AEROSMITH Won't Compete With KISS In Terms Of Staging And Effects

AEROSMITH and KISS kick off their co-headlining tour on Saturday (August 2) in Hartford, Connecticut. AEROSMITH will be closing the shows every night, and lead guitarist Joe Perry says they're deliberately steering clear of KISS-style theatricality: "It's gonna be pretty minimalistic," Perry told Launch. "I mean, you can't compete with — nor would we want to — with what KISS does. But, you know, we each have our strong points, and in our case, it's getting out and rockin'. We're leaving the pyrotechnics to them — they wrote the book on it, so let 'em have the book, as far as that goes. But we're gonna go out there and kick ass, you know?"

As a result of the tour, AEROSMITH's next album, currently titled "Honkin' On Bobo", has been delayed until next year. The group wanted to release the blues-oriented project in the fall, but lead guitarist Joe Perry says that trying to finish it and also prepare for the tour was just too much: "We were really trying to get the record out in September, but there was just no way to get everything done that needed to be done. So we said, 'Let's just do the tour, we'll play some of the songs during the show, and we'll hype it, and then we'll put it out in January."

"Honkin' On Bobo" — which Perry said is a temporary title — features mostly cover songs, including the Willie Dixon-written MUDDY WATERS favorite "I'm Ready", BO DIDDLEY's "Roadrunner", BLIND WILLIE MCTELL's "Broke Down Engine", LITTLE WALTER's "Temperature", MISSISSIPPI FRED MCDOWELL's "You Gotta Move", and the blues staple "Baby Please Don't Go". Perry sings lead on versions of FLEETWOOD MAC's "Stop Messin' Round" and MCDOWELL's "Back Back Train", and there will be some originals, including one called "Into The Grind" that features AEROSMITH frontman Steven Tyler on piano. Guests on the album include Tracy Bonham and onetime CHUCK BERRY sideman and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame pianist Johnnie Johnson.