Time flies, and I’ve been an Aerosmith fan for 40 years (LOL)
In ’88, I was a college student, and I spent all my money to go to the Permanent Vacation Tour’s Japan performance, a live concert at Budokan.
From the first song, “Rats In The Cellar” to “Toys In The Attic”, the hard rock numbers continued, and I clearly remember how all the hairs on my body stood up.
The order of the songs in the middle of the setlist is now a distant memory, but they of course played the big hit song “Angel” from Permanent Vacation, as well as my favorites “Back In the Saddle”, “Last Child”, “Mamakin”, “Draw the Line”, “Dream On”, “Sweet Emotion”, and so on.
And the encore was a furious series of familiar songs, “Train Kept A Rollin’”, “Dude”, and finally “Walk This Way”.
Unlike modern concerts, they played 25-26 songs. Looking back, it was a really long concert, but the dream-like time passed in the blink of an eye.
Fast forward 36 years from then, I, now a complete old man, have been participating as a bassist in the Aerosmith tribute band “cArelesmith” for the past 7 years.
That being said, due to Covid-19, we had to suspend activities for about 3 years, so we’ve only really been active for 4 years.
That cArelesmith, after a 3-year hiatus, finally resumed activities in April this year. Our next live performance will be on Saturday, July 20th, during the day, at the tribute band event “ROPPONGI JUNGLE” at Roppongi Bauhaus! Oh, applause, applause, applause👏
By the way, the band name “cArelesmith” was named with a Japanese dad-joke-like idea. It seems like people from overseas are wondering how to pronounce it. It’s “Keare-smith”, you know.
The live performance resuming in April 2024. This long-missed feeling, it’s great, isn’t it! 😄
So, let’s introduce our setlist for 7/20, shall we? It’s something like this. It’s a setlist that Aerosmith fans can’t resist, right?
I even audaciously tried to provide commentary for each song.
１．Toys In the Attic
Toys In The Attic (Live From The Office Depot Center, Sunrise, FL, April 3, 2004)
When I was a teenager, the first Aerosmith album I listened to was Toys In the Attic. It was a shock, damn it. Because I listened to this, it’s no exaggeration to say that I’m still doing tribute bands. I’m not sure what the attic refers to in this song, but it’s something fantastical and attractive. When I was a kid, I used to hide and play in a small room on the second floor of my grandfather’s old house. I remember my heart pounding strangely at the sight of my father’s belongings scattered around from his student days.
２．Love In Elevator
Love In An Elevator (Live From The Office Depot Center, Sunrise, FL, April 3, 2004)
The PV starts with a sexy lady appearing in the department store elevator that Steven was about to get on, and Steven looks like he’s about to have a nosebleed, LOL. The song starts with “Working like a dog for the boss…”. And throughout the PV, there are plenty of erotic scenes in the department store. It’s clearly a song of escapism. The rhythm of the HR songs I had been listening to was completely different, and the swaying feeling was super hard when I was copying the bass at the time.
３．Chip Away The Stone
Aerosmith – Chip Away the Stone – Live in Japan
A song by Richie Supa, a friend of the band members and occasionally a co-creator. I love the feel of 70s American rock ‘n’ roll. The lyrics are said to be about pursuing love and breaking down barriers. “Stone” is probably a symbol of someone you’re attracted to.
４．Last Child
Aerosmith – Last Child (Live From The Office Depot Center, Sunrise, FL, April 3, 2004)
A funk beat song that Brad is said to have been inspired by the Meters to create. The bass line of this song is flavorful no matter how many times you play it. The riff comes in from the back on the third beat, and it sways sideways, which might be why I fell in love with Tom Hamilton’s bass. In live performances, Sly and Family Stone’s Sing A Simple Song is inserted. We also perform the live version. I don’t really understand what Steven’s lyrics are trying to say, but they seem to be about coming back to his hometown. Maybe it’s a feeling of returning to the origin.
５．Cryin
Aerosmith – Cryin'
A hit song from the 90s. Single cut from “Get A Grip”. A song that seems to have decided to break up with the girl he had been crying for. “She” might be a drug. It might be a song from when Steven was trying to quit drugs. According to Steven, this song is what happens when you Aerosmith-ize country. I, unfortunately, don’t know much about country, but oh, really? The 6/8 rhythm feels good to play.
６．Walk This Way
Aerosmith – Walk This Way (Live From The Office Depot Center, Sunrise, FL, April 3, 2004)
Here it is! This is also a well-known song from early Aerosmith, included in Toys In the Attic. I, in real time, only knew the Run DMC version. This too, when I was in high school, I was shocked by the beat that was completely different from the rock I knew, and I struggled to copy it (but couldn’t). The lyrics are an American sexual coming-of-age story about a high school boy being taught how to sex by a girl from the same school. Walk This Way, that’s what it means. But since it’s Steven, there might be a completely different double meaning.
７．Eat the Rich
Aerosmith – Eat The Rich (A Little South Of Sanity, Costa Rica 1994)
A song like “Eat the Rich”. Despite singing in a way that hates arrogant rich people, these guys are super rich, LOL. But of course they must have had their struggling days, and they probably hate the attitude of rich people who look down on others with wealth and power. Speaking of which, they protested against Donald Trump, who used Aerosmith’s songs without permission during his election campaign. They must really hate Trump. The sentence “Believe in all the good things that money just can’t buy” is symbolic. The rhythm uses Polynesian log drums, which is also not very rock-like and interesting.
８．Sweet Emotion
Aerosmith – Sweet Emotion (Live)
A song that Steven Tyler was inspired by Tom Hamilton’s bass line and put lyrics to. Tom walks around on stage when this song comes on, and it’s like Tom’s solo, but the intro phrase is super hard, and I can’t play it while walking around, LOL. The lyrics are said to depict a feud between Joe’s first wife and the band members, but Steven seems to say that some of the ideas were inspired by Joe’s ex-wife.
９．Train Kept A Rollin’
Aerosmith Train Kept A Rollin' Late Show 2012
I thought the original song was by the Yardbirds, but it turns out it’s an original song by Tiny Bradshaw, an American jazz and R&B musician! And the first version was recorded in 1951. I didn’t know that. But according to Steven, when Aerosmith opened for the Yardbirds in 1966, he was “blown away” by the Yardbirds’ performance of this song from the side of the stage. It’s always the encore song at Aerosmith’s concerts, isn’t it? A song about meeting a cute girl on the train but not being able to speak up, which is unusually innocent for Aerosmith (LOL)
１０．Draw the Line
Aerosmith – 01. Draw the Line (Rock for the Rising Sun) HD
At the time the album “Draw the Line” was being produced, the band members were said to be living in a drug-soaked daily life, and the title song, among others, has expressions that suggest drugs here and there. But this song, even if I read the English lyrics or the Japanese translation, I don’t really understand the meaning. “Draw the Line” → (limit) draw a line, I guess? A critical line to ruin? Expressions like “I’m livin’ on a astral plane” and “Nowhere to draw the line” seem to suggest that I’m living on the edge of drug addiction. The song is a punchy rock ‘n’ roll that makes me want to say, “This is Aerosmith!” I love Joe’s solo in the second half, which is full of mystery.
Well then, let me introduce the tribute band event on the afternoon of July 20, 2024!
7/20 Sat Open 13:30 Bauhaus Roppongi Performances: 13:50～ SLAVE TO RITS ( as SKID ROW ) 15:00～ cArelesmith ( as AEROSMITH ) 16:10～ GUNS LOVE ROSES ( as GUNS N’ ROSES ) Charge: ¥3,000 Drink: ¥600
When asked at the reception which band you came to see,
