Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry said the group had to persuade frontman Steven Tyler not to swing over the crowd with a rope during their upcoming Las Vegas residency. And that’s not the only reckless activity to rule out during their desert performances.
The band will continue to celebrate its 50th anniversary with a residency at Dolby Live, June 17-December 11. It was recently confirmed that drummer Joey Kramer will not be participating.
Perry recently told Spin that a stop by to Las Vegas often include paragliding. “A pickup truck drives around in a huge circle while you’re standing there [on] about 30 or 40 feet of rope [and] a steel cable,” he said. “They reel you out until you’re about 3,000 feet or something… then after you’ve been up in the air for a while, they pull this latch and you disconnect. And then you basically parachute down.”
The guitarist said that Tyler, 74, owns a motorized paraglider, one of the things you strap on with a propeller on the back. And I’ve seen him fly it himself. We’re not going to be doing parachutes this summer. It’s so easy to break an ankle or something. There’s a point when you’ve got to know.” He cited another example: “We really had to talk Steven out of swinging on a rope out over the audience!”
Perry revealed he and his wife, Billie, have a passion for diving, regardless of some “close calls over the years.” “One time… [t]he tide went out, and there was nothing but lava rocks,” he recalled. “So trying to come in was really, really scary. We had to take our gear off. The water was also getting really cloudy and it was getting later in the day. And that’s when the sharks come out. Not a comfortable time.”
Adding a memorable moment shipwreck with deep diving with Tyler: “Steven and I have had a lot of adventures over the years, and not just diving.”
Perry also admitted that he could see himself committing more time to deep diving after their upcoming shows. “I have to say, I was thinking about maybe doing one more run [with Aerosmith] and then taking six months and diving in some of these places that I’ve never been to,” he said. “I kind of doubt that’s going to happen.”