This Day in AeroHistory - August 13, 1994

This brings back memories. I was 13 at the time and thought the Pay Per View broadcast might be the closest I ever got to seeing Aerosmith live. I recall watching MTV a few months prior and seeing the news scroller report Steven Tyler had just turned 46. That was much older than anyone on the local sports teams so I figured they'd be calling it a career before I would get a chance to see them in person.

I was pumped to hear Woodstock would be broadcast on PPV, but they were charging like $50-$60, so I decided to go with the free version. If you remember, analog PPV only scrambled the picture. The audio was still intact, and every 15 seconds or so the picture would sort of freeze in place with just the color inverted, so I'd be able to follow along.

I recall having the scrambled broadcast on in the background when another issue arose. They were scheduled to take the stage around 3AM. My parents weren't super strict about early bed times, but blasting a rock concert at 4AM might not go over too well. So the plan was to wait for them to go to bed, and I'd just keep saying I'd go to bed in 20 minutes.

They yelled down to go to bed a few times, but I made it to the end and was really hoping I'd get at least 1 chance to see the real thing. 30 years and 20 shows later I'm still hoping for at least one more chance.

I stayed up until 3:30 am to videotape Metallica, then Aerosmith's entire sets at W'94. Both Groups put on stellar performances.

Ted