| Doors: 6 pm | Show: 8 pm | Tickets: 80,75-178,50 EUR plus fees |

Aero-Vederci Baby The 2017 European Farewell Tour

Founded back in 1970, AEROSMITH have released 15 studio albums so far and sold more than 150 million records worldwide. That makes them one of the most successful rock bands in the world. Now, almost a half century later and with band mates close to turn to 70, AEROSMITH announced their retirement, which is much understandable and more than well-deserved.

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Of course, AEROSMITH would never leave on the quiet and, despite their announcements, I’m sure they won’t leave forevermore. Not yet. But for now, they say: Aero-Vederci Baby! With much ado.
The European leg of the farewell tour offered only three shows for Germany: Munich, Berlin and Cologne. Most shows of the tour were sold out in a twinkling of an eye. No wonder, the farewell-formula always works, even more than once ;) And, compared to the current GNR and Rolling Stones tours, the AEROSMITH tickets are much affordable. They surely could have taken the doubled price and the arenas would have been full though.

And of course, it had to be the hottest day of the year so far, to hit the road towards Cologne. And once again I had luck and made it rather smoothly to the :: LANXESS Arena ::. There was bustling activities outside the arena. Fans hung around the beer stalls like a bunch of grapes, actually an expensive pleasure as the beer was 5 Euro and water 4 Euro (0.4 cup). Inside the arena it was even more expensive. Also the special event price for the parking garages has increased. Controls at the entries were meticulous, ok, doesn’t wonder these days. Lines were long but flowed quickly. Luckily, they had much increased the security staff, not only at the entries but also outside and inside the arena to go on patrol.

To warm the fans up - as if 33°C outside wouldn’t have been enough - :: TYLER BRYANT & THE SHAKEDOWN :: entered the stage to do their best. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, the Blues rockers already supported AC/DC last year, but due to some troublesome drink acquisition, I missed them largely. Ok, second try then.
The guys kicked off the evening with full force and brought a lot of movement and action on stage. Especially drummer Caleb Crosby was a crazy one, stood more on his drum throne or even on his kit than sitting behind. At the end, he snatched one drum and walked down the B-stage while playing. That was funny.
But the dynamic show didn’t hide the fact that TYLER BRYANT & THE SHAKEDOWN have only 2 or 3 great songs, while the rest passed by without any deeper impression. The sound was excellent but the arena was just loosely filled and thus, the response was rather restrained. 45 minutes later the show was over and the band said goodbye with the words: “…check out our music on Instagram…” What? Said Vic: “This is like saying: check out my pics on Soundcloud…” *lol*. Crazy world.
TYLER BRYANT & THE SHAKEDOWN were rewarded with benevolent applause and then everybody ran out to go to the bathroom and to get another drink for the upcoming spectacle.

Well, there was actually no need to run. It took a solid hour till :: AEROSMITH :: entered the stage. Around 13.500 fans became already fretful. But finally, time had come, lights went out and a powerful and gooseflesh causing O Fortuna of Orff’s Carmina Burana thundered through the arena. Wow! On the huge screen (funny) images of the band in their early days flickered. Then, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer appeared on stage and perfectly got into their set with Let The Music Do The Talking. The beginning of an incredibly awesome 90 minutes show that left nothing to be desired (except for the wish that AEROSMITH would never ever stop touring).

The whole band, but especially Steven Tyler performed extremely lively. That was pure energy. And that was pure delight in playing. That those gentlemen would sooner or later turn to 70 wasn’t any second to see. Also Steven’s vocal performance was stunning. If he didn’t reach the high notes he wanted or needed he quickly changed the pitch and thus never sounded out of tune or off-key. Again, wow! I was deeply impressed by this effort.
It was likewise great to see how the band members treated each other. There was so much love and heartiness to sense. That was no show - that was true. Steven Tyler and guitar hero Joe Perry were the perfect entertainment duo and had a lot of fun.

Joe Perry surprised the audience with the Fleetwood Mac Cover Oh Well, he performed all alone, while on the screen behind a short movie featured him with his guitar at the Cologne Cathedral ;)
One hit followed another and the fans celebrated every song frenetically and sang along full-throated. And so I did too. Goose bumps. Meters high. Most of the time.
Did I already mention how great and well-toned Steven Tyler looked? He’s in such an excellent shape. And what a tight butt he has! Such sexy butt I wanna have too when I’m 69! So!

Well, even the greatest show eventually ends, with the show highlight yet to come. A white piano was lifted on top of the B-stage and Steven intoned Dream On as the first encore. Later Joe Perry joined and jumped on the piano doing a great guitar solo. Jumping down it was up to Steven Tyler to jump onto the piano and to swing his micro stand with all the ribbons and shawls. What a scene. At Walk This Way all musicians came to the fore and were enveloped by CO2 jets and a massive cloud of golden glitter. Every musician got introduced again and then they all thanked the audience from the bottoms of their hearts and definitively left the stage.
What I found striking was the fact that hardly anyone left the arena around the last song. Usually, streams of people leave before the encore to get off the parking area and its traffics. No, this time almost everybody wanted to stay till the very end. How great is that?

It was indeed unbelievable to see how AEROSMITH still rock and shake arenas to the core and largely enthuse their fans. And it’s all genuine. Those gentlemen love what they do, and they do it with passion. Yes, there is a concept behind the show but it’s not too smoothly choreographed. There is still room left for spontaneous actions, jokes and mistakes. Very charming.

What’s left to say? If that really was the very last German show, then AEROSMITH bid farewell glorious and spectacular. This is a show to be added to my all-time fave list. I will remember this one for long. Should they ever come back, be sure to find me there then.

Setlist: Let The Music Do The Talking, Young Lust, Cryin', Livin' On The Edge, Love In An Elevator, Janie's Got A Gun, Stop Messin' Around (Fleetwood Mac cover), Oh Well (Fleetwood Mac cover), Mama Kin, Sweet Emotion, I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, Come Together (The Beatles cover), Chip Away The Stone, Rag Doll, Dude (Looks Like A Lady) // Dream On, Walk This Way

story & pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography