The Patriot Ledger, MA
November 15, 2009

Bassist Tom Hamilton joins Joe Perry for Encore!

BOSTON — If it wasn’t exactly the special guest most of the 1,200 fans were hoping for, it was still 40 percent of Aerosmith onstage at the House of Blues for the rip-roaring encore Saturday night.

After a week of rumor and provocative statements about singer Steven Tyler’s future with the band, he’d surprised fans by appearing guitarist with Joe Perry’s Project last Tuesday in New York City for an encore of an Aerosmith favorite, so there was plenty of anticipation when the JPP came to Boston. Saturday, Perry teased it late in his set, saying he had a special guest backstage for the encore, “assuming he hasn’t gotten bored and left already.”

But this time, it was another member of the South Shore’s transplanted rock franchise who emerged, bassist Tom Hamilton. Hamilton joined the JPP for a rambling run through “Stop Messin’ ‘Round,” the old Fleetwood Mac chestnut that has long been a Perry favorite. Perry and Hamilton seemed to be having great fun with the song, which also featured a sprightly electric piano solo from Weymouth’s Paul Santo. Perry and Hamilton then led a raucous romp through “Walk This Way” to finish the 85-minute show with one of Aerosmith’s signature tunes.

Before those encores, the JPP had performed an electrifying 14-song set, including some Perry nuggets as well as several tunes from his new solo album, “Have Guitar Will Travel.” And it should have been no surprise, if like us, you passed the Joe Perry Project tour bus on the Southeast Expressway after the show, for this band also has a definite South Shore feel. Along with Santo, who plays guitar and keyboards in the JPP, the band includes Plymouth bassist Dave Hull, longtime friend of Perry’s who has also filled in with Aerosmith when Hamilton was sidelined. And while Perry now spends most of his time in Vermont, he still has his home studio in Duxbury.

The Perry set began with “Let the Music Do the Talking,” as close to a theme song as the guitarist has. Wearing a black leather jacket over black leather pants, Perry, 59, also had black boots with silver glitter on them, cutting a rough but stylish figure. Perry changed guitars for nearly every song, displaying an impressive segment of his vast collection of axes.

The new singer with the JPP is a young German who goes by the monicker Hagen. The story is that Perry’s wife Billie discovered him on the internet, through youtube clips of his performances, and he surely has a big, room-filling voice. By the second tune, a bass-heavy bluesy treatment of the old classic “Walkin’ The Dog,” it was obvious that comparisons to Tyler are inevitable for young Hagen. He appears to have a somewhat deeper voice than Tyler, and likely can’t hit all the high notes of vintage Tyler, but Hagen does have plenty of power and a nice overall tone to his voice. And if he thus far lacks Tyler’s charisma, Hagen’s energetic dancing, air-guitar playing, and general enthusiasm for the music went a long way towards winning the crowd over.

A tune from the new album, “Long Way to Go” might be viewed as a statement of sorts, as it seems to deal with endurance and tenacity and soldiering on as the years go by. It began with a synthesizer line, and burst into infectiously pounding rock ‘n’ roll. Another notable song from the new album is not really new at all, as the pulsating rocker “Somebody’s Going to Get Their Head Kicked in Tonight” is actually a Jeremy Spencer composition from the early (Peter Green-era) Fleetwood Mac, but Perry’s affection for the song was palpable as he sang it. Perry isn’t in Hagen’s league as a singer, but his vocals were a good change of pace.

“Do You Wonder?” is as close to a ballad as anything on the new CD, but it is a ballad with big dynamic swings, and Hagen sang it for all it was worth, with Perry crafting a fiery guitar solo. Perry sang the old Woody Guthrie tune “Vigilante Man” while playing some hellacious slide guitar, as Hagen joined the rhythm section by pounding on an extra tom-tom drum.

“I’ve seen a lot of shows here,” Perry said while looking out over the crowd at the space formerly known as Avalon/Citi/Metro/Boston Tea Party. “But I don’t think I’ve ever played here before.”

Probably the most blistering new tune was “Scare the Cat,” with some of Perry’s most brain-curdling guitar lines over a full-bore rhythmic foundation. The regular set ended with a frenetic charge through Aerosmith’s classic “Toys in the Attic” where it was again obvious that Hagen has been a big Steven Tyler fan for a long time. But it was also impossible not to notice that if some of the crowd was old enough to remember when that song ruled the airwaves, more than a few were also college-age kids just as excited to hear it–and just as likely to be singing along word for word.

Another slice of Boston rock royalty, The Neighborhoods, opened with as vibrant a 40 minutes as any rock fan could want. The power trio led by the estimable David Minehan romped through “Bygone Era” and finished their terrific set with the whipsaw guitar of “Home Sweet Home” and the absolutely roaring finale “Think It Over.” Having The Neighborhoods open a portion of his tour is one of the best decisions Perry ever made.

PYX-106, NY
November 14, 2009

PYX-106’s afternoon drive host, Uncle Vito, interviewed Joe Perry of Aerosmith…

Listen at YouTube:  (here).