concert ad, Richmond-Times Dispatch, November, 1987

On Saturday, November 14th, 1987, I attended an Aerosmith concert, an experience I will never forget.  This tour, dubbed "The Permanent Vacation Tour" was supposedly the band's first tour since completing drug rehabilitation.  Dokken opened for the first couple of months, and they rocked, but I was bummed to hear shortly after this concert, the opening band was none other than Guns 'N Roses, who had just broke through the rock and pop charts with their "Appetite For Destruction" album. 

Dokken's set which lasted about an hour included many songs from their widely successful recently released album, "Back For The Attack."  I think they concluded the set with "Dream Warriors," the theme from Nightmare On Elm Street 3.  Dokken broke up in 1988 due to creative differences between Don Dokken and George Lynch, who formed The Lynch Mob in 1989, which disbanded in 1993, and reunited one more time in 1999.  

Aerosmith's set lasted about 90 minutes, and they played most of the tracks from their then current album, "Permanent Vacation" along with many blasts from the past. Some memorable songs included, "Dream On", and "Draw The Line."  During the show, stuff was being thrown around in the audience and on stage. Security showed up, somebody disappeared, and the band played on. Steven Tyler did lots of summersaults all over the place, Joe Perry played a mean guitar, and the whole concert just plain rocked!  

On Wednesday, November 18th, 1987, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that a teenage girl died of an alcohol overdose after the show.  The article mentions that she had been drinking before the show.  When I saw Def Leppard in January, 1988, security was much tighter at the Richmond Coliseum, and I actually lost some friends I had run into because exits were being blocked off all over the place.  The article which I clipped out from the paper can be seen below.  Also, for you diehard Aerosmith fans, I recommend tracking down the January, 1988 issue of Spin Magazine, which features a rather candid interview with Steven Tyler, unfortunately filled with several colorful metaphors, so you won't find it here, but you can find it by searching on Ebay under "spin magazine 1988."  

On July 25, 1998, Rolling Stone reported Aerosmith had postponed the first 13 dates of it's 50-date U.S. tour following a gas station fire that left drummer Joey Kramer with second-degree burns.  The affected dates were to begin Aug. 14th in Raleigh, N.C. hitting 12 cities through Sept. 7th, however all were rescheduled.  Shows through early December were unaffected.  18 earlier dates were postponed following a knee injury to Steven Tyler in April. 

Wikopedia has a detailed time line of Aerosmith's tour history, from the beginning in 1970 to the present, which can be read HERE. If you wish to learn more about Aerosmith, Allmusic.com has a great biography about the history of the band, which can be read HERE.

As far as the albums go, I mean, cd's, one of my favorites is their second album, "Get Your Wings," featuring "Train Kept A-Rollin'," with a mix of studio and live blended together. A couple of other notable tracks from this album include "Same Old Song And Dance," and "Seasons Of Wither." "Toys In The Attic," their third album, is one of their best known works, featuring the hits, "Sweet Emotion," and "Walk This Way."  One of my favorite 80's Aerosmith songs is "Lightning Strikes."  As far as the cd releases after "Permanent Vacation," I passed and bought the 1998 live two cd release "A Little South Of Sanity."  It's like a live greatest hits, and features many of Aerosmith's tunes post "Permanent Vacation," and sounds quite good, fortunately without the dreaded fade between tracks, unlike AC/DC's 1991 release, AC/DC Live.  

See below some miscellaneous Aerosmith items, and keep on rockin'!  Pingeek

My ticket (check out the price)

The back of the ticket sold to me at Standard Drug which went out of business years ago.  (the one near me was the first place I ever played a Defender videogame.)

The article I clipped out of the paper on Wednesday, a few days after the show took place, mentioning the  girl's death which  happened after the concert was over.  Click on the article to read it.

A concert shirt from this tour, seen on Ebay.

This shirt had the Aerosmith logo on the sleeves.

The back of this shirt.

This was another shirt I saw on Ebay a while back, opening asking bid was $75.  It's the less common tour shirt, which sold at the show for around $14, about the price of my original ticket. I had one like this with the same pattern, but it was a plain white t shirt. 

Here's the back of the shirt, which lists each tour date.  This shirt says "tour 1988," but mine said "tour 1987."  

Here's the cover to one of the tour books.

Here's the cover to another tour book.

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