Steven Tyler, the iconic frontman of Aerosmith, closed out this leg of his solo tour, ‘Out On A Limb’, at the Sony Centre in Toronto. The sold-out crowd was buzzing long before he even set foot on the stage. Opening with a short video montage and then jumping straight into Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” and “Cryin” was a sure-fire way to get the crowd on board and energized for a fantastic night of classic Aerosmith songs, as well as covers of well-known hits by other artists. To top it all off, he entertained the audience with stories and pictures from days gone by, on a huge video screen.
With hair flying, scarves waving, and a vocal performance that only Steven Tyler can deliver, he also spent plenty of time interacting with the crowd: shaking hands, slapping high fives, kissing girls, and on occasion, even grabbing cell phones from outstretched hands to take his own selfies. Even while doing all of this, we were taken on a magical musical journey, including hit songs from The Beatles, Janis Joplin, and Fleetwood Mac, as well as Aerosmith favorites including “Jaded”, “What It Takes”, and “Janie’s Got A Gun.”
The backing band, Loving Mary, hail from Nashville, although a couple of members are from Toronto. Steven surprised Susie McNeil, calling her up to sing her song “Believe”, in front of her home town crowd. A highlight of the night for me, personally, was hearing “Dream On”. There is something magical that takes place when Steven sits at a piano, and although I’ve heard that song hundreds of times, including other live performances, I’ve never heard it quite the way he did it this night –a sentiment shared by many in the audience. The ‘Out On A Limb’ tour resumes the next leg starting in January, so be sure to see the show if they come to your town!