Aerosmith and Motley Crue deserve a lot of credit in my book. Their tour is called "The Route Of All Evil", but it might have been more appropriate to have titled it the "Brave-Heart" or "No Pain, No Gain" tour. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler recently had throat surgery and admitted he has Hepatitis C, drummer Joey Kramer is recovering from major shoulder surgery, bassist Tom Hamilton has throat cancer, is off the road receiving treatment and has a stand-in. Did this stop them (or even hinder them a little) from delivering a spectacular performance for a capacity crowd at Alpine Valley with Motley Crue over the weekend? Not even in the slightest. The show's set-list (opening with "Toys In The Attic") was old-skool Aerosmith (pre-MTV) heavy with very few latter day songs performed. Back to the roots it was ... and it was an superlative example of a classic live Aerosmith show. When one realizes how many medical obstacles have been placed in their way lately, it's even more stunning. Steve Tyler's voice and command of the stage was crackling with kinetic energy, Joe Perry's guitar work was provocative and menacing, and Joey Kramer's work behind the kit was explosive. Having hung out with them in those bad 'ole days before they sobered up, it's a miracle they're even ALIVE, let alone this capable at this stage of the game. Amazing (pun intended)! Motley Crue (who aren't known for their placid lifestyle, either) opened the evening's show with a greatest hits collection that kicked off with "Live Wire" and continued at a breakneck pace with the audience joyously singing every last word with Vince Neil while Tommy Lee furiously pounded away. Motley Crue have their own unique challenges to overcome these days, too. Guitarist Mick Mars has a rare, incurable disease that slowly fuses all of the bones in your body together, until you are virtually a prisoner in your own body, unable to move. Think of eventually being trapped inside a suit of armor. Despite his escalating physical limitations and pain, Mick's guitar playing was note perfect. Impressive. I really admire the guy for going out there and giving it his all, in spite of his situation. Theatre of pain, indeed. It seems like just yesterday that a young guy named Frank Ferranna (Nikki Sixx) came to see me dressed in his suit (hair neatly tied back) and nervously gave me his sales pitch about his then new band called Motley Crue, hoping (pleading, actually) that I would consider playing them on my show. I let him finish his entire rehearsed speech before I smiled mischievously and told him I already knew about the band, liked what I had heard, and was already playing their first (independent) disc regularly. We roared with laughter and he swore he would deny EVER doing it, let alone in a suit! I still tease him about it to this day. He still denies it.