Joe Perry Project: Beau Rivage, Biloxi, MS 3/26/10

We need more good old-fashioned rock n roll: powerful drums, a hot bass, an energetic lead singer, screaming guitars and at least one member of the band being cuter than words. We need that thunderous sound that just envelopes the whole room and takes you away to that place where there is no job or responsibilities or old age aches and pains. Like when you were a teenager with the big mushroom headphones on and tons of posters on the wall and an air guitar ready and willing at any time of the day or night.

Nine times out of ten, Aerosmith was on that stereo, blasting out songs that made you want to join a band RIGHT THEN and go out on the road like the rock star you just knew you were. Man, you WERE Joe Perry.

Well, Joe Perry is still out there rocking with the best of them, proving he still has the stuff that rock n roll wet dreams are made of. With all the commotion going on within his home band, Joe decided to pull out his Joe Perry Project, get some great guys together, record a CD and hit the road. I caught up with them on the coast of Mississippi and was knocked backwards by the onslaught of a powerfully tight band having fun.

Kicking off with “Let The Music Do The Talking”, it just felt right. Joe came out swinging and never once did he slow down. Neither did his band. Young German singer Hagen Grohe was an energetic high-pitched talent, prancing around and smiling like that kid in the bedroom whose dreams have come true and he is actually on a freakin stage WITH JOE PERRY. Drummer Marty Richards pounded away and kept this locomotive running full steam ahead. And bassist David Hull is not a legend for nothing. He hammered away like there was no tomorrow and almost stole the show from Joe on several occasions. No wonder Joe keeps this guy around; he is one of the best.

Staying on the Aerosmith kick, they followed with storm troopers like “Walkin The Dog” and “Toys In The Attic” before slamming into songs off the new cd “HAVE GUITAR WILL TRAVEL”: “Long Way To Go”, “Slingshot”, and “Head Kicked In”.

Joe did banter a bit between songs. His cruise ship story leading into a funky reggae style “Dream On” caught a few people off guard, who really didn’t know what song was coming up. You could tell this by the delayed burst of shouts once they recognized some of the more familiar opening chords. A fun, different kind of version I thought, to spice things up and get away from the usual Aerosmith rendering that you’ve heard ten billion times.

One of the highlights of the show, at least to me, was the instrumental “Wooden Ships” off the new cd. Joe talked about writing this song when it was snowing outside and he had no idea how the title came to be. But the song absolutely blistered from the first note to the last. Using his gold guitar, with his guitar tech sitting in to help fatten out the sound, it was beyond this world awesome.

Speaking of guitars, Joe switched out on a regular basis. Beginning with a clear Gibson, he went through a red one, his “little bighorn” old west custom, his “Billie Perry” special, a big fat BB King model, another black one and a gold one. I’m not an expert on Joe’s guitars but if you are, you know which ones I’m talking about.

“Wooden Ships” was followed by another heart-racing tune, “Rockin Train” that featured Master Hull performing a sonic boom of a bass solo. Another definite highlight. The man is just unbelievable.

Coming closer to the end of the concert, Joe introduced a song by his sons’ band TAB that he really liked and wanted to play for everyone. Called “Looking Pretty Pretty”, it wasn’t that bad and I ended up checking out the original version on YouTube, as Joe suggested. His son is a darn good singer and Joe seemed pretty proud being able to promote his sons Adrian and Tony.

Ending with a lively “Walk This Way”, the crowd was not ready to go home. Joe and the boys came out for an energized twofer encore of “Stop Messin Around”, a song he’s loved since his teen years hanging out watching old school Fleetwood Mac, and “Train Kept A Rollin”, a song he has loved even longer. It was fantastic, to say the least.

Going to a concert and being surprised by a better than expected show is a concert goers wish come true. Everyone in attendance did not want this to end. The crowd stood long and called out for “1 more” even after the house lights had gone up and the roadies had come to take the equipment away. Hopefully, Joe and his band heard these cries and left with a good feeling that once again they had pleased their people.

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