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1986-91

November 11, 1982

Details:

The Centrum
Worcester, MA
Promoter: Don Law Company
Other act(s): Pat Travers, Rose Tattoo
Reported audience: 10,820 **SOLD-OUT
Reported gross: $216,694 **both nights

Set list(s):

Unknown.

Notes:

- This show sold-out in minutes, shocking some. Tyler retorted, "We've been away too long. We miss all the bad reviews… This band was always so big, especially in its home area that how can anyone be surprised we wouldn't sell out? I was more shocked by people who thought we wouldn't" (Boston Globe, 11/11/82).
- From a local review: "As brash as ever, Aerosmith has boasted of returning with a bang after a two-year absence from the big arenas. They've sounded almost too cocky — especially in view of their sludgy, scattershot days of old — but they backed up their boast with a convincing thunderclap of a snow Thursday. Rather than lapse into murky metallic sound, inaudible lyrics and clumsy musicianship, which were pitfalls in the past, they shed their old skin and played unexpectedly clear, barn burning rock 'n' roll. There was plenty of grinding pelvic rock — an old Aerosmith trademark — but this time the rock was much sharper, more lively and more rhythmic. It was dance music, not Quaalude Muzak. The reasons for the vast improvement were several — fresh personnel (new guitarists Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay are flashy but electrifying); time spent in rehearsal (two months rather than the few days of prior tours); and a solid recommitment from charter members Tom Hamilton on bass, Joey Kramer on drums and, most emphatically, Steven Tyler on lead vocals. Looking his androgynous self in a purple Edwardian dandy suit with flowing tails, Tyler, fully recovered from a motorcycle accident, whipped the band into one peak after another. Thanks to a superb sound system that boomed the music but did not distort it, Tyler was audible on every song, whether belting his witchy tales of hedonism, scratching out a blues phrase or throwing in soulful hysteria on the back-to-back 'Sweet Emotion' and 'Dream On,' two of the band's best-known hits which came midway through and prepped the capacity 13,500 crowd for a savage stretch drive. But Tyler was hardly the night's only focus. Crespo's rapid-fire slide guitar riffs were galvanizing (he's a much cleaner player than former axeman Joe Perry), as was Dufay's crunching rhythm guitar and not infrequent lead licks of his own. Dufay was also a great crowd-pleaser, stalking the stage with a wireless guitar, spinning around and often challenging the other musicians in face-to-face duals. Songs were chosen from every phase of the band's 12-year career. Oldies were raved up considerably (from the appropriate opener 'Back in the Saddle' to an all-out 'Walk This Way,' while new ones leapt out of the speakers with more intensity than the new album 'Rock in a Hard Place' would indicate. Regardless of how skeptics view the band's machismo (there were no feminists in the, crowd, that's for sure), Aerosmith put on the finest high-energy' display since AC/DC. Hard rock lovers are urged to scoot out to Worcester for a repeat show Tuesday" (Boston Globe, 11/13/82).

Of Interest: