AEROSMITH bassist Tom Hamilton has issued the following update:

Here’s a little brain belch that came out when we were in Brazil. Sorry it took so long to edit and post it. Actually I’m NOT sorry. As a rock and roller it’s my right (and my responsibility) to be scatterbrained and late with everything.

Wow that felt good.

We got in really late last night. Went to sleep at around 5:00. Got up at 1:00, had lunch with Joey (Kramer) and Donny then we sat out by the pool with Brad (Whitford). There’s lots of kids at the hotel. emotional and unafraid to approach and ask for autographs and pictures. Actually most of them are afraid but do it anyway which I respect.

Went over to sound check at about 6:30. Big huge Soccer stadium. The stage is really high up. We went over a bunch of songs and I tried out all of my basses. The Parker was too mid range-y, the Tompkins was a little bottomy but the Sadowskys felt good. I’m going to play the Blonde for most of the show except for when I need my 5 string. Gotta watch out because I’m getting tingling in my last two fingers of my left hand. Stand up straight!!

Got back from Sound check and went down to the bar. Hung out with the promoter and talked about the world of live music and just the world in general. Stayed for an hour or so, now I’m back in the room. Strange to be alone. I feel like I should be back downstairs socializing but it’s already 2:00 and I don’t want to be burnt. I want to be f@#&ing; good tomorrow night. Maybe solitude is the price. Maybe it’s the reward.

- Midnight –

I just walked into my room after the show in Sao Paulo. I’m trying to make sense of the hurricane of thoughts going through my head. I think there’s part of me that thinks I’m still on stage. The systems haven’t slowed down much. Maybe it was the hair-raising police escort. My socks are soaking wet. The rest of my clothes are too but they’re already in a bag going back to the gig to be put in the road case and then cleaned before the next show in Buenos Aires.

It feels weird to transition from the energy of the show to the intense suspense of the ride back to the hotel. My room is silent except for the clicking of my tired fingertips on my computer keyboard. I’m wondering if I’ll be able to describe the night. There are so many parallel thoughts and emotions going through me. Sao Paulo and Brazil in general seem to inspire emotion. The people here seem to be used to having their emotions show. I can’t say I know enough about the country to be sure but that’s been my impression of the last three days.

The lobby’s been packed almost the whole time with fans that are beyond fans. Sometimes it’s a bit much but in general it seems to recharge the batteries. You can’t be blasé about being in a band when these people are throwing out so much enthusiasm. I expected it to be the same when we got to the gig and we weren’t disappointed.

This was a big stadium show that we’ve been looking forward to for a long time. We haven’t played in Brazil or Argentina or Mexico for thirteen years but we well remember the intensity of the crowds. It makes it easy. When the audience is supplying so much of the energy we can relax and just have a good time. Not that we….. You know what? I’m going to have to wait ‘til later to describe the whole day. Right now I have to concentrate on what was happening onstage and immediately afterwards.

We had to do a runner which is when the band goes straight from the stage to the cars at the end of the show in order not to get caught at the venue for hours as the place clears out. We had a police escort tonight. The motorcycle cops here use super agile bikes. They look like big dirt bikes and whatever they are they’re really fast. The streets were full of people and cars and buses and trucks. In order to get us through the throngs of pedestrians they had their sirens going full blast and their red lights blazing away. They cleared a swath by whipping back and forth like slalom skiers. The people sort of calmly parted like the red sea as if wondering what the fuss was all about. A few gave the finger which was funny. The bikes would lunge right up to people nearly ramming them as they charged ahead. I could barely watch.

The suspense was unrelenting. I thought any minute a bike was going to wipe out or somebody on the street would get hit but somehow we got back here without a scratch. We lined up outside the lobby and took pictures with the cops. I still love the irony of that situation. Usually when cops and long haired freaks are in the same picture it means someone got arrested.

Tomorrow we head down to Buenos Aires. It’s good to be down here after all this time…"