In a week where two of their classic rock peers canceled shows due to medical emergencies and another scrapped their touring plans for 2027 entirely, it’s no small relief that Aerosmith – whose five original members are now a combined 378 years old – takes the stage as advertised on November 1 (insert your own day of the dead joke here) for the second of their two California, Dream On: Aerosmith & Friends concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.
The pair of shows was hastily announced just four weeks ago, and Thursday’s initial performance, which saw the Boston legends play live for the first time since 2023 (when their Peace Out farewell tour was scrapped after just three dates due to front man Steven Tyler suffering a fractured larynx) yielded more questions than answers.
Was it, as comedian emcee Bill Burr told the crowd, the first of the final two Aerosmith shows in history? Was it instead fodder for an unannounced documentary or concert film of some sort? Or, much like Brian Johnson’s unexpected return to AC/DC after overcoming issues related to hearing loss, had Tyler’s vocal cords sufficiently healed to the point that the band could resume its farewell tour?
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While media in attendance on Thursday claimed Tyler was back in top form during the band’s six-song set – which saw them join forces with Dave Grohl before welcoming back original drummer Joey Kramer for the first time since 2020 for a show-closing performance of Walk This Way – reviews of the “& Friends” portion of the show (which featured the likes of Guns N’ Roses, The Black Crowes, Heart and Sammy Hagar) were more mixed. The same was true of the evening’s set list, which largely eschewed Aerosmith’s MTV hits in favor of deeper cuts from their 1970s catalog.
Although night #2 continued to dig deep, fans who grew up during the music video era were thrown a few more bones. In addition to Billy Idol and Steve Stevens and Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson making return appearances to respectively perform Livin’ On The Edge and Janie’s Got A Gun, Grace Potter delivers a rousing rendition of the 1989 power ballad What It Takes before yielding the stage to Train vocalist Pat Monahan.
After a passable take on the Toys In The Attic power ballad You See Me Crying (which features a cool solo swap between “house band” guitarists Phil X and Audley Freed), Monahan endears himself the crowd by saying that Aerosmith was his first concert as a Pennsylvania teen and proceeds to win them over further with an impressive Angel. He then welcomes back Potter for an inspired duet of the once-ubiquitious Cryin’, the most recent hit included in tonight’s oeuvre.
Earlier, blues rocker Marcus King kicks off the evening’s festivities with a fiery cover of Same Old Song And Dance, and he sticks around to perform two more songs (Draw The Line and Nobody’s Fault) with Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez and guest singer Richie Kotzen. It’s admittedly strange seeing the latter on stage without a Fender, but his soulful, powerful voice proves to be one of the night’s highlights.
For sheer vocal power, though, tonight’s trophy goes to Lzzy Hale. Accompanied by Tom Morello, Hale performs knockout renditions of Kings and Queens and Round and Round, the latter of which sees Morello briefly play with his teeth. In the process, he shows off the underside of his guitar, which he’s adorned with the handwritten message Dream On.
Like most all-star jams, some performances during the 75-minute “& Friends” portion of the show are more uneven than others, and there’s certainly something of a “celebrity Aerosmith karaoke” vibe throughout – but everyone’s hearts (no pun intended!) seem to be in the right spots, so it’s hard to judge anyone too harshly.
The same can be said for Guns N’ Roses, who gamely cover four Aerosmith songs (and, to their credit, different ones than they tackled on Thursday) before performing two of their own. While Axl Rose’s current falsetto range lacks the power he once brought to Mama Kin, Slash seems like a kid in a candy store on S.O.S. (Too Bad), and it’s cool to see the band reunite with Use Your Illusion tour alumnus Teddy Andreadis on Rats In the Cellar, on which he plays harmonica. (“That was fun – rather festive!” Rose says afterward.)
For their final salute to Aerosmith, GNR cover the Rocks track Sick As A Dog, which features a notable solo by Richard Fortus prior to a dizzying outro lead by Slash. After, Rose tells the crowd that it’s a “great honor” for the band to have been invited to perform.
Including the three covers they aired on Thursday, “That was seven Aerosmith songs [altogether],” Rose says, “and I’m still nervous as hell because it meant so much to us.” It’s no surprise, then, that he seems more confident on Sweet Child O’ Mine and Nightrain, the latter of which sounds like a direct through-line from the band whose influence they wear proudly on their sleeves.
The Black Crowes’ performance, meanwhile, proves they might well be direct musical descendants. Their effortless takes on two other Rocks songs and a rollicking Let The Music Do The Talking earn loud cheers, but their cover of 1975’s No More No More – which features a tasty solo by Rich Robinson – impresses most tonight.
Tonight’s main event – which sees Aerosmith play one more song (their take on The Beatles’ Come Together) than they did on Thursday – kicks off with a literal bang, as fireworks accompany the classic Toys In The Attic.
Seeing Tyler with one arm wrapped around Joe Perry while holding a scarf-wrapped microphone stand in the other feels like you’re witnessing an iconic rock moment – only for the duo to top themselves later in the set when fog erupts as Tyler wails the epic coda of Dream On atop a grand piano before which Perry stands at center stage.
Back In The Saddle and Sweet Emotion serve as reminders that, unlike the locked-in tightness of AC/DC, there’s a loose, deceptive swagger to Aerosmith’s best material that makes the band sound in danger of going off the rails. It’s a neat trick – but not as neat as the one they have up their sleeve tonight for Walk This Way.
After introducing Kramer as they did on Thursday, the band begins the song only to suddenly slam on the brakes. “Something’s wrong – we’re missing something,” Tyler says. When Run-DMC subsequently join the group on stage, it feels like you’re witnessing the musical equivalent of a historical battle reenactment – one that changed pop culture forever.
Especially considering Tyler’s participation in the Ozzy/Sabbath celebration Back To The Beginning – one of only a handful of times he previously performed publicly over the past three years – one wonders if Aerosmith & Friends was designed as a similar vehicle to give fans a chance to say a proper goodbye to their heroes while they’re still with us. It seemed to serve a similar purpose for tonight’s guest performers, who repeatedly voiced appreciation for the chance to pay tribute to what’s arguably America’s greatest rock band.
Perhaps its primary purpose, though, was to give the band a chance to go out on their own terms. (“At the end of the world, there will only be cockroaches, Aerosmith and Bill Burr,” Tyler quips at one point.)
That said, whether Aerosmith & Friends marked a return, a farewell or both remains to be seen. It’s surely impractical to take a production like this on the road, or even to use it as the model for a residency (a format to which the band is no stranger).
For two nights, though, the Aerosmith train managed to get back on the tracks – and, health permitting, here’s hoping it can keep a-rolling for just a bit longer.
