What a way to spend a Saturday night! This past weekend, Joe Perry’s supergroup, aptly named The Joe Perry Project, swept through Ontario with a show in downtown Toronto at History, followed by a show in Cottage Country at Kee to Bala in Muskoka. Made up of members of The Black Crowes, Aerosmith, and Stone Temple Pilots, it’s safe to say that this motley crew of rock stars know how to put on a show. They’ve been doing it for 50 years, from dive bars to stadiums holding hundreds of thousands. Saturday promised to be a good night for Rock n’ Roll.
Opening the show on Saturday was Charlie Edward. A local up-and-coming guitar player and rock star reminiscent of an older time. This gent screamed “sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll” right from the moment he came bursting onto the stage – clad in a leather jacket and sunglasses, I think the entire crowd was immediately on board for whatever Charlie had in store. And boy, did he deliver. His stage presence was impossible to ignore, his charismatic and cheeky personality coming through as he belted out songs with addictive hooks and choruses, joking, “Are you ready for some rock and roll? Give me half an hour and then you will have it,” to chuckles from the crowd. Charlie, however, was very equipped to deliver that rock n’ roll himself, despite his quip, and his 7-song set list grabbed my full attention. I have been listening to his latest EP, Let Me Go, released on June 13, consistently since Saturday. “Reckless Lovers” might be one of my new favourite songs. I encourage you to go and check him out.
Just after 9, the main act took to the stage to ecstatic energy from the crowd. Fronted by the original founder of The Black Crowes, Chris Robinson, and backed by Brad Whitford (guitar) and Buck Johnson (keys) of Aerosmith; Rob DeLeo (bass) of Stone Temple Pilots; Jason Sutter (drums), formerly of Smash Mouth (among a vast selection of others); and, of course, the man himself, Joe Perry (guitarist) of Aerosmith.
The JPP is not a new project by any stretch of the imagination. This is a group that has been around since the early 80’s, following Joe’s initial stint with Aerosmith. There is a lot of history in this group – multiple members over the past 40 years, but the current iteration came together after the retirement of Aerosmith, and this group has put together a great lineup of songs for their current tour.
This was a no-nonsense kind of rock show. There was no fluff, no pomp, this was a down-and-dirty night of great music. A 19-song setlist, including a mix of Aerosmith, STP, Black Crowes, and original songs across the nearly 2-hour set. I have been an Aerosmith fan for many years, so getting to hear songs like Mama Kin had me bouncing around in the photo pit, as it came up near the very start of the night. The setlist also included “Vasoline” and “Interstate Love Song” of Stone Temple Pilots fame, and “Twice as Hard” and “Jealous Again” by the Black Crowes. There were, of course, a few Joe Perry originals scattered throughout the setlist as well, “Won’t Let Me Go” and “Fortunate One”. The night concluded with a cover of “The Train Kept A-Rollin’” (a Tiny Bradshaw Cover), and the quintessential Aerosmith hit, “Walk this Way”.
Overall, a great night of Rock n’ Roll. Perfect way to spend an evening. If this tour is stopping in your city, be sure to go and see these monsters of rock as they put on a master class of live music.
See photos below:
