Aerosmith with Mötley Crüe Entertainment Art First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre Tinley Park, Ill. October 5, 2006

Amidst cheering and screaming from the crowd, Mötley opened their set with “Shout At The Devil.” Bassist Nikki Sixx announced to the crowd that they made an agreement with Aerosmith to play mostly their oldest tunes, and they made good on that promise. They played “Louder Than Hell,” “Home Sweet Home,” “Live Wire,” and quite a few other songs from their early albums. For their younger fans, they threw in “Sick Love Song,” a track from their newest Red, White, And Crue album.

Mötley’s set was basically a condensed version of what they’ve been performing on the Carnival of Sins tour for the last year or so. Girls in cages hung from the ceiling, girls in tutus (some of them slightly chubby and seemingly new) flaunted their backsides for the audience, and girls with painted faces strutted around the stage, planting kisses on Vince Neil and Mick Mars. It was a show of “Girls, Girls, Girls,” the band also performing that song, opened by Neil riding onto the stage on a full size bike.

Neil’s voice seemed a little strained throughout the concert, though long-time fans will be happy to know he’s allowed his hair to grow out again. Long-time fans will also be disappointed to see drummer Tommy Lee’s style so far off from what it used to be. Less like a rocker and more like a rapper, Lee doesn’t seem to be the same terror-twin that helped make Motley Crue so infamous. Mick Mars, despite his illness, is hanging on as an excellent, and sadly underrated, guitarist. And Mr. Nikki Sixx played his bass and sang backup just as sexily as always.

Closing the show with “Kickstart My Heart,” the band took their leave pretty quickly and chose not to perform an encore. Despite Neil’s slightly weak voice, the show was a success and fans attending the Saturday performance will be pleased.

After a brief break, Aerosmith came out looking like the legends they are. The audience was packed, and even after all these years, Steven Tyler and Joey Perry can still nimbly move around the stage. The band was complete, save for Tom Hamilton who is sitting this tour out at home, battling cancer.

Playing ONLY their oldest tunes, Aerosmith opened with “Toys in the Attic” and played through “Mama Kin,” “Dream On,” and “Sweet Emotion.” Tyler, joking, began to sing a tune off their Armageddon soundtrack and, stopping abruptly said, “I don’t think so, but I do like that one.” When the band played “Seasons of Wither,” snow-like flakes came down from the roof, illuminated into greens, purples, and blues, and landed on the band and the audience. A runway was erected so Tyler and Perry could walk out into the audience; suddenly the 20th row became the first.

Not a concert for the casual fan, Aerosmith kept it together and played tightly and energetically. It is readily obvious to any observer what absolute professionals they are, and not a misstep was noticeable. In the footsteps of Poison and Cinderella, Journey and Def Leppard, Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe was a combination I never thought would happen and am absolutely thrilled that did. Playing all the old songs, the bands filled in a musical gap in my life, making it seem like I was attending a concert that happened twenty years ago, when I was too young to leave the house alone.

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