World
Sweet emotion in Philadelphia as Aerosmith starts its farewell tour, and fans dream on
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aerosmith is one of the best things to come out of Boston, and soon it will exist only in memories and playbacks — like Tom Brady, “Cheers” and Larry Bird.
The quintet has given the world 50 years of classic rock and some of the most enduring songs of all time, including “Dream On,” “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion.”
Aerosmith began its farewell “Peace Out” tour Saturday in Philadelphia with a two-hour set spanning its voluminous catalog — giving the world one last chance to see what earned these skinny guys from New England an exalted place in the pantheon of rock’s all-time greats.
Singer Steven Tyler, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, and bassist Tom Hamilton all wore black cowboy hats as they ripped into “Back In The Saddle,” the song that has opened Aerosmith shows for decades as a giant Aerosmith logo folded down from the rafters, flanked by an even bigger set of wings.
Tyler and Perry sang from either side of a microphone stand draped in Tyler’s trademark scarves, recreating one of rock’s most iconic poses. Tyler nailed the extreme high note at the end of the song, proving that even at age 75 and after a life filled with pharmaceutical misadventures, he can still bring it.
“Love In an Elevator” and “Cryin’,” two major radio hits from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, followed, setting up the band’s controversial hit “Janie’s Got A Gun,” a song about a girl who was sexually abused by her father.
The band also tossed fans some rare chestnuts like “No More, No More,” on which Tyler forgot several of the words; “Adam’s Apple,” “Seasons Of Wither” and the Mississippi Delta blues-inspired “Hangman Jury.”
But there’s only room for so many songs in a two-hour show, and with a catalog as deep as Aerosmith’s, some of the biggest hits got cut, including “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” and “Train Kept A-Rollin’,” which often closed the show on previous tours.
That Aerosmith even played Philadelphia is amazing, given its fans’ history of injuring band members. In Oct. 1977, someone threw an M80 explosive onstage that went off in Tyler’s face, burning his cornea and opening a bloody wound on Perry’s arm. A year later, at another Philadelphia show, someone threw a bottle that shattered against an onstage speaker, sending glass shards into Tyler’s face and mouth.
Tyler referenced those assaults during Saturday’s show, recalling them as “the big bang theory” before Perry shushed him. Tyler quickly changed the subject to the fact that his mother’s family came from Philadelphia.
Saturday’s show was the 40th that Aerosmith has played in the City of Brotherly Love, and ended without anyone needing paramedics.
There were the typical opening-night glitches. Tyler started singing the chorus of “Dream On” a verse too soon before catching himself. Perry’s guitar died a few notes into the iconic opening riff to “Walk This Way.” And after a masterful harmonica solo on “Hangman Jury,” Tyler tossed the small instrument backwards over his shoulder, only to realize he’d need it again at the end of the song. A roadie was summoned to hand it back to him.
But so much more went right than went wrong, and it’s been that way for decades at Aerosmith concerts. Perry was positively brilliant on vocals and guitar during a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s 1968 three-chord blues jam “Stop Messin’ Round,” during which he and Whitford traded solos, and Tyler gave the harmonica another workout.
Perry even played a guitar that the wife of the late guitar legend Jeff Beck gave him — keeping Beck’s presence onstage for a bit longer — and “Rats In The Cellar,” a song about the filthy environs of drug use in New York in the 1970s, was as hard, fast and tight as it ever was.
Drummer Joey Kramer opted out of the farewell tour “to focus his full attention on his family and health,” according to the band. John Douglas, a drummer, artist and drum kit customizer for acts including Van Halen, ZZ Top and Guns ‘N’ Roses, filled in admirably.
Bassist Tom Hamilton got a huge ovation while playing the opening notes of “Sweet Emotion,” possibly the most famous bass intro to a song in rock history. And a giant elephant, frog, gnome and teddy bear descended from the ceiling on “Toys In The Attic.”
“Walk This Way” was a huge worldwide hit for more than a decade, before taking on added significance in 1986 when rap group Run-D.M.C. teamed up with Aerosmith on a version of the song that is widely credited with helping break down the barriers that had separated fans of rock and rap. (In case the significance of the breakthrough was lost on anyone, the video for the collaboration shows the two acts literally kicking down a wall that separated them in adjacent recording studios, and finally playing together.)
During the song’s performance to close the show Saturday night, confetti and streamers cascaded down from the ceiling; Tyler grabbed a piece of confetti from the air and ate it.
The opening act, The Black Crowes, presumably had a lead singer onstage. But vocalist Chris Robinson was so thoroughly drowned out by his brother Rich’s guitar for most of their hour-long set that it was hard to tell. I’ve got a remedy: turn the guitars down and turn the vocals up. That shouldn’t be too hard to handle.
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Follow Wayne Parry on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
World
CBS Sets Midseason Dates for NCIS: Sydney, Amazing Race and Hollywood Squares; Equalizer Moves Even Later
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World
Tourists stranded in Bali for days after Indonesia's volcanic eruption grounds international flights
- Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano has been spewing towering columns of hot ash into the air since its initial huge eruption on Nov. 4 killed nine people and injured dozens of others.
- As a result, media reports said that thousands of people were stranded at airports in Indonesia and Australia, but an exact number wasn’t given.
- The 5,197-foot volcano shot up ash at least 17 times on Tuesday, with the largest column recorded at five and a half miles high, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation said.
Several international airlines canceled flights to and from Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali on Wednesday as an ongoing volcanic eruption left travelers stranded at airports.
Tourists told The Associated Press that they have been stuck at Bali’s airport since Tuesday after their flights were suddenly canceled.
“The airline did not provide accommodation, leaving us stranded at this airport,” said Charlie Austin from Perth, Australia, who was on vacation in Bali with his family.
SPIKE IN EARTHQUAKES AT WASHINGTON VOLCANO PROMPTS MORE MONITORING FROM SCIENTISTS
Another Australian tourist, Issabella Butler, opted to find another airline that could fly her home.
“The important thing is that we have to be able to get out of here,” she said.
Media reports said that thousands of people were stranded at airports in Indonesia and Australia, but an exact number wasn’t given.
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano on the remote island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara province spewed towering columns of hot ash high into the air since its initial huge eruption on Nov. 4 killed nine people and injured dozens of others.
The 5,197-foot volcano shot up ash at least 17 times on Tuesday, with the largest column recorded at five and a half miles high, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation said in a statement.
Authorities on Tuesday expanded the danger zone as the volcano erupted again to five and a half miles as volcanic materials, including smoldering rocks, lava, and hot, thumb-size fragments of gravel and ash, were thrown up to five miles from the crater since Friday.
The activity at the volcano has disturbed flights at Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai international airport since the eruption started, airport general manager Ahmad Syaugi Shahab said. Over the past four days, 84 flights, including 36 scheduled to depart and 48 due to arrive, were affected.
Shahab said that at least 26 domestic flights and 64 overseas ones were canceled on Wednesday alone, including airlines from Singapore, Hong Kong, Qatar, India and Malaysia. For these cancelations, the airlines were offering travelers a refund, or to reschedule or reroute, he said.
Three Australian airlines have also canceled or delayed a number of flights. Jetstar has paused its flights to Bali until at least Thursday, it said on its website, saying it was “currently not safe” to operate the route.
Virgin Australia’s website showed 10 services to and from Bali were canceled on Wednesday. Qantas said it has delayed three flights. Some airlines are offering fare refunds for upcoming Bali flights to passengers who don’t want to travel.
Air New Zealand canceled a flight to Denpasar scheduled for Wednesday and a return service to Auckland due to depart Bali on Thursday. Passengers would be rebooked and the airline would continue to monitor the movement of ash in the coming days, Chief Operating Officer Alex Marren said.
Korean Air said two of its flights headed to Bali were forced to turn back because of volcanic ash caused by the eruption.
The airline said Wednesday that the two flights — carrying about 400 passengers combined — that departed South Korea’s Incheon international airport on Tuesday turned back toward the origin departure a few hours later, following forecasts that said Bali’s Ngurah Rai airport could be affected by the volcanic ash. The two planes arrived in Incheon early Wednesday.
About 6,500 people were evacuated in January after Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki began erupting, spewing thick clouds and forcing the government to close the island’s Fransiskus Xaverius Seda Airport. No casualties or major damage were reported, but the airport has remained closed because of seismic activity.
Three other airports in neighboring districts of Ende, Larantuka and Bajawa have been closed since Monday after Indonesia’s Air Navigation issued a safety warning because of volcanic ash.
Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of a pair of stratovolcanoes in the East Flores district of East Nusa Tenggara province, known locally as the husband-and-wife mountains. “Laki laki” means man, while its mate is Lewotobi Perempuan, or woman. It’s one of the 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago of 280 million people.
The country is prone to earthquakes, landslides and volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.
World
Azerbaijan leader accuses France of colonial ‘crimes’ in COP29 speech
French Ecology Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher says she will not take part in the COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan after its leader’s ‘unacceptable’ attacks on France.
French Ecology Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher has pulled out of the COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan after its President Ilham Aliyev accused France of carrying out colonialist “crimes” in New Caledonia, in the latest diplomatic spat between the two countries.
Aliyev, who is hosting the COP29 United Nations climate talks in Baku, drew loud applause from delegates of some Pacific island nations after a combative speech in which he lambasted Paris over the response to protests that in May rocked the Pacific archipelago ruled by France.
“The crimes of France in its so-called overseas territories would not be complete without mentioning the recent human rights violations,” said Aliyev.
“The regime of President [Emmanuel] Macron killed 13 people and wounded 169… during legitimate protests by the Kanak people in New Caledonia,” he added.
Pannier-Runacher quickly hit back, telling lawmakers in Paris that she was cancelling her trip to the talks in protest at Aliyev’s “deplorable” speech. She called his attack “unacceptable… and beneath the dignity of the presidency of the COP”.
It was also a “flagrant violation of the code of conduct” for running United Nations climate talks, she added.
The minister also criticised Aliyev for his “equally unacceptable comments on fossil fuels” after he described his country’s vast oil and gas reserves as a “gift of God”.
Despite her pullout, Pannier-Runacher said the team of French negotiators in Baku would not relent in their efforts to do a deal “to protect the planet and its populations” from climate change.
Relations between Paris and Baku are frosty over France’s longtime support for its archrival Armenia, which Azerbaijan defeated in a lightning military offensive last year when it retook the breakaway Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh – leading to the displacement of more than 100,000 Armenians.
Paris this year accused Azerbaijan of interfering in its domestic politics by stoking tensions in its overseas territories and dependencies, including New Caledonia.
Macron has also stayed away from COP29.
Azerbaijan denies interference, but Aliyev on Wednesday rounded on France for holding Corsica and its far-flung overseas island territories “under the colonial yoke”.
Aliyev has ruled his gas-rich country for more than two decades since the death of his father, Azerbaijan’s Soviet-era Communist leader and former KGB general Heydar Aliyev.
In the run-up to the climate summit, Azerbaijan was widely denounced for its human rights record and repression of political opposition.
Aliyev in his speech attacked the European Union and the Council of Europe human rights body, calling them “symbols of political corruption that share responsibility with the government of President Macron for the killings of innocent people”.
He also said that “all political prisoners of France must be liberated”.
Aliyev accused EU foreign policy chief Josep Borell of having compared the rest of the world to a jungle while Europe was a garden. “If we are the jungles,” he declared, “then stay away from us and don’t interfere in our affairs.”
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