Aerosmith triumphantly bids farewell to Pittsburgh on Peace Out tour

If Wednesday night’s concert was truly Aerosmith’s last show in Pittsburgh, the veteran rockers from Boston went out with a blast — of music and confetti.

Aerosmith, which formed in 1970, in May announced their Peace Out farewell tour, a 40-date North American run through January celebrating their more than 50 years as a band. That career-spanning tour hit a packed PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.

After a video retrospective and a countdown clock ended, lead singer Steven Tyler, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford and bassist Tom Hamilton rose from beneath the stage and ripped into “Back in the Saddle,” their customary opener. (Missing from the show and tour is drummer Joey Kramer, out to focus on “family and health” issues, and replaced by John Douglas.)

With his trademark scarf-wrapped mic stand in hand, Tyler danced and pranced, howling and prowling the stage. The consummate frontman seemed in high spirits, whether it was belting a line from Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” kicking giant balloons into the crowd, giving some affection to fans in the front row or playfully tipping Whitford’s hat.

Tyler and Perry, nicknamed the Toxic Twins, were anything but that Wednesday, as Tyler leaned countless times on Perry as he played guitar.

The triangle-shaped stage had a pit in the middle for fans and walkways that extended upwards into the crowd. A massive, three-sided video screen hung above the stage, along with an enormous “A” logo, a pair of wings and a giant bear, elephant, frog and gnome (which dropped down later during “Toys in the Attic.”)

After a honky-tonk “Same Old Song and Dance,” Perry used a lap steel guitar for “Rag Doll,” followed by a grand “Livin’ on the Edge” and “Janie’s Got A Gun.” “No More No More” necessitated a second guitar just for Perry’s solo, and Tyler broke out a harmonica on what felt like a slightly faster-paced “Cryin’” before a chuggy deep cut of “Adam’s Apple.”

The show hit a slight lull in the middle during a more bluesy stretch where Tyler (75) and Perry (72) started out seated on stools at the front of the stage. But at their ages, a break was well-deserved for the energy they had spent already. “Hangman Jury” was followed by a moody “Seasons of Wither” before “Movin’ Out,” which Perry played with a white Stratocaster guitar owned by Jeff Beck, who died in January.

“After he passed away, his wife said, ‘Take Jeff’s guitar,’” Perry said. “… She said ‘Keep playing in Jeff’s memory,’ so here it is.”

“Love in an Elevator” broke that daze, bringing the crowd back to its feet, while Perry and Whitford both soloed nicely. “Stop Messin’ Around,” sung by Perry, provided a showcase for almost everyone in the band to solo at some point.

Tyler was still hitting the high notes on “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” which had a big crowd reaction, and “Rats in the Cellar” turned into a jam session before a big finish. Hamilton took center stage for the trademark bass intro of “Sweet Emotion” and an intense “Toys in the Attic” closed the set.

For the encore, a white piano emerged from the stage for Tyler to play, and later stand on, for a celebratory “Dream On.”

Aerosmith - Dream On in Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/3Q7o2OgS92

— Mike Palm (@MikePalmMedia) September 7, 2023

“Walk This Way” closed the night, culminating in an avalanche of celebratory streamers and confetti.

Of course, there were minor glitches on the second night of the tour. Tyler dropped his mic stand as he was supposed to start singing “Sweet Emotion” and seemed to be asking for adjustments from the crew early in the show. But the biggest mistake came from Perry when he started to address the crowd as Philadelphia, where the band opened their tour on Saturday. After being on the road for just a few days, Perry said “I’m already lost.”

With 15 studio albums, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers had plenty of music to choose from for their setlist, leaving some on the cutting room floor. Notable omissions included “Dude (Looks Like a Lady), “Amazing,” “Mama Kin,” “Train Kept a Rollin’” and “Jaded.”

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The Black Crowes set the stage with an hour of good, old-fashioned rock. Led by the energetic movings and shakings of lead singer Chris Robinson, the Crowes buzzed through 10 songs from their first two albums, highlighted by “She Talks to Angels” and “Remedy.”

The once-feuding Robinson brothers — Chris and guitarist Rich — seemed perfectly fine, with Chris’ arm wrapped around his brother as they shared the microphone on “Jealous Again.”

Incidentally, this wasn’t the first time the Black Crowes opened for Aerosmith in the Pittsburgh region — that happened on July 23, 1990, at Star Lake Amphitheater in Burgettstown.