At the Hollywood Bowl, Aerosmith argues for a future

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Set us as preferred Turns out retirement didn’t quite take for Steven Tyler and the rest of Aerosmith.Three years after calling it quits due to a vocal injury Tyler sustained just a few dates into a farewell tour, the veteran hard rock band slithered back onstage Thursday at the Hollywood Bowl for Night 1 of a two-part extravaganza called California Dream On.The evening paired affectionate (if under-rehearsed) tribute performances by an array of admirers — among them Guns N’ Roses, the Black Crowes, Billy Idol, Sammy Hagar, Eric Church and Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson — with a wily (if abbreviated) headlining set by Aerosmith, which had Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl on drums.Is California Dream On, which will conclude Sunday night at the Bowl, meant to herald Aerosmith’s return to the road? Or does the event serve as a capstone to the band’s half-century-long career, as the night’s host, Bill Burr, seemed to suggest when he welcomed the audience to “the final two shows in Aerosmith’s history”? Music Ahead of a gig at Stagecoach, the former Van Halen frontman tells the stories behind six of his songs.Later, Tyler himself gave a little speech about “what a ride it’s been with my brothers,” referring to the band’s Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer.(Kramer sat out most of Thursday’s gig following a series of health-related issues of his own, though the drummer took over from Grohl for a show-closing rendition of “Walk This Way.”)“Fifty-five f—ing years, and we’re the same f—ing band that started 55 and a half years ago,” Tyler added.Aerosmith hasn’t made clear what the future holds — in part, perhaps, because of an active legal case against Tyler, who’s been accused of sexual assault by a woman who says he abused her when she was a teenager in the 1970s.

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