Let The Music Do The Talking

I saw the first version of the Joe Perry Project open for Rossington Collins and they were fine. I believe Joe sang Jailhouse Rock while another vocalist handled the rest of the songs. It was average Joe but nothing could prepare me for the Project that played at Westboro Speedway in 1983. It was a very hot day but I didn't need Cowboy Mach Bell, looking like an poor man's Dee Snider, repeatedly screaming "It's fucking hot out here" trying to get the crowd excited while the band plodded through mediocre material, some of which hadn't been released yet. The low point - in the middle of a new tune Joe Perry says"this is for my friends from Milford" then proceeded to play the intro to Dream On while the band rambled on with the rest of the nameless song. Next time let the music do the talking. Luckily Aerosmith reformed shortly thereafter.

this was originally written as an e-mail to the Boston Herald