Ahhhh Hampton Beach in November. The sand being whipped across the street like snow by a chilly wind off the ocean, and all the tourist traps and summer rentals dark and uninhabited. Just the way I like it. The Casino Ballroom is by far my favorite venue to see live music in the New England area and for their closing weekend for the season they struck rock and roll gold With A Friday the 13th show by The Joe Perry Project.
With Band drama swirling around the Aerosmith camp, Joe found time to put out a new Joe Perry Project album called "Have Guitar, Will Travel". Recorded at Joes studio The Boneyard in Boston, this is the first J.P.P. album since 1983s "Once a Rocker Always a Rocker". So with the new album to support its back to the road with an new project line-up in tow including German vocalist Hagen who was found on you-tube by Joes wife of 24 years Billie Perry. Billies portrait can be seen on one of Joes many guitars he plays throughout a show.
As I looked around me in the crowd Friday night I noticed that for the first time in many concerts I attended this year, I actually felt young compared to my fellow concert goers! Attendance was strong, not a sold out night but a large crowd for mid November at the beach. With little fanfare Joe walked on stage and smiled and waved at the adoring crowd and started the evenings festivities with "Let the Music do the Talking" from the projects debut record of the same name. The new material Joe covered was just a little edgy and raw compared to the highly polished sound of the studio versions of "Slingshot", "Do you Wonder", "We've Got a Long Way to Go" and my favorite "Somebody's Gonna Get (Their head Kicked In Tonite)" which Joe Handles lead vocals on. Lots of Aerosmith covers as well from"Walkin the Dog" "Get the Lead Out", "Combination", "Bright Light Fright", "Toys in the Attic", and a reggae spiced version of "Dream On" during which, Hagen was given a New Hampshire licence plate sporting the title DreamOn that he proudly displayed to the crowd. Joes band, David Hull on Bass, Paul Santo on keyboards, Marty Richards on drums and Hagen on vocals were tight and well rehearsed for such a short time spent playing as a group together, and when the broke into "East Coast, West Coast" My wife and I simultaneously looked at each other with big childlike grins. We were seeing something very special and dear to us.
It seemed as though Joe never wanted to leave the stage, or maybe we did not want it to end as the band played a rousing version of "Walk This Way" and the crowd seemed to push forward to get closer to this rock history unfolding before our eyes. for the final encore a treat, a cover version of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" that was pushed over the edge by Joes signature slide soloing. Another season at the Casino Ballroom, another bit of hearing diminished and another solid memory for the soundtrack of my life.
Matman
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