AEROSMITH Guitarist Joe Perry Comments On Las Vegas Stage Accident;
As previously reported, AEROSMITH guitarist JOE PERRY was almost knocked off the saddle Saturday night (November 4th) in Las Vegas, NV where the band performed at the MGM Garden Arena. Three songs into their set, in the midst of performing the band’s immortal 'Back In The Saddle' - footage of which will be an integral part of ESPN’s NASCAR telecasts in 2007 - Perry was accidentally struck in the head and face by a camera boom (one of 14 cameras that were filming the band). Although medical personnel on the scene deemed him fit enough to finish the 15-song, 90-minute set, Perry did so in great pain and is currently sporting a bump on his head and a black eye.
Joe has since issued the following update:
"We started the second leg of the tour at Shoreline Amphitheatre at the venue that was designed and built by the late great promoter Bill Graham. This is not the first time I was on the stage since the leg ended. When we were in Boston my friend’s family and I attended the Comics Come home fundraiser for the great Boston Bruins forward Cam Neely’s Cancer Foundation that was hosted by Denis Leary. High points of the night: hanging out with Denis Leary and my son Aaron’s friend comedian Bill Burr. To answer an often-asked question they are as funny off stage as they are on. The real highlight was sitting in the audience and seeing Tom Hamilton walk out on stage to introduce our friend Steve Sweeney to the crowd and to fill us in on how he’s doing with his recovery. Right after that Denis asked me to sit in with the ASSHOLE band and perform his hit 'I’m An Asshole'. It was a great night and we had to visit a plastic surgeon after to botox the laugh lines out.
After the San Francisco show we boarded our land yacht and set sail for Vegas and arrived in Sin City early the next morning. Later that day we went to the SEMA show at the Convention Center. 3 Million square feet of hot rods, fast and furious cars and everything it takes to build them. My sons and I are building a fast and furious style 240 SX Nissan. It is going to have over 500 horsepower etc. After the car show we went a place called Fly Away that is virtually a place that has in door skydiving. You basically put on a helmet and jumpsuit and jump into a column of air blowing upwards at 120 mile per hour. It is so much like skydiving they use it as a training tool.
The next day was the Vegas show where we were filming the new promotional clip for NASCAR. They are using 'Back In The Saddle' as their theme song next year. During the 3rd song of the show we were performing "Saddle" for the 1st time out of 2. I was running towards the stage left ramp at the same time a 2000 lb. crane cam was swinging down to catch a shot but instead it caught me on the left side of the head. I saw stars and almost fell off the stage. The last time I was hit that hard was a car accident about 25 years ago. I thought I was off to the emergency room for sure. After getting checked out by the show doctor to be sure I didn’t have a concussion I was able to finish the show. Next time we film for NASCAR I am wearing a helmet and not just on the track. The following day the left side of my face looked like the caveman from the Geico commercial.
We will be filming at Mohegan Sun and Tom will be there to wrap up the video.
Before the show I had a visit from my old guitar tech and Aerosmith monitor man from the 70’s. His name is Dick “Rabbit” Hansen. He brought up stories that we haven’t heard in 30 years. None of which I can tell you here. Hey we gotta keep some stories for Walk This Way 2...
After a day of resting with cold steaks on my face my entourage and I ventured out to the Mirage to see THE BEATLES' Cirque du Soleil show called Love. After the show we got to tour the backstage area and go into the sound booth. We were given a short history on the show and how Sir George Martin had his hand in everything that was played. We were told that these would be the last official Beatle recordings. We look forward to hearing the CD that will be out this year.
As I write this we are on our way to Los Angeles, we will let you know how it goes.
Yours truly, Admiral Perry."
(Note: After consulting a doctor, after this blog was written, Joe was informed he infact did have a concussion as a result of being hit by the crane camera.)
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