Aerosmith can do no wrong, well except for having too many songs that you want to hear live.
ZZ Top
The Nissan Pavilion show was the first stop on the Aerosmith tour that included ZZ Top as an opener. Their signature southern fried rock was well received by their fans. Compared to Steven Tyler, the band look like ZZombies when they perform but that did not stop fans from dancing around to hits like "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Gimme All Your Lovin'." The band brought out their signature guitars from the Legs video and showed retro video montages in the background.
Aerosmith
Aerosmith gave the crowd a complete arena rock show in an outdoor amphitheater setting. The band had impressive video montages, light shows, and theatrics that were nice but their music was still the focal point of the evening. As usual they owned the two-tier stage and catwalk. As expected Steven Tyler shuffled around the stage and twirled his scarf-adorned microphone stand all night long and Joe Perry delivered vintage guitar solos surrounded by smoke effects. There were also some modern twists in the show including a Guitar Hero feature.
The song "Cryin" ended with Steven Tyler throwing his harmonica in to the audience to one lucky fan. The song "Dream On" proved that Steven still has the vocal control to deliver the notes at the end that eluded Danny Gokey in the worst moment of American Idol history. Other songs included "Walk this Way," "Livin' on the Edge, "Toys in the Attic," and "Sweet Emotion." "Rag Doll" and "Come Together" were the well received encores.
It was reported earlier that Joey Kramer invited twenty wounded Marines and Sailors to the show but that number doubled when Soldiers from Walter Reed were given upgraded tickets and an invitation to the pre-show meet-n-greet. The USO of Metro DC organized the trip and provided transportation for the wounded. Two band members rearranged their schedule at the last minute to accommodate the meet-n-greet.
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