The Joe Perry Project Comes Home to Boston – July 22, 2022
Legendary Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry announced a quick tour with The Joe Perry Project. This one-week tour consisted of two dates in Brazil, followed by three dates in the North-Eastern United States. After a show in New Hampshire, where Aerosmith’s origin story began, the bad boy of Boston came back to Beantown, with a special show opening up for ZZ Top.
Being that this was not a JPP headlining show, their hour-long setlist certainly had a heavier focus on classic Aerosmith hits, opening up with “Let the Music do the Talking,” “Toys in the Attic,” and “Walking the Dog,” with “Same Old Song and Dance” and “Walk this Way” also in the set. A more rare Aerosmith song, “Chip Away the Stone” was a cool choice to hear.
Of course, we heard plenty of Joe Perry’s solo material, ranging from “Rockin’ Train,” off the JPP’s 1980 debut album, to songs from his 2018 album Sweetzerland Manifesto like “Spanish Sushi,” “Aye, Aye, Aye,” and “Quake,” which Joe introduced by saying this was a song they’d written with Gary, so the vocals will sound like they’re supposed to.
Speaking of Gary, I should mention who’s performing with Joe on this tour. Gary Cherone, best known as the singer from Extreme (and one Van Halen album) is handing lead vocals, while Chris Wyse, who has played with The Cult and Ace Freehley is on bass, while Aerosmith’s touring keyboardist Buck Johnson was on the keys tonight, and drummer Jason Stutter filled in for Joe Pet, who had to sit this tour out. An undeniable powerhouse of talent.
If you’re an Aerosmith fan, this was a fun set to kick off the night. If you’re a Joe Perry Project fan, it may have left you wanting a little bit more, with such a heavy focus on Aerosmith material. The two headlining shows they played surrounding this date had a setlist that included many more Joe Perry tracks, as well as more obscure Aerosmith tracks for the diehards. But tonight wasn’t a show for the diehards, it was a show with ZZ Top, and the, *ahem*, combination of bands made for a great night of music.
