“He went on first, and he kicked our ass”: Aerosmith reveal the “stunning” guitarist who opened for them, and had the audience walking out before they even came on stage
It takes a lot to upstage Aerosmith, but the rock legends have admitted that Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher thoroughly humbled them back in 1974.
At the time, Aerosmith were yet to cement themselves as a household name. They hoped that a string of summer gigs would help prove their worth – unfortunately, their opening act, Gallagher, constantly showed them up. “He kicked our ass,” Joe Perry admits in a new episode of Rick Beato’s In The Room.
READ MORE: “There’s gotta be at least another Aerosmith gig”: Joe Perry on the band’s future following last year’s retirement
Bandmate Brad Whitford reflects on one particularly brutal gig from Aerosmith’s 1974 tour with Gallagher – and, as soon as Whitford mentions Central Park, Perry groans: “I don’t wanna hear about that…”
Despite Perry’s playful reluctance, Whitford continues. The performance had taken place at Schaefer Music Festival in New York – a part of the US that Whitford admits it took “maybe over a decade [for Aerosmith] to get accepted”.
The show would only pro-long Aerosmith’s journey to being accepted by New York, as their support unleashed chops they couldn’t compete with. “It was before we were accepted in New York at all,” Whitford explains. “And Rory Gallagher probably had one of the most stunning shows of his entire career.”
Perry honestly adds: “We headlined, but he went on first and he fucking kicked our ass.”
Not only did Gallagher put on one of the best sets of his career, but he rubbed salt into Aerosmith’s wounds by knocking out not one, but THREE encores. “He went off stage, and [the crowd] made him come out for an encore,” Whitford says. “He did the encore, went off. They made him come out – again! Another encore! And they wouldn’t stop. He came out for three encores!”
“And then… we got on the stage,” he laughs. “I just remember watching people walk away before we even started playing! It was like ‘the show’s over,’ ‘who are these guys?’ They didn’t care.”
Regardless, the pair of rock legends don’t seem to be too bitter about the ordeal. “I swear, it had to be one of his best concerts,” Whitford insists once more, before Perry adds: “If you listen to his records now, which I do, you can see why he was a ‘live guy’.”
At the start of this year, Gallagher was honoured with a statue in his hometown of Belfast. While the statue is a nod to his sheer talent, it also commemorates how his performances “transcended borders” in Ireland, according to the BBC.
“A statue of Irish rock and blues legend Rory Gallagher has been unveiled at Belfast’s Ulster Hall.It is located outside the venue on Bedford Street where Gallagher played regularly throughout the Troubles in Northern Ireland.”https://t.co/rm2NWTBYCf pic.twitter.com/XBk9xjRJFw
— Rory Gallagher (@rorygallagher) January 4, 2025
As for Aerosmith, last August saw the band announcing they would be retiring from touring. However, Perry has recently hinted that a final show is potentially still on the table.
“Well, yeah, I’m always hoping, but going on the road, it’s a big deal pulling that together,” he said on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk. “It’s one thing to sit there and look online and see who’s touring and stuff, and there’s dates that show up, but there’s so much planning, and what it takes out of you physically, it’s a lot more than people realise.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
