UAE | Leisure
Aerosmith live at 'Vegas of the East'
The time has come. After nearly four decades, rock super-band Aerosmith will perform their first concert in the Middle East at the Dubai Exiles Rugby Club tonight.
- By I-Cheng Chan, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 May 31, 2007
- Image Credit: Karl Jeffs//Gulf News
- From left: Aerosmith band members Joey Kramer, Steven Tyler, Brad Whitford, Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton during a press conference yesterday.
Dubai: The time has come. After nearly four decades, rock super-band Aerosmith will perform their first concert in the Middle East at the Dubai Exiles Rugby Club tonight.
Excitement has been mounting all week and, after various "sightings" by members of the public, the five-strong group officially made an entrance at a press conference yesterday.
Around 100 journalists turned out for a 10-minute Q&A session at the Shangri-la Hotel with lead singer Steven Tyler, lead guitarist Joe Perry, guitarist Brad Whitford, bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer Joey Kramer.
In good form, the band made jokes and talked freely about their long-lasting career.
'Beautiful, insane'
Tyler, famed for his raspy singing voice and cavernous mouth, described Dubai as the "Vegas of the East".
"It is beautiful, insane," he said."Yesterday I was out riding camels. Last night I was eating camels... and smoking a few," he continued in a lighter vein.
Hamilton was "amazed" to be in Dubai. "We've been together for a while and never dreamed we would be playing in the Middle East. There are countries all over the world that we thought were going to be off limits to rock music, so this is something we are experiencing for the first time."
When describing their career so far, Perry admitted they never thought they would still be playing together 37 years after the band was formed. "We kind of went from day to day and hoped we could pay the rent and feed ourselves without having to get a real job," he said. "We hope we can continue to do just that: play day to day, play to new places like this and play to new fans."
The next leg of Aerosmith's world tour will take them for the first time to Bangalore, India, on Saturday.
Perry said they were fascinated by Indian culture - one of the reasons why they called their company Vindaloo Music - and, following a suggestion from the media, they would consider playing Taste of India while they are there.
Riding on creative euphoria
A select few newspersons were privileged enough to have a one-on-one with Aerosmith but, even then, it was strictly a 10-minute-only affair.
When asked if he had any regrets about his addiction to drugs and alcohol, now behind him, frontman Steven Tyler said: "No, I don't have any regrets. It's interesting, the buzz you get from music: when you play, it is one thing... when you create your own and write, it is another thing and the buzz you get from walking on stage in front of people is a whole other thing.
"You're riding on the euphoria of creativity and some of us have found that that's either all we can do, because the other one damn near killed us, or that that's just going to have to be good enough for now." Speaking of his successful treatment for Hepatitis C last year, he said: "When you are going through that, you do whatever you can to get to the other side and I did," he said.
'Still sing good'
"Now it's non-detectable in my blood stream." Ever the joker, he added: "Nor is there a brain in my cavity but I still sing good."
Last year also saw bass player Tom Hamilton fighting throat cancer. Thankfully, he has now been given the "all clear".
Describing it as "a nightmare", he said it seemed "unreal" looking back.
"I had a very hopeful frame of mind and a lot of confidence in my doctors, and they were really confident they were going to get rid of it. Now I look back on it and think, wow, did that really happen?"
Ending on a lighter note, lead guitarist Joe Perry, who arrived late in Dubai in order to appear on the American Idol final, said he enjoyed playing the Kinks' You Really Got Me with the aspiring singer Sanjaya on the show.
"I knew we were probably going to play India and it would be a good thing to kind of jack him up," said Perry. "He just overwhelmed me with a great personality and I think he's got a future if he works at it. He's got the drive and there's just something about him."
And that's a glimpse into the psyche of a band at full pelt, despite their years. Their world tour next takes them to India, Europe, Russia, Canada and the US - all in the next eight weeks.
The event
- WHAT: Aerosmith World Tour 2007
- WHERE: Dubai Exiles Rugby Club
- WHEN: Tonight
- TIME: 10pm (doors open at 6pm)
- TICKETS: Dh195, Dh295, Dh395 and Dh995.
- CONTACT: www.boxofficeme.com
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