Steven Tyler
Avalon Ballroom
Niagara Fallsview Casino and Resort
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
March 31, 2016 (Second of two nights)
Review By Bobby R Rock (www.bsliverocks.com and Bobby and Shane Radio)
Photos by Sue Sadzak (taken March 29, 2016 – first of two nights)
Steven Tyler was scheduled for a two night stint at The Avalon Ballroom in Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada on March 29 and 31st. We were lucky enough to attend the second show, fresh after a day long break. Tyler who is known as the “demon of screamin” mostly for his wide vocal range and high screams, came out fashionably late to a ready and eager crowd.
Tyler wasted no time opening the show with I’m Down from Aerosmith‘s 1987 release Permanent Vacation which naturally lead into a cool jam of Led Zeppelin‘s Rock N Roll and we weren’t even five minutes into the show! Steven wasted no time in addressing the Canadian crowd with “Bonjour, Bonjour, Bonjour! You know this shits gonna go down in history right?” The setlist varied slightly from the first night but included plenty of Aerosmith hits to satisfy die-hard fans and rightfully so, seeing that the band he fronted for over 40 years has sold in excess of 150+ million albums worldwide.
What was surprising was the positive crowd response to his new country single Love Is Your Name. The ever modest frontman even asked the crowd “what are you doing sitting down at a Loving Mary concert? You’ll hurt their feelings”. He was referring to his phenomenal backing band consisting of Canada’s own Suzie McNeil on guitar, harmonica, piano and background vocals (Rockstar INXS fame), Marti Frederiksen on guitar/vocals (who has written and produced major hits such as Aerosmith‘s hit Jaded and Buckcherry‘s Sorry, among others), Rebecca Lynn Howard on bass/vocals (two time Grammy Award winner) and some of the music industry’s finest session musicians Elisha Hoffman on stringed instruments/vocals, Andrew Mactaggart on electric guitar/vocals and Sarah Tomek on drums. The band seemed genuinely giddy and pumped to be backing such a legend, which was evident by the permanent smiles on their faces and high fives happening throughout the set.
A highlight of the evening was at the beginning of Sweet Emotion where Tyler looked side stage and announced to the crowd “Anthony’s in the house!”. Anthony is a mega Aerosmith fan whom he met during the day at a shop in Niagara Falls. The Welland native, who was born with down syndrome, recognized the rocker icon right away and went right over and hugged him. Tyler provided him with backstage passes for that evening’s show and had him start Sweet Emotion by playing the maracas. What a generous and caring gesture to make this a night that Anthony will never forget! He also took every opportunity to involve the crowd throughout the evening like letting someone sing the trademark scream in the song I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing and even by asking the crowd if anyone had a hat, to which one was immediately thrown to him onstage.
Making time to showcase another solo country track called Red, White and You, there was also space in the set to venture into some great covers. Tyler did a great acapella version intro of Janis Joplin’s Mercedes Benz leading into Piece Of My Heart and even visited his classic version of The Beatles song Come Together.
Taking a slight departure was a darker, scaled down version of Janie’s Got A Gun, where Tyler and the band grabbed some stools to sit and play the song. Steven introduced the song by explaining how he wasn’t sure what the lyrics were initially about, but as the song took shape he was able to team up with a great bunch of people from Youth Villages and he requested if anyone had any spare change to help and donate to www.janiesfund.org. See the site for details.
I was most impressed with the well rounded set to keep all fans satisfied by playing his radio hits and even diving into vintage Aerosmith songs such as Seasons Of Wither from the 1974 album Get Your Wings and making the crowd wanting more by ending the set with Train Kept A Rolling from the same release. As Tyler left the stage he teased the crowd by saying “we’ll see you at the roulette table”.
It was evident that no one wanted this night to end as the loud audience screamed for more. Mr. Tyler took his turn on the big white grand piano on a crowd favourite Dream On and ended the evening with the ever popular Walk This Way. What a treat for anyone in attendance to see such a fun and laid-back concert in an intimate setting.
Connect with Steven Tyler online: (Website) (Facebook) (Twitter) (Instagram) (YouTube) (Aerosmith) (janiesfund.org)
SETLIST: March 31, 2016 – Avalon Ballroom, Niagara Fallsview Casino and Resort – Niagara Falls, Ontario
I’m Down
Cryin’
Jaded
Love Is Your Name
Living On The Edge
Sweet Emotion
What It Takes
Another Piece Of My Heart
Red, White and You
Janie’s Got A Gun
Season’s Of Wither
Don’t Want To Miss A Thing
Come Together
Train Kept A Rolling
Encore:
Dream On
Walk This Way
All photos by Sue Sadzak
© 2016. Please DO NOT copy or use without permission.
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