After some unexpected time off a few weeks ago due to some bronchial bogosity we were back in business and headed to New York City. There's something about that place that makes me think of all the times we've been there for shows, recording, press, videos and whatnot. I sometimes find myself measuring myself when I go there. When we started doing stuff in New York way back in the beginning I felt very much like a country boy out of place. I found myself riding in taxicabs to huge skyscrapers where the record company sat on its throne deciding who gets their dream and who gets the door. I wasn't sure I measured up. I have to admit I wasn't that career oriented. I was as hungry to make it as anyone else in the band but I guess I didn't take it seriously enough to realize it was going to take more than us all being good on our instruments. We'd have to get used to hanging out in office buildings sitting around conference tables with people in suits and ties. It wasn't until we had a couple of hit albums and some sold out Madison Square Gardens that I realized that me and NYC were peers.

I think of that stuff when we play there but this time was a little different because along with seeking the love of that city we were bringing in a load of our own. It's hard to see something or someone we look up to get hurt. We feel sad but we also feel our own vulnerability. If a heroic being like NYC can get hurt then what about us?

We've been looking forward to this gig just like all the times before but this time we were also looking forward to paying our respects. We got in the night before the show so we'd be ready for all the stuff that was going on the next day. It was a Sunday night and nothing was going on so my wife and I decided to wander around the city. We headed across the park and did some retailing on Madison Avenue and then went to a groovy new restaurant. I can't remember the name of it right now but it was very cutting edge. I ordered the fish and when it came that's just what it was. I looked down to see a decent size whole bass staring at me with a look of regret on its face. The back had been torn open and stuffed with its own meat and some tasty ingredients. I usually like my fish with no head and no tail. I'm not big on the flippers either. Ten minutes later, Fishy was empty and my stomach was full. Scrump-diddly-umtious. We decided to walk back to the hotel. It was nice out and the ten or fifteen blocks back were melting away when off to our left, rushing cross-town was a NYPD blue and white speeding toward us with the lights and siren blazing. We stepped back onto the curb and as we were waiting for it to go by it suddenly came screeching to a halt. It wasn't actually screeching but it did come to a halt. Right in front of us. Then out of the window someone yelled "Hey AEROSMITH!" The next thing I knew a guy in a suit and then another and then another were out of the car telling me they were fans and could we take a picture. I'm gonna say no? I highly doubt it. (I wouldn't say no anyway.) We had a quick conversation about the band and then one of them gave me a card. I told him that we were anxious to go down to ground zero. He said to call him and if they weren't on an emergency they might be able to take us down there. After mutual thanks they hopped into the car and took off with lights and sirens. Wow, real live New York detectives! What great television! Hey, we're not watching television!

The next day was the show day and everybody was beyond pumped. We had been waiting for this one and wanted it to be a statement. New York City is in its finest hour right now and it was such a bump for us to be bringing our trip into town and hopefully taking part. We spent the afternoon getting ready for a stop over at MTV for TRL. Just Push Play has been all over the place with the Dodge commercial so we decided to release it as a single. It would be a good opportunity to get the news out. We had a good time. The audience for that show is awesome. They're there to go nuts and they do it well. It feels great to get such a pure hit of the love for music. From there it was over to MSG and I don't mean Chinese food. Madison F-ing Square Garden! It's just another show right? Maybe that's what YOU think but what I'm saying is that in a few hours we were going to play at MADISON FREAKIN' F-ING SQUARE FRICKIN' GARDEN!! The audience in New York actually reminds me of the audience in San Francisco. There's a bigger jeans and t-shirt percentage in these two places. I think they take their rock and roll a little more seriously. I'm not saying that's good or bad, as a matter of fact I don't even know why I brought it up. I'm trying to remember the show that night and this is what my memory of a memory spat out. Other than that I just remember that we played a good show and hopefully gave the audience what they came for.

We play "Livin' on the Edge" every night and every night I get the chills when Steven sings "There's something wrong with the world today…" It rang really true that night. There's obviously a lot wrong with the world but I get a lot of hope from looking at the crowd, and realizing even in these times people want to get together and revel in rock. The next day we did a marathon of interviews. We went over to Sony Studios where one of the rooms had been set up with microphones and big fluffy chairs. Here we would sit for about five or six hours and do live interviews via satellite with individual radio stations around the country. We had some guitars and percussion stuff in case we felt like playing and a gallon of strong coffee in case we felt like talking. We got hooked up to our first station and commenced to answerin' questions and a tellin' stories. We even played for a few of them. Played that song by Jeff Beck called Jeff's Boogie. Been a doin' that one since our baby band days. Six hours later we finished our last one and split.

As soon as I got back to the hotel I paged one of the detectives we met the other night. He sounded kind of surprised that I called but went on to say that it was a quiet night and they could take us down to Ground Zero. On the way down there were three officers and us two in the back. We drove on and on and they told us about some of the interesting assignments they'd been getting lately. All of a sudden I saw bright lights up ahead at the end of the next block and then we were there. We parked outside of the perimeter and walked in past the checkpoints where the trucks would go in and out. They each had to be washed down by these guys in what looked like orange space suits. I guess I kind of stared because one of them had paused and was watching us head in. The lights up ahead were getting brighter and then I noticed a huge red crane sitting quietly in the suddenly frigid air. As we approached and stopped at the bottom of it the scene opened up into what even now doesn't seem possible. The huge open area in front of us was completely lit by giant xenon lights, the same as those used in film making. I think they're supposed to be the closest thing to daylight. We were at one of the corners of the huge wound that was once the Trade Center. A couple of the guys told me about when they responded on Sept. 11 and how it's already changed a lot. Way off in the far corner of this giant ocean of debris, one of the bug like machines that we've all seen on CNN was carefully digging where a group of NYFD were pouring water. All around the perimeter were heavily damaged buildings illuminated by the xenon lights. They had a bluish black coating on them that almost looked fake, like a film set. It gave them a dull consistent appearance that challenged the eyes. My brain tried to see all of what was in front of us but I just couldn't. Even though I knew I was staring at reality, I just couldn't get it. It was too big both in size and in the depth how of horribly wrong it was. A group of NYFD walked by silently and gave a sad hello with their eyes. We nodded back and struggled to think of something to say but it turned out that silence was the only thing to say. After about fifteen minutes or so a uniformed officer came over and quietly reminded us that we shouldn't stay too long. We took the cue and turned to walk back to the car. I swear I could feel the sadness of it pulling on my back to make sure we didn't forget how many deeply hurt people were created in this place. I hope its okay for me to be writing this. The area is now sacred ground and means more than I can fathom to a lot of people. We thanked the Detectives as they dropped us off and I asked if they wanted to come to the show in New Jersey. It seemed to be the natural thing to do and this was the first time it came up. They said they would see if they could get time to do it and they'd get back to me.

The next night at the Meadowlands we took all the emotional energy of our time in NY and spewed it out onstage. We felt good about having been to the area and wanted to show it to the NJ fans. A few songs in I spotted the NYPD guys and it was good to see that they were able to make it. We had a great night and got a chance to do some power schmoozing after the show.

I think the new name of the venue is the Continental Airlines Center. All the venues around the country are being renamed after corporate sponsors. In Boston it's the Fleet Center, in Providence it's the Dunkin' Donuts center. Just once I'd like to see one of these places called the Tampax Center or maybe the Acme Toilet Paper Center for the Performing Arts. Not likely.

On a miscellaneous note I want to mention a couple of things that happened in Detroit over the summer. We were doing meet and greet before the show at Pine Knob or whatever it's called now. The Barfin Exhaust Pipe center or whatever. We met a woman who had lost her hearing about twelve years ago. She recently had surgery that restored her hearing and our show was her first concert since. Really gets the thing goin' I'll tell ya. A few weeks later we played at the Palace of Auburn Hills and received a visit from two members of the Michigan Law Firm of Bad, Brash and Brutal, Mr. Ted Nugent and Mr. Kid Rock. They came up and jammed on Walk this Way and actually behaved very well together. It was a blast. The mob loved it.

On a confessional note, I had just sent my bags down to the lobby one day before checking out and started thinking of how funny it would be to pack your luggage, send it down and an hour later realize you forgot to leave out a pair of shoes. How lame it would be! Ha Ha Ha! A week later I did it. Luckily our tour manager wears the same size. They didn't match my bag but hey it was better than barefoot.

TH

We did our first show in Japan last night. I've been waiting for the jet lag bug to bite but it hasn't happened. Maybe my body clock is so trashed it doesn't even bother getting disoriented anymore. I wish I could say the same for Joey. He had to do the gig with a major flu. Nothing like being 12,000 miles from home and having the grunt. The ironic thing is that he played great - as did the whole band, if it's okay to brag a little.

We got in four nights ago and were greeted at the airport by a gang of hyper-fans. It's really cool to know every time we come here the fan reaction is guaranteed to be on a level beyond anywhere else. It really makes the 13 hour flight worth it. The places where we're playing are gigantic domed stadiums. They're so huge you could race helicopters in them. We went over to the venue early enough to do a half hour sound check. Actually it was 25 minutes of gaping and 5 minutes of playing. When I walked out onto the stage Joe had already been up there for a while checking out the network of floor monitors on the main stage and along the massive ramps that snaked out into the seats. We had our usual thrust that goes straight out from the front of the stage. We also had long ramps that went out from the sides. The front row in these places is so wide that you could have a first row seat and hardly be in the same city. Anyway, Joe doesn't use in-ear monitors so he had to walk the lengths and make sure the thirty or forty monitor cabinets were set to his liking. While he did that the rest of us just stared at the irony. All I could think about was how far we were from the Barn way back when we started. Back then it was the Holy Grail to be able to play the Barn (in New Hampshire).

I looked up and stared at the high tech freaky ceiling there in the Osaka Dome and felt like I was in a scene from Independence Day. It had that funky, massive, mother-ship kinda look. Three hours later, when we went on, it was the same only filled with smiling, rockin' screamin' faces. The Japanese fans are so intent on hearing every bit of what we do they don't seem to cheer as long or as loud as fans do in other places. It was disconcerting when we first came here in the late 70s but over time we've come to understand it and actually dig it. We've been told that the everyone is making sure they don't miss anything. It feels good when an audience is so into the details.

Like I said, Joey was illin' but you couldn't tell. He was in the pocket on every song and it gave the rest of us the confidence to do our best. My main memory of the gig was how far away from the stage the ramps took us when we wandered out onto them. You really had to watch your timing or you might get caught out there after the song ended. Steven and Joe had it sussed quickly, of course. Looking back at the stage was bizarre. The band would be way over there just rocking out. It was the first time I've seen the band from such a distance that it was like being in the audience. Our lighting, sound and stage crews did an amazing job. Everything had been planned so well that the quality of the production rose to the size of the place. There was one moment in the show where everything was clicking so well it made the place seem suddenly small, although only for an instant.

So, as usual it's an adventure being in Japan. Now that we're dialed in we're looking forward to the second show here at the Osaka Dome tomorrow night. Many thanks to the Japanese fans!

Sayonara,

TH

It seemed like our January tour of Japan ended just a short time ago and yet it's been almost six months. Meanwhile where did we just get back from? That's right: Japan. We did a one show tour. Definitely the shortest trip we've made there.

The flight there is about eleven hours long but it seems shorter every time.

We flew to Chicago to make our Tokyo connection and as we waited in the boarding area I did my pre flight check list. Magazines? (representing the full range of moral classification) Check. Book? Check. Gum? Yup. Already tired from starting packing too late and not getting sleep the night before? Check.

After the meal era of this epic flight I fell into the sleep of the sitting dead. I didn't wake up until we were on approach and everybody else was finishing breakfast. As a result of getting so much sleep, I felt eerily good as we waved to the fans at the airport and got in the vans for the one hour (on a good day) ride into Tokyo.

After checking in a bunch of us went out for Korean Barbecue which is like a cookout except you're inside and the grill is in the middle of the table. We started with some salad, rice and a spicy cabbage dish called Kimchee. After dispensing with this politically correct part of the meal we told the waiter we were ready for the meat. A minute later he skated in with a plate covered in thick, raw, red chunks of former cow. Right behind him was another waiter with a special ultra slippery kind of meat that looked like fat with a few red spots. This stuff made a Whopper look like tofu. We were starving. Everybody would put a chunk on the grill and then politely guard it like a crack addict with his pipe. We managed to order just the right amount. We all got full but ended up two or three wads this side of stuffed.

I savored the ride back to the hotel. I realized that one of my favorite things to do in Tokyo is drive around. Every block has something interesting to check out. I'm a car freak and this city is a car freak's dream. Most of the cool cars that I recognized were done up really cool and the rest of them were great because I've never seen them at home in the states. Every once in a while you'd see a Benz or a Bimmer done up like something from the Fast and the Furious. Then you'd see a Japanese car like the ones we see every day in the States and then you'd see another one that looked like nothing you've seen before and probably never will. If all the different models of Japanese cars and trucks were brought into the States there'd be no room left for people.

We got back to the hotel and after signing some autographs for a few die-hard fans I retired to my chambers. My five hour night's sleep on the plane suddenly evaporated and as I realized it was almost 1:00 A.M. I got into my jammies. After watching CNN and BBC World (the only channels in English) for a couple of hours the news was all starting to repeat so I took that as my cue to become unconscious. I broke out a book on history and a few short pages later I was out.

The next day was for press and sound check. Some of us left early to go down to this cool area of the city nicknamed the Black Market. There are endless tiny streets full of tiny shops with lots of cool stuff for not too much. There's a watch place down there that we like that is just wallpapered with every interesting timepiece you can imagine - from cheap to high high end. I set my eyes on one with a picture of Chairman Mao. His arm is attached to whatever it is on the inside that ticks so he waves with a snapping back and forth action. Very funny. It made me wonder how our fans might like a version that has the band on it. We could have a hand with a pick in it snapping back and forth or maybe Steven's jaw. I'm still wearing mine and I wish I had picked up a few more of them. It only cost me thirty bucks and as of this moment it's still running.

We arrived at Tokyo stadium in the mid afternoon. At least that's what the clock said. My inner clock was having a fight with reality. I felt pretty coherent but every once in a while I would find myself staring into space and then suddenly wake up. "Ha ha," said my body, "you think you're so smart dragging me all over the place."

Luckily I was a little more awake when we reported into one of the dressing rooms for our first interview. It was for TV, so spacing out in the middle of a question or an answer was not an option. We're getting pretty good at knowing when it's time to wrap up a sentence and pass it off somebody else. Hopefully they're awake at the moment.

The concert was billed as the official concert of the World Cup. Oh, did I mention that it was the reason we came over in the first place? It was actually quite an honor to be picked to play the official gig of something the whole world (even many Americans) was glued to. They asked us to say something about the people who run all the Soccer events around the globe. It's an organization called FIFA which stands for Something Something Football Association. I decided to have some fun with the language situation. The way they were saying Football Association sounded like Fruitbowl association. I made them repeat it a few times: "Fruitbowl Association?" I asked. "Football Association," they would say. Fruitbowl Association? Football Association! "Oh, Football Association." What a blast. Suddenly out of nowhere Steven launched into an FIFA greeting thing that just sprayed into the camera. Leave it to the pro.

After a few more interviews we popped in our ear monitors and headed out to the stage. It had been raining for a while so everything was covered and protected. Between our crew and the local stage guys every bit of equipment worked perfectly. We ran down a few songs including "Girls of Summer" and the "Spiderman Theme" which is right now my favorite song to play live. I looked forward to seeing how the fans would like it. As I've pointed out before, the Japanese fans are way into hearing different esoteric Aerosmith-isms so I knew they'd be interested. We had done a couple of rehearsals before we came over to Japan and it paid off because they both sounded good. We did a little jamming while, on the side of the stage, the crew pointed to their watches to let us know we had a hard curfew and we were about to pass it. Not only that but the steady drizzle turned into a steady rain so we bailed. We all gave each other a look that said "hope this don't happen tomorrow night" as we climbed into the vans for the ride back to the hotel.

Sure enough we all woke up to the steady drizzle (sounds like an STD). Hey we've played in the rain many times before. There's a weird phenomenon that usually makes the weather clear up right as we go on. It's been true ever since I can remember, even going all the way back to the Barn days when we first started. I remember noticing it way back. Even before Aerosmith was a band. Maybe there's a weird memory thing that won't let me remember the wet ones. Woodstock '94 is an exception. It pissed on us the whole show.

The actual World Cup gig in Japan was organized by Udo Artists who are the promoters we've played for since we first came to Japan in 1977. Their experience really paid of because included in the ticket price was a poncho. As I snuck up on stage to hear the first band I saw the audience and it was just an ocean of white ponchos. It was actually pretty cool looking. It almost looked like a production effect on a grand scale. The band we played with is called the B'Z and they are excellent. They've been around for a while and I realized we've met them many times over the last few years. I think this was the first time we've actually played with them but I may be wrong. If I am I hope we hear from the fans and I'll set the record straight. They were really tight and it made me reflect on the fact that we haven't done a show since January. Better break out the full range of hard learned Aero tricks 'cause we needed to be on our toes following these guys.

After hanging backstage and showing off my new watch it was suddenly time to get into the pattern. I wanted to spend a lot of time warming up the fingers so I just picked out some decent duds and donned 'em. A few minutes into warming up I felt thankful that I've stayed in practice over the last few months. There's no way practicing is the same as a full-on gig though, so I cranked away and got the blood flowing. I could hear Steven doing his warm-ups too. It was coming through the wall. Man, that guy has a loud voice. I knew Joey was somewhere bangin' away on a practice pad and undoubtedly Joe and Brad were somewhere flippin' the phalanges.

Before I knew it, it was time to take a pre-show leak and hit the hallway.

Mr. Udo who has been in the biz way longer than us waited by the stage door and made sure to warn each of us not to slip on the wet walkways to the stage. He is always right by the stage door when we go on and when we come off making sure we know this is all a special event for him too. That's why we love the guy.

As we walked toward the stage I could hear the rain bouncing off the canopy above us. Pretty soon we were at the ramps and climbing up to where we get our guitars and double check our monitors. It was a great feeling to be up there surrounded by the crew going through their technical rituals, making sure everything was tight and right. We did the secret handshakes and just simply walked out on stage. The crowd was ready and spotted us the second we emerged and went into the pre-show roar.

Joe had already started the beginning of Back in the Saddle while we were backstage so by the time we popped out there it was time to just barge into it. I love opening the show with that one. We've done it before and we'll do it again. We had a special platform set up for the Aero Cafe which is for hard core fan club members. Behind them going for what seemed like miles was the fifty thousand brave soldiers in their white uniforms. I enjoyed thinking that it looked like a giant choir meeting.

As we blasted away I noticed that it was still raining. Oh well, bad hair day times five comin' up. But sure enough we played four or five numbers and the rain just wasn't there anymore.

We got through the whole show in style. Even the new songs sounded burned in. Spiderman is great to play. It makes me think about back when. I would get a couple of comics and a few bags of M&M's and sneak up to my room and OD on candy and fantasy, I'll tell ya, the way things happen..

So everything went really well. We got back to the hotel later and it was packed with people checking in for the final game on the following Sunday. For the last few days it had been deserted except for the hardcore Aero-fans waiting to take pictures and get autographs. Now they had to fight with the soccer fans for space in the lobby.

So that was our one gig tour of Japan. As always it was a great experience and we're thankful to the aero fans and all the people helping to make it a good trip. I guess we won't be there for a while. Gotta let the hunger build up again before they ask us back. We'll be waiting with bags packed.

TH

I can't believe we've been out for three weeks already. It feels like three days. I guess I better make sure I know the songs.

Let's see, we started out in New Jersey at PNC. More specifically Holmdel. I assume it's close too a big city but I'm not sure which one. It must be a big one because it was packed that night.

We're really blown away by the fact that people are coming to see us play in cities that we've already done in the last year or so. We're out with Run-D.M.C and Kid Rock and I'm sure they're helping fill the seats. I love the synergy we've got going with those guys. Mostly I love it 'cause I get to use the word "synergy". I think we should have called the tour the Rock Hop tour. We start out with a Rap act then there's a combination Rock Hip Hop act then us being the Rock guys. Neat little formula there.

At the end of the show we've been having all those guys come back up for a finale of "Walk This Way". I love watching Jay do his thing on the turntables. One night I went over to where his turntables are set up to check out how he does that thing and hung out for the whole song. The next night I went over there and he started pointing at me and then the turntable. "Wow," I thought, "maybe he wants me to try it!" The same thing happened the next show. When I got over there he waved me over like he wanted to say something. "This is it", I thought, "I hope I do it right!" I leaned over and he yelled: "No stompin' around near the turntables". So much for my big chance.

So the PNC gig went well. It was the first show of the tour so there were plenty of opportunities to screw up and we used a few of them. Luckily we're getting good at not letting the audience know it.

So we tried Young Lust into F.I.N.E. for the beginning of the show. The audience seemed to be into those songs for a few minutes, then we started getting the "we like these songs but we'd rather hear something else" vibes. Maybe I'm paranoid. It's hard to tell. Usually the crowd is glad you're finally on stage so they're open to almost anything for the first song. Then hopefully in the second song the engine starts running for real. Whatever, I hope they dug it. What the hell, we had fun playin' 'em. And, ya know what? We'll play 'em any time we want to damn it. YEAH.....!!!!! They're both great to play live so maybe we'll pop one or both of 'em in somewhere else in the set. So that covers the first gig. Now what...?

Oh yeah, the album. Which is called "Oh Yeah" by the way. I'm pretty sure you knew that. People seem to dig it. It's got our statistically greatest hits spanning the whole career without a big empty hole in the middle where our Geffen hits would go. Instead they're all in there together. It caught me by surprise to hear the Columbia songs and the Geffen songs together in one hunk. It was a new context and I was liking the way they all sounded next to each other. Plus everything was remastered much hotter. Does this sound like a sales pitch yet? I might have slipped onto that mode without even knowing it. Gross.

Someday maybe we'll do a Greatest Hits of all our songs that haven't been hits yet!!! What a great idea! How about Greatest Songs You like But Don't Know it Yet Because You Were so Busy Listening to Greatest Hits. What a list I could make. As a matter of fact why don't you make a list and send it in. I'm gambling that you'd know where to send it because right now I can't think of it. It's on the site somewhere.

So back to the other subject and none too soon. The band is playing really well. Tight but loose. Tempos in the pocket going for the feel thing. Fast yet slow, loud but infinitely quiet, bombastic yet understated, snotty yet modest, lugubrious yet arid.

Okay here we are at the gig in Scranton PA. We just finished a great set and everybody in the band is thinking about how tight we're playing the songs this time out. Everybody's stretching a bit, taking little risks here and there, popping in little riffs. The band as a whole and individually is feeling the need to make a creative statement. Something's brewing...

We've been to Boston, New York, New Jersey and a lot of other great places. Boston, as usual, was an insane mix of a rabid audience and foaming at the mouth guests. It's hard to find the time to really say hi to everybody back stage. I usually feel a little guilty the next day as I remember everyone who was there and wonder if I said hi or just squeezed past with a desperate look on my face as I made for the dressing room. I think everybody is pretty understanding. It's just the nature of the gig.

I hope you all liked the Behind the Music VH-1 just did. I found it uncomfortable to watch so that probably means it was interesting. They did a great job on it. It's hard to go over all that history again and again but it's there and always will be.

Day off today then tomorrow night - Cleveland. Hasta lumbago,

Saint Louis feels like it was only about a week ago. The normal cycles of measuring time are a little blurry out here. When we're home weekdays and weekends are more defined so you can the days and weeks going by. On the road I can tell Fridays and Saturdays because the audience is louder. Weekdays are a little vague sometimes requiring conscious thought.
St. Louis is always a party and a half. The crowd showed up ready to roll and we just went out there and wallowed in their energy. For some reason I've been checking out how many people in the audience have plastic cups in their hands. I never really paid that much attention to it, believe it or not. I was up there thinkin' about how we must go good with beer. Like a football game or a hot dog. I actually feel proud of that. I am not being facetious.
By the way, how St. Louis ever got named after a saint is a mystery to me.

The next gig was Nashville which is kind of Disney-esque for us because there's tons of great music and guitars there. The show was a blast. We had some famous country musicians that came to see us. Wynona Judd was there as were Steven's heroes the Everly Brothers. For the string twangers in the band we had one of the Jedi Knights of guitar history, Duane Eddy. He goes a long way back and he originated some of the classic guitar sounds that people are still using today.

After Nashville we took a left on the ol' map and went out to Kansas City. A bunch of us went to dinner on the night off in a trendy shopping kind of area. After gorging ourselves for a spell we decided to take a walk. The streets were full of people strolling around in the balmy breeze. It's fun to watch people when they see Steven and suddenly realize they've seen his face somewhere or in the case of that milk ad, everywhere.

We managed to find a side street where we could be incognito. It was a quiet street but from somewhere in the distance we heard music. It sounded like guitar and, why yes, It's something familiar. Yes!, could it be?...my God it is!.. it's...Dream On. We came around a corner and right in front of us was a street musician playing and singing Dream On! Before he saw us, I grabbed Steven and gave him the sign language for "Let's sneak up on the guy." We walked wide as we crossed the street and managed to get right behind him undetected. Right at the chorus Steven came around from behind, grabbed the mike and started singing. It took a few seconds before the guy believed what he was seeing. In the meantime pedestrians began to gather and cars began to slow down. The street musician now had a look on his face that said, "my pants just got heavy," but he kept playing and got all the parts right. We threw some bills into his guitar case and kept walking. We snuck down another side street but to no avail. It was a dark street but our way was lit the whole time by flashbulbs. How many kinds of cardboard cameras are there anyway?

We got into Virginia Beach sometime in the middle of the night after the Charlotte show. Everybody was looking forward to the next day because we were invited to take a tour of the aircraft Carrier Harry S. Truman.
Thank God we didn't have to pry ourselves out of bed early. Just for the day the Navy was kind enough to schedule us for 2:00 in the afternoon. Nice Rock and Roll time-frame, although we would have skipped the hotel and gone straight there if we had to. It was something we had been looking forward to for a while.

The first thing that you think when you get in front of one of these things is that it can't actually be floating. It's a building for God's sake. And it's made of steel! And as you look up you start counting how many stories high it would be if it actually were a building. I was lost in that fog when I heard the voice of a Navy officer introducing himself.
After a few handshakes and how ya doin's we were walking up the gangway. I think that's the right name for the ramp that gets you onto a ship. Or is it the plank? I hope not cause we was walkin' it.
Seconds later were headin' thru the hatches on our way to the Admiral's quarters. I can honestly say that I've never met an Admiral before. We continued through a narrow tunnel with big metal doors every twenty or thirty feet. Everything is made so it can be closed off in case of an emergency. Come to think of it, the whole idea of this ship is dealing with emergencies. And causing them for other people.
The Admiral's quarters is a group of rooms just big enough for a small group of people to meet. In the middle of a world full of stark blue and white these rooms were like being at someone's house. It was kind of like being in the dressing room, right down to the deli trays. It's interesting how there are so many activities in life that involve a deli tray. I swear we hardly ever do anything without one. I'm surprised we don't have one onstage. I wonder if the Navy people have one up on deck while they're launching jet fighters into the heat of distant battle.

We waited with the impeccably uniformed, rock and roll obsessed, max energy PR officer who brought us on board. After a couple of minutes the Skipper and the XO came in and took over the room. These are the people who command everything and everybody within the armored walls of this floating city. This ship is so huge they should name it as it's own continent. They appeared as really friendly, steady people. But you could tell that under their hospitable outside there was an inside packed with whatever puts a person in charge of something that could blow so much up so fast.
After a little small talk it was time to check out the rest of the ship. They led us down the hallways of hatches until we came to a dark room with soft lighting and huge Plasma screens with charts and numbers all over them. Everybody's probably seen rooms like these in movies but it still gets you when you see one for real. Every blinking cursor and flashing number represents not just aircraft and other equipment but someone's ass. No re-starting the game in here. Either you win or else.

From there it was back in the labyrinth and up the steep stairways to the bridge. Looking out the 360 degree windows we could see the flight deck and I just tried to imagine it rocking up and down and side to side with airplanes landing and taking off. At anchor you could be on land. It just doesn't move yet when it's out to sea it goes forty miles an hour and, if need be, could do it for years without stopping. I definitely noticed that the nuclear reactor somewhere below us was off the menu of things to see. No tourists. No gift shop.

Anyway, back to the bridge. You half expect to see a giant wheel in there for maneuvering the ship but it's more Nintendo than that. Actually, there is a small wheel and it's made of wood but something told me it was more about tradition than steering. There were huge mechanical chairs on either side for the Captain and other personnel who probably have to sit here concentrating with all their might for hours at a time. I tried to imagine it with all guns blazing yet right at this moment it was quiet and deserted. Kind of like our dressing rooms in the early eighties.

Next in line was a trip to the flight deck for some Q and A with Navy press and local TV stations. We answered questions and tried to be nonchalant about the irony of a rock band being invited on board vessel like this. Believe me, we never expected to do stuff like this when we started. We came out of the era when people were struggling to end a war that was going on and military people were not encouraged to hang out with long haired freaks like us.

A couple of weeks later I had yet another Navy experience, this time with the Blue Angels. A friend of mine who happened to be our co-pilot earlier in the tour called me one day and said he could get me a wild ride if I wanted. I accepted and immediately began searching for my rubber underwear.

So when we got to New Orleans and had a day off I went to this military base outside the city and sure enough there were the blue F-18's posing on the tarmac. Within a few minutes I was in a small room gulping water in preparation for my ride.

For the next hour or so one of the pilots told me what to expect and also described some of the things that I was supposed to do. The first subject was what I could touch and what I couldn't. Of course, the most important was the thing for the ejection seat. There were a couple more “important things” like that but I wasn't planning on touching anything anyway. I also learned where the vomit bags were - and what to do with a full one. The fact that the full bag would have to go in one of the pockets of my fancy new flight suit only helped me to put the possibility of puking in the back of my mind where it belonged. I wasn't worried about it but I still wanted to know how to do it. Then he told me that we were going to be doing a few high G turns. In order not to pass out, I had to do something called the Hook Maneuver which would hopefully keep as much blood in my head as possible. I was basically supposed to crunch up my legs and butt as hard as I could and pretend to be trying to blow a blood vessel in my forehead.

They told me to keep drinking water, which I did, but when I finally got in the plane and thought about what we'd be doing when we took off, my mouth turned instantly to flannel. My lips stuck to my teeth. I could practically hear my heart pounding when the pilot told me we would take off on afterburner. He spooled up the engines until they were screaming and then released the brakes. It felt like we'd been shot out of Godzilla's ass.

My cheeks were well on their way to meeting at the back of my head when he lifted off into a 45 degree climb. To me it felt like straight up. I thought I felt some G's coming on and went immediately into a preventive Hook Maneuver. I crunched my whole body up and made a face like I was trying to bite the tail off a skunk. I was just reaching the peak of my grimace when he pointed out that we weren't really pulling any g's yet. I felt kind of dumb as my face returned to abnormal. We leveled off and the pilot explained that we would be flying straight for a while until we were out over the ocean. As soon as we were the pilot took us down to about 200 feet and buzzed an oil drilling platform at around three hundred knots. There were people on it and they waved but they had to do it very quickly. Then it was straight up and upside down. We went through a few 5 g turns where I really needed to do that hook maneuver. There was a camera in front of me and I just accepted the fact that I was going to look a little ridiculous. I jammed my teeth together and crunched up the rest of my body and made it through the turns more easily than I expected.

Then we flew upside down for a while which is one of the greatest rushes of all time. We also slowed down to 125 knots and from there went supersonic. The pilot kept calling out, “300, 350, 500, 550, 650,” and then we were doing 750, plus which meant that we had gone through the sound barrier. We proceeded to do a bunch more high G turns and barrel rolls and other maneuvers that had me jammed into my seat one minute and then hanging upside down the next.

Near the end of the flight the pilot leveled off and explained that before landing we would do a carrier approach. It would consist mainly of a 5 g turn with some 7.2 in the middle. I made my hook face as we started into the turn. About halfway through I could feel more and more g's coming on and noticed a bunch of gray spots in front of me. I could still see the clouds in between them whipping by so I figured I was still conscious. Sure enough, the gray spots disappeared and I saw the runway. We touched down perfectly and taxied back to our starting point as if nothing had ever happened. The huge canopy rose up above my head and I felt the normal world creeping back in. My face was frozen into a grin. Actually, my whole body was frozen into a grin.

I couldn't believe how much fun I'd had. All I could do was say thanks and offer the guys tickets to the show the next night. They accepted and as I climbed into the back of the car I noticed the grin was still stuck to my face. It was still there that night when I brushed my teeth.

We've been hammering away for a few weeks now and building up quite a stack of songs. Now that I think of it, it's been more like six weeks. We're just pounding away, six days a week. Everybody's record making muscles are starting to bulge and you can hear it in the songs.

We've been learning old blues songs. Some of the recordings we're schoolin' on are from the thirties and forties so it's hard to hear everything in a lot of detail but there's enough for us to eat up and try to spit back. At any rate we're putting our spin on them and making them ready to be on an Aerosmith record. We've also been working on originals and we have a few of them cookin' pretty good.

I know a bunch of stuff has gone on since the end of the tour in December but it's kind of one big cloud. Especially since most of the remaining brain cells have been obsessively assigned to woodshedding. That's another word for practicing a lot. We didn't really take much of a break. At least compared to the past. It seems like we're just goin' all the time. I definitely know what I'm doing every day.

I guess most everybody knows we have the tour starting in August. We weren't sure if we would be on the road this summer but here we are - going out with Kiss. Funny how things work out. We used to play with them in the seventies but both bands made it pretty big and we went our separate ways. Those guys have always been in a world of their own so it never occurred to us - until recently - that we would be a good match to tour together. The more we thought about it the more we realized it wold be a blast to try it out.

A couple of weeks ago we did a radio show with those guys to announce the tour. Gene and Paul were in a studio in LA, Joe and Steven were at a radio station up here in Boston and I was at a station down in Florida - where I was taking a long weekend. We were all connected up via satellite so it sounded like we were in one room. They played songs by both bands and every few minutes we did an interview spot. We took phone calls which is always a riot because people get so flustered and flipped out when they realize they're on the air. And you should hear the callers!! Yuk Yuk, ba-da-boom. Naw, we're pros, we don't get affected by that stuff. During the parts where they played songs and commercials we chatted and caught up. We started to just hang out and joke around. Gene pointed out that this is the stuff that should be going out on the air so we told the radio people we just wanted to do that. We came back on and just started recounting all the stuff that both bands have been doing for the last zillion years. We started talking about music and what we all used to listen to when we were coming up. I started realizing that even though we're so different, we have a ton of stuff in common. We were both inspired by the British bands that were taking Blues music and pumping it out of six foot amps. Of course, it wasn't just the Blues made louder. This was the psychedelic era and that whole vibe got into everything that was going on back then. Not only were people into weird stuff, they demanded it. Technology was serving up new effects and new ways of recording that made it easier to try stuff out just to make a song sound strange and unique. Reality was definitely out of style in those days. Hopefully we can keep it that way.

I kind of got off the subject. It was great talking about all this stuff because there aren't that many other bands that we can relate to about that time period. It was like meeting somebody that you shared an experience with and getting to compare notes for the first time. The radio show went on for about an hour and a half and by the time it ended I think both bands came out even more psyched about the tour than when we went in. Both acts are tickled about seeing the audience reaction. We know we're going to pull out all the stops and that both bands will be more than on their toes. Should be good.

TH

ROAD RUFFAGE We're down here in Florida waiting to see what happens with this friggin' hurricane. Hopefully by the time you read this it will have passed by and nobody will have gotten hurt. Unfortunately, it already lost us a gig up in Virginia Beach. I hate the feeling of losing a gig. This is the second one. The first was due to the blackout.
We've been out since August 2nd which most of you probably already know. I'm running it all through my head right now so forgive me if I am stating the obvious.

Playing with KISS has been a great time. Those guys are in a genre of their own - and they've perfected it. It's funny how our styles are completely different but we kind of came from the same place. We all grew up during a time when Rock music, or whatever you want to call it, was going through a revolution that was mesmerizing. Britain was shipping over massive amounts of startling, cool music. So was the West Coast. Even Boston was throwing it's log on the fire. We all soaked it up and came out of it with a compulsive desire to throw it back out there. We may have shoes that go in different directions musically but we're still trying to do the same thing.

We've really settled into a rhythm now. Night after night the show seems to gel a little more. We're playing songs from the blues album we've been working on and that feels better all the time. We started out wondering if people would rather hear new songs or the classics. Hopefully they're digging the new stuff because we are. It's a weird thing but even though we worked hard in the studio getting them ready to record, they're really taking on a new life. It's like we never stopped the process of working them out. We're just doing it in front of an audience every night.

So anyway, the blackout thing was kind of a suckfest. A few of us were at the mall when it happened the day before a big stadium show in Detroit. The lights didn't just go out. They flicked on and off a bunch of times - which seemed like someone fooling around with the switch. Bit by bit we realized that it wasn't just the store or the Mall or the city or even the state but the whole Northeast. After a while we figured the power wasn't coming on any time soon so we decided to leave. That's when we remembered we had taken a cab to get there and wouldn't be able to get it back because the phones weren't working. See? We should conform to our Rock image and have limos waiting for us. All other modes of transport should be strictly forbidden from now on. Our quick-thinking security guy went right back into a store where we had been gettin' some stuff and asked one of the employees if they would take us back to the hotel. Before you could say "chaotic rush hour" the guy said yes. A few minutes later we were crammed into his medium sized car listening to the radio. Nobody knew what was going on at the moment so the radio was full of guessing and rumoring.

Twenty minutes later we had gone about one block. The guy's car wasn't that small but I kind of had my knees in my face. Luckily, his AC worked great because it was broiling out. And the radio - I'll never take a radio for granted again. We became ravenous for news. All we wanted to know was what the freakin' freak was going on.

Finally, about an hour later we got back to the hotel. Along the way, people had just gotten out of their cars and started directing traffic. The lights didn't work so people just couldn't resist their urge to wave at cars. The thing that pleasantly shocked me was that all the other drivers were obeying them. I figured people would just drive by waving with one finger. I thought, maybe everybody thinks they're off duty policeman or something. I finally let myself come to the conclusion that people were just being co-operative and acting smart and doing the right thing. It restored my faith. At least in traffic behavior - for that day.

As we got out of the car we remembered that we were supposed to have dinner with KISS that night. We heard a British accent coming from above us and realized it was our tour manager calling down from his balcony. He said the kitchen was closed and so dinner would be called off. He also told us that the stupid electronic key system was down so we wouldn't be able to get into our rooms. I have honestly never been in a situation like that so I must have stared up into the air for quite a while as the ramifications of no power sank in. But if we can't get into our rooms …??? - A list of cascading consequences flowed through my mind like a stinking river. That sucks, I thought. Judging by the fact that everybody was still staring blankly up at our tour manager the same thing must have been happening in other peoples' heads too. It actually took me a while to believe it. How could they have an electronic key system and not have a backup? It didn't seem possible. I've always been suspicious of those things but I've always gotten myself to believe that no place would have them without a flawless spare system. An hour later I was still in the lobby with that thought banging rudely against the inside of my skull. I looked up and there was Gene Simmons with a look on his face that mirrored mine, well, to an extent. Then one by one everybody in both bands along with wives, girlfriends and management started showing up. There was a rumor about people getting ladders to climb up to the balconies but that idea was cut short by the realization that balcony sliders would be locked from the inside. Hope faded. Eyes became drawn with despair. Then someone said they were serving cold cuts in the next room. Five minutes later we were all in line to make a ham sandwich. This was thirty minutes after canceling dinner. The next thing we knew we were all sitting around literally chewin' the fat. For a while you think the lights are going to come on any minute. It's a strange transformation going from that to realizing you may never see your toothbrush again. After a while we just gave in to what was happening and had a good time. There was a cool vibe like we were all on the Titanic together but without quite the commitment.

It started to suck again when the long light of the summer started to fade like a two-faced friend. Next came darkness hungrily trying to consume the flickering candles on the folding tables that were set up around the lobby. The 'disbelief' look started returning to the faces circling the tables. We were about an hour into this when word got around that the engineers had figured out a way to take a battery, some wires and a special key and hold it all in a certain position to get the doors open. Unfortunately, only one door at a time. I heard a rumor about flashlights and snuck off to see if it was true. I managed to get one and spent the night holding it close while others around me hinted that they wouldn't mind borrowing it for a while.

Finally, it was my turn to go up the back stairs to have my room opened. It was pretty suspenseful. The guy was kneeling down in front of the door sweating for quite a while as I held the flashlight on his hands. Steady... steady… and then it clicked and I was in. Talk about the simple pleasures. I was in the room in the dark with my flashlight when I realized there wasn't much I could do anyway. The first thing I did was go over and unlock the slider in case the ladder idea surfaced again later. Beyond that I was kind of stumped. I looked around to make sure everything was intact which didn't take long as I came to the conclusion that no-one could have snuck into my room to mess with anything anyway. I headed over to the door and jammed the do not disturb sign so the door couldn't lock and headed back downstairs. Tonight the whole place was on the honor system as everyone else did pretty much the same thing.

The darkness wasn't bad. The sweat from no air conditioning wasn't bad. What bothered everybody was the creeping realization that we would probably lose the show the next day. The crews and all the other people involved in getting the venue ready were already there. They were setting up the show and ready to go but if Mr.Electricity didn't make his stage call real soon the show would have to be called off. Too many things have to be set the day before a gig for it to happen the next day.

A few hours later everybody started disappearing from the lobby and going up to crash. I lay in bed straining to read by the light of tiny candles that someone had given me. I optimistically expected to wake up in the middle of the night with the lights on and the AC blasting. The flashlight was on the table, shut off. I couldn't get myself to use the batteries. What if I needed it tomorrow? What if I need it in a week?!! After a few minutes I decided to just go to sleep. Absent mindedly, I reached over and clicked the switch on the lamp. I was actually surprised for a second when the candles didn't go out.

The next day we found out for sure that the gig was cancelled. Man, that sucks about as much as sucking can suck and you know what? - it kept on sucking until a couple of weeks later when we came back and played the show. By that time the electricity was flowing in Detroit and I mean FLOWING. I hope we were part of it. The crowd sure was.

TH