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Post by AeroCooper on Mar 12, 2022 6:36:11 GMT -5
AEROSMITH July 15, 1984, Prairie Capital Convention Center, Springfield “Lead singer Steven Tyler fell off the front of the stage. He wasn’t hurt, but when he crawled up and got back on stage the band members dropped their instruments and actually, in front of everybody, beat him up. They’d had enough of him. They were pissed that he was so out of it at the beginning of a show. I think that wasn’t the first time they’d had issues with Steven being messed up on stage. We had to cancel it right there after a few songs. Thankfully we were able to reschedule the show for another date.” |
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Post by fwanger on Mar 12, 2022 6:55:15 GMT -5
All the years of Aerosmith and this is the first I'm hearing this story. Is this confirmed? Which version of the band was it that beat him up? Was it a silly slap fest? No, I bet when he's mad Joey can throw down. We've heard so many times of Steven almost braining one of the other band members with his microphone when he is spinning it around. We've read of the time that Steven caught a mouthful of headstock from Joe but this is the first I've heard of the band straight jumping Steven on stage after he fell off said stage.
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Post by AeroCooper on Mar 12, 2022 9:31:35 GMT -5
The 'Back in The Saddle' Tour (I was there, amazing tour!) began on June 22, 1984, so this would have been the original members doing the alleged thrashing of Steven. This guy claims to have been there on staff on the actual night.
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Post by AeroCooper on Mar 12, 2022 9:36:57 GMT -5
However...according to setlist.fm, they were in Illinois that night and played a full Amazing set:
Back in the Saddle
Mama Kin
Bone to Bone (Coney Island White Fish Boy)
Three Mile Smile
Reefer Head Woman
Lord of the Thighs
No More No More
Last Child
Get the Lead Out
Red House
(The Jimi Hendrix Experience cover)
Lightning Strikes
Same Old Song and Dance
Dream On
Sweet Emotion
Walk This Way
Milk Cow Blues
(Kokomo Arnold cover)
Toys in the Attic
The Train Kept A-Rollin'
(Tiny Bradshaw cover)
From the comments:
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Post by tedz on Mar 12, 2022 11:53:34 GMT -5
I recall finding out about this from 1 or 2 sources shortly after it happened. It seems to me that if they hadn't dealt with their substance abuse issues about a couple of years later, the reunion wouldn't have lasted too long.
Ted
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Post by VoodooMedicineMan on Mar 12, 2022 15:18:42 GMT -5
I second fwanger 's sentiments, how am I just hearing about this now? Granted, I was only 3 at the time, but a lot of these stories get regurgitated again and again. After a couple hours of searching the internet, it appears like most stories in the Aerosmith lore, there is some truth, a lot of BS, and and even more embellishment. There's quite a few corroborating accounts that the events in question took place on July 14, 1984 in Springfield, IL. At the very least, Steven was too messed up to play and the band cut the show short. Two comments make mention of it in those setlist.fm comments, and Steven's Wikipedia page mentions him collapsing in Springfield, IL during the 1984 tour. However, it seems unlikely that a WWF style 4 on 1 beatdown took place, since as Coop mentioned, the band played a full show the following night, with the lone comment writing "band was very late arriving and not in a good mood.". United Press International has an article archived from July, 15 1984 referencing a fight breaking out the night before but is very light on specifics. The most detailed and interesting take I found was from a Reddit user. He recalls Joe jabbing Steven in the gut with his guitar, with Steven then retreating to the back in pain. The band then takes a break and when they return Steven is soaking wet, continuing to stumble and showing no signs of sobering up. He soon falls off the stage and the band calls it a night. I recommend reading his full account. Unfortunately, the subject of the thread was 'Wasted Celebrity Moments' and none of the 182 comments appear elaborate further on that show. His account seems feasible, although with no corroboration who knows. It does give an explanation that some could interpret as a fight, yet the band was able to resume the tour the next night, apparently no worse for wear. |
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Post by seangod on Mar 13, 2022 16:30:49 GMT -5
I don't doubt that this happened, but how are we just hearing about it now? Lol
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Post by mark7 on Jul 26, 2024 11:43:33 GMT -5
I remember there were MTV reports of it at the time... I might have them on audio tape. The date of the Springfield gig is 7/13/84. I wish a recording would pop up, but never has. No doubt that it happened...the same thing just about happened a year before in Ventura 8/3/83, which is documented on tape. Here's the text of the Reddit post description referenced a few posts up: I saw Steven Tyler, wasted, fall off the stage. I attended Aerosmith's Back in the Saddle tour in 1984 in my hometown of Springfield, Illinois. I was 16 years old and super excited because I had 4th row center stage tickets. The best seats I have ever had before or since then. Here is what I witnessed: The band is a bit late to the stage...not that big of a deal. They start to play. I'm all pumped up and not really caring too much at first, but then I start to notice that Steven Tyler is not really singing words that you can understand. By the end of the first song I can tell that he is pretty ripped. He has a harmonica that he seems to be have quite a bit of trouble playing. This is the 80s, so Tyler is wearing spandex pants with leg warmers around his ankles, which somehow did not seem all that weird in the 80s. He gets done playing his harmonica, and sticks it in the waist band of his spandex pants. I am close enough to the stage that I can actually see the harmonica slip down his pants leg and stop at the top of the leg warmer. In a wasted, absolute stupor, Tyler sits down on the front of the stage and starts fumbling with the leg warmer, trying to get the harmonica out. That was some funny shit. He fails to get the harmonica out, stumbles back up, and makes his way over to Joe Perry looking for some help or advice. The band is playing at this point with no vocals, and they are all kind of giving Tyler disgusted looks. As Tyler starts pawing at Joe Perry for help, Perry jabs him in the gut with his guitar! No shit. He poked him hard enough that Tyler walked off stage holding his gut. They band stops playing, and announces they were taking a break. This was halfway through the second song. They come back on stage in a bit, and Tyler's hair is dripping wet. They apparently dunked his head in some water in an effort to sober him up. Again they start to play, and for about 30 seconds, I thought he might come around and actually sing. Nope. He tried to sing for a bit, but ultimately started stumbling and falling down. Gets back up, starts an epic stumbling/fall that lasted about 15-20 seconds and ends with him falling off the front of the stage into the security barriers. He literally fell about 4 feet onto the concrete floor. That was the end of the show. The lights went up and the guards started making people leave. I can't believe we didn't burn that place down, but everyone left pretty quietly -probably all too stunned by what we just saw. I was pretty pissed at the time, but when I look back this was probably the most exciting time I ever had at a concert. |
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Post by AeroCooper on Jul 27, 2024 7:03:05 GMT -5
^ Great post/information, thanks for sharing!
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gonzaloc
I Rocks
Posts: 118
Join Date:
Mar 21, 2024 22:22:16 GMT -5
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Post by gonzaloc on Jul 28, 2024 19:10:26 GMT -5
Never knew about this
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Post by VoodooMedicineMan on Aug 14, 2024 17:04:54 GMT -5
I just randomly came across another fan's write-up of this show. As expected, the details vary a bit, but there are a lot of similarities between the 2 accounts.
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Post by aerostooge on Aug 14, 2024 17:57:14 GMT -5
Didn't Joe mention something in his autobiography about Brad pulling a knife on Tyler on the tour bus on this tour? Or did I imagine that?
Either way, it's a pretty comical scenario.
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Post by mark7 on Aug 20, 2024 11:29:17 GMT -5
Didn't Joe mention something in his autobiography about Brad pulling a knife on Tyler on the tour bus on this tour? Or did I imagine that? Either way, it's a pretty comical scenario. Yeah, what an odd story. Was that Perry's book or Tyler's? Either way, seems out of character for Brad. |
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Post by aerostooge on Aug 21, 2024 2:41:13 GMT -5
Didn't Joe mention something in his autobiography about Brad pulling a knife on Tyler on the tour bus on this tour? Or did I imagine that? Either way, it's a pretty comical scenario. Yeah, what an odd story. Was that Perry's book or Tyler's? Either way, seems out of character for Brad. It was definitely in Joe's. Brad's a dark horse. |
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