." The fren-
zied Styx fans rushed the stage while
the group glidedthrough "Americas.
Even after that, the crowd still
wouldn't leave. The band came back
again and played another precise hard
rocker about a king, in which the con-
fident keyboardist DeYoung had a
sword fight with a roadie, and then the
curtain closed.
I've complimented other bands on
fine performances and stage shows, but
Styx is truly the best I've seen. They
have a great stage manner, and they
know what they're doing. This is one
band that knows how to mix a great
sounding synthesizer and masterful
guitars. It was a treat to watch them.
The'Department of Transportation
has tested a streamlined locomotive
with jet engines and a linear induction
electric motor along a six-mile test
track at speeds up to 255 miles an hour.
DISCO.
Lessons at
DAINCE
SPA CE
314/2 S. State
CALL 995-.4242
for schedule
and registration
information.
F G
Co~4~sS
wKui .Th±1aR84 C
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TICKETS $7.50 - $6.50 Reserved
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A Son of Bamboo Production/Full Moon Production
Al Jarreau will appear, in concert, on
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Tidbits: Wings' new album London
Town," was released wa -wide last Fri-
day . . . the opening act on Steve
Martin's Midwest tour is Ann Arbor's
favorite son, Steve Goodman . . .
Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty"
has just gone platinum . . . to fight
Canada's tax on albums, the Rutles have
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until July 1, 197.
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scription sales, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-5 p.m. For further
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