Girls of Summer Tour


The Girls of Summer Tour was a North American concert tour headlined by Aerosmith that ran from August to December 2002. The tour was put on in support of the band's 2-disc compilation, O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, a comprehensive collection which spanned their whole career. Included on the album was a new track "Girls of Summer" which the band named the tour after to promote the song and their pop image. The concert sent the band to 41 amphitheater shows and 10 arena shows, for a total of 51 shows. The tour was opened by Kid Rock and Run-DMC, starting a trend of the band tapping high-profile acts to open their concerts on their relentless tours throughout the 2000s.

Stage setup

The stage setup was relatively simple, with ramps going out on the sides. However, this was also the second tour the band employed a B-stage for fans in the lawn, where they performed a 3-song set of primarily 1970s classics during the middle of the show. The show started with a white curtain in front of the stage with Steven Tyler standing in silhouette on one of the monitors.

Setlist

The band adjusted their set list, but usually opened the show with "Toys in the Attic", playing behind a curtain until it came down when the band got into the song, and went through 20 to 25 songs spanning their career, from "Sweet Emotion" and "Back in the Saddle" to "Love in an Elevator" and "Dude " to their latest hits "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" and "Girls of Summer". There were also a variety of deep cuts and B-sides, which the band rotated heavily.
During the encore, Kid Rock and Run-DMC joined Aerosmith for a stunning rendition of "Walk This Way", celebrating the rejuvenation of the song's popularity as a collaboration since it was performed at Super Bowl XXXV and other high-profile events as well as the re-uniting of Aerosmith and Run-DMC since they collaborated on the song back in 1986.
An average set,
  1. "Toys In The Attic"
  2. "Back in the Saddle"
  3. "Same Old Song And Dance"
  4. "Girls of Summer"
  5. "Sweet Emotion"
  6. "What It Takes"
  7. "Big Ten Inch Record"
  8. "Dream On"
  9. "Walking The Dog"
  10. "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing"
  11. "Last Child"
  12. "Jaded"
  13. "Pink"
  14. "Stop Messin' Around"
  15. "Lord of the Thighs"
  16. "Cryin'"
  17. "Dude "
  18. "Draw the Line"
  19. "Walk This Way"
Other songs performed include "Mama Kin", "Love in an Elevator", "Big Ten Inch Record", "Monkey on My Back", and "Janie's Got a Gun"

Tour dates

Success

Kid Rock performed an exceptionally long set, sometimes lasting 1 hour to 1 hour and a half, he would join Run DMC to help close their set with "King of Rock". From there he would open his set with Led Zeppelin's "Rock And Roll" followed by "American Bad Ass", "You Never Met A Motherfucker Quite Like Me into Free Bird", "Devil Without A Cause", "Picture", the unreleased blues song "If I Was President","3 Sheets To The Wind" with him playing every instrument on stage, "Only God Knows Why", "Midnight Rider","Cowboy into Good Ol Boys", the "Detroit Medley" and the closer "Bawitdaba". The "Detroit Medley" included "Old Time Rock N Roll", "Cat Scratch Fever", "Where Did Our Love Go", "We're An American Band", "Kick Out the Jams" and "My Name Is".
He would also rotate in covers Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" and Bob Seger's "Fire Down Below", as well as the medley of "Somebody's Gotta Feel This-Whole Lotta Love-Fist Of Rage".

Run-DMC

This tour was one of the biggest events of Run-DMC's career, exposing them to large, live mainstream fanbases, generally unheard of in rap music. This was also the last major tour for Jam Master Jay. The musician and mixer was fatally shot in October 2002, shortly after they had completed their opening responsibilities on the 1st leg.