The excitement was great while waiting in line for the first stop of Joe Perry‘s tour. This would be my first time seeing him perform, and what a special, heart-felt experience it was. This show was held in the beautiful Great Cedar Showroom at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
The first band has big roots in rock and roll. Robin Taylor Zander plays in Cheap Trick along with his father Robin Wayne Zander and will be doing some writing for their next album. While this performance was his first time on stage with this band, Robin is certainly no stranger to keeping the crowd entertained. The band as a whole, doesn’t yet have a name, and is just performing as Robin Taylor Zander. The band performed while wearing dark colored suits, while Robin had a silver suit that sparkled in the lights. They played a 45-minute set of soft rock songs that to me, with the layering of background vocals and tambourine, and keyboards, vaguely remind me of the Beatles. Which is probably why they ended the set with a fantastic rendition of the Beatles hit “Dear Prudence”.
Robin Taylor Zander – Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals
– Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
– Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
– Keyboards, Backing Vocals
– Drums
– Tambourine, Backing Vocals
Setlist:
1. What Am I to do
2. One Might Wonder
3. Ize on The Prize
4. Golden Rule
5. High N Low
6. In Front of Me
7. Down N Out
8. The Distance
9. All Our Troubles -just Jess
10. Seize the Day
11. Dear Prudence (Beatles Cover)
Next up was Micky James, an Indie rock, pop rock artist with definitive 70’s influences. Micky commands the stage with his 70’s disco look and moves the likes of Soul Train. Dressed like Freddy Mercury in a bright yellow vest and matching pants with silver sparkly boots, he is more than just a singer, but a true entertainer. Micky started touring with his solo band after his previous band, Karma Killers, broke up. The band is a three-piece, with only a guitarist and drummer accompanying Micky.
Micky James – Lead Vocals
Brendan Healy – Drums
Ryder Stuart – Guitar
Setlist:
1. Tie Me Up
2. James Brown
3. Kings
4. Walk the Line
5. New Heart
6. New York Minute
8. Give It to Me Straight
9. Rest of the Best
This was a special show for me as my daughter was a big Aerosmith fan when she was young, and we visited the Aerosmith apartment in Boston. Also, because Gary Cherone, of Extreme, is currently singing for The Joe Perry Project. I grew up listening to all of the 1980’s hair metal bands with Extreme being one of my favorites.
Gary Cherone sang on the first 5-6 songs before Joe took over for a bit. Gary brings a high level of energy and utilizing the entire stage to entertain the crowd. Joe performed to this near sold out theater show as if it was an intimate party amongst friends. His playing is heartfelt and real. I could tell he was having the time of his life entertaining the fans. During “Spanish Shushi”, they had to stop shortly into the song, as things weren’t sounding right to Joe. Now most artists would get mad or feel embarrassed about this, but Joe just shrugged it off and continued on as if it was a jam session. This gave the show a special feel and made it a performance to remember.
Joe talked about how the US government had recently released classified UFO documents and were starting to disclose their knowledge of space crafts. This lead up to him playing the 1950’s rockabilly song “Flying Saucers Rock and Roll”, written by Billy Lee Riley. Joe had so much fun performing this, he asked the audience if they wanted to hear it again. After the fans cheered an overwhelming positive response, Joe repeated the introduction to the song about the government releasing the classified documents, etc., and proceeded to play the entire song over again. At the end, one fan screamed out “third times a charm”.
At center rear of the stage, we were lucky to have Jason Stutter on drums. Jason has played with many huge artists such as, Cher, Dee Snyder, Marilyn Manson, Foreigner and many more. David Hull held down the rhythm section on Bass. He is best known for being a substitute bassist in Aerosmith, but has also played with Ted Nugent, Joe Cocker and more. Buck Johnson was hammering away on the keyboards, and also has an extensive list of bands he has performed with including, The Doobie Brothers, John Waite, Aerosmith, Hollywood Vampires, and the country band, Whisky Falls.
They pushed through a set of 19 songs comprised of Joe Perry songs, Aerosmith songs, and other cover songs. Leading into the encore, Joe said, “we’re gonna play one of my favorite Aerosmith songs that I had nothing to do with. Except, now, we’re gonna have something to do with it, I guess”. Gary commented “Joe’s gonna put his DNA on it”. Lightning Strikes was a nice surprise to hear them play. And to the fans delight they finished the night with Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way”. What a way to end the night.
Joe Perry has a few more stops on this tour, then will be out with The Hollywood Vampires for 3 dates in The USA late May, and then after that they will be playing for two months overseas. Joe has said that Aerosmith has plans to tour this fall.
Joe Perry – Lead Guitar, Vocals
David Hull – Bass Guitar
Buck Johnson – Keyboards
Gary Cherone – Vocals
Jason Stutter – Drums
Setlist:
1. I’ve Got the Rock & Rolls
2. East Coast, West Coast
3. Let the Music Do the Talking
4. Somebody (Aerosmith Cover)
5. S.O.S. (Too Bad) (Aerosmith Cover)
6. Aye, Aye, Aye
7. Fortunate One
8. Chip Away the Stone (Richard Supa Cover)
9. Spanish Sushi (played partial)
10. Steppin’ Out (Memphis Slim Cover)
111. Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll (Bill Lee Riley Cover)
12. Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll (Bill Lee Riley Cover) (played a second time)
13. You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory (Johnny Thunders Cover)
14. Lick and A Promise (Aerosmith Cover)
15. Quake
16. Reefer Headed Woman (Jazz Gillium and The Jazz Boys Cover)
17. Bone to Bone (Coney Island White Fish Boy) (Aerosmith Cover)
18. Rockin’ Train
19. Train Kept A Rollin’ (Tiny Bradshaw Cover)
Encore
20. Lightning Strikes (Aerosmith Cover)
21. Walk This Way (Aerosmith Cover)
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