Saturday, June 30, 2012

Dentists, Aerosmith and Mom


·         One out of five dentists is very negative and always checks the “NO” column.


 Aerosmith Concert


·         Very dear friends of mine took me to see Aerosmith this week for the first time live.  I admit that I had some trepidation, because of Steven Tyler’s American IDOL run, and surgeries, and rumors of trouble with the band, but I’ve been a big fan since I was a teenager.  I was a bit concerned that Tyler had lost his edge by doing the network TV thing. 
       Cheap Trick opened, and they were good, and sounded just like them (I only recognized 3 songs), but their set felt like an Oldies Tour act.  All I could think of was  the movie “Fast Times At Ridgemont High”, and unfortunately, in the introduction before the band started, they actually played an audio clip of the scene with the weasel ticket scalper guy singing their songs.   It was kind of sad and desperate that the band intentionally reminded us that we should remember them from 30+ years ago. 
       THEN Aerosmith started, and I was BLOWN AWAY.   Theirs was NOT an Oldies act, it was fresh and current and on- point.  Steven Tyler IS a rock star and a showman, and there is no latitude required when watching his performance.  The other four bandmates were each given spotlight moments to prove that they still have stellar chops.  The music was all familiar; even the new songs from their latest album sounded very Aerosmithy, and the show was tight and very high energy.  Steven Tyler is NO hack; he twirled and flirted and smirked and teased and SCREAMED like he was a MUCH younger man.  Again, this was my first live Aerosmith concert, and I felt as though I might have been dropped into a concert audience twenty years ago.  I found it interesting that a review in the paper the following morning mentioned that the band covered music from their 40 years together, but made no direct mention that these guys are in their 60s.  There was no need to make that distinction; they were just great.





·         Observations from the Aerosmith Concert


v  There was one embarrassing moment, when Joe Perry appeared wearing the same open black vest with no shirt outfit that I was wearing. 


v  And it was very annoying and unfair to see that Perry and Tyler are now somehow younger than I am.


v  The concert audience was packed with GORGEOUS women.  The guys with them didn’t look so good.




 Digression:  Memory of My Mom


·         I was looking at an old family picture album and it reminded me of what a horrible photographer my Mom was.  I think Mom was afraid of live-action shots, probably trying to avoid blur.  Mom insisted that all photos be posed (usually awkwardly), and then she’d take an uncomfortably long time to click the button.  Sometimes the photo subject (usually me or other family) would cramp up or faint, which would further delay the session. The waiting time was not filled with her making lens adjustments or checking F stops, it was just her and a disposable instamatic, having trouble committing, I think.  And Mom always had camera in hand, and was ALWAYS interrupting occasions (no matter how momentous or minor; I have pictures she took of waiters in Chinese restaurants.  They’re smiling, but seem frightened) to capture the moment for…. someday.   In every picture she took of me from the age of 12 or so on, I am grimacing with teeth clenched and eyes glaring (“TAKE IT,TAKEIT,TAKEIT!!”)

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