AEROSMITH blogger/travel companion/photographer John Bionelli has issued the following road report:

"Sunset in Peru…… well the first two shows of this tour went great. Tons of time traveling though. It can wear you down. I don’t think anybody has been to bed before 4:00 am. The rehearsals were a lot of fun especially since Tom (Hamilton)was back. The guys put together a set list of songs that the kids in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico wanted to hear. Since it has been 13 years since Aerosmith has been to these places they haven’t heard anything from Nine Lives, Just Push and Honkin’. 'Falling in Love (Is Hard On The Knees)' and 'Crazy' made it into the set as well as 'Dude', which has only been played a handful of times since 1999. It turned out to be a great move by the guys because a lot of the fans still think Permanent Vacation was the band’s first album and 'Dream On', 'Walk this Way' and 'Sweet Emotion' appeared from thin air.

We got to have a great support band for the two shows. VELVET REVOLVER! They were staying at the same Hotels as us so it was great to see them. At one point in Sao Paulo, Duff (McKagan), Slash, Matt (Sorum), Joe and Steven (Tyler) were all in the hotel gym at the same time and it was cool seeing these guys talk about touring together during the years in between water breaks and sets. Matt as you may remember played with the Cult, who did a bunch of shows with the guys.

The Sao Paulo show was awesome 50,000 screaming people singing every word to 'Elevator'. All you could see were a sea of people jumping up and down. It was Brazilians by the millions.

Next up was Buenos Aires, Argentina:

The hotel we all were staying at was Amazing. It was called Faena Hotel and Universe. It was owned by this guy named Alan who invited the guys out to dinner at the Hotel’s steakhouse. The food was amazing and it was great to see the band out enjoying themselves. The next day I went with some of the guys from VR to see the Psychedelic Furs at a club called the Roxy. After the show we went back to the Hotel bar where we found Brad Whitford jamming with the house band to the wee hours of the night. It was great to just sit back and hear Brad wail for about two hours. The place was packed.

The show in Buenos Aires may have been the best show I have seen in quite sometime. The stage was huge! The place held 65,000 people and was sold out. The guys put Crazy in the set without even rehearsing it and it came out awesome.

The next day Brad, Tom and Joey decided to go leather shopping. I guess leather is pretty cheap there and the guys stocked up on jackets for their wives. Band Associate Donny Wightman picked up a pair of black leather chaps at the request of Ross Halfin.

Velvet Revolver were playing at a small Theatre in Buenos Aires that night and Joe and his wife Billie decided to check them out. We got to the place about 3 minutes before they went on and watched from the side of the stage. The venue was like a sauna. It was 1 1/2 hours of sweaty grimy rock and roll. The new songs were awesome. Go out and get their new record when it comes out.

What do you do on your day off? You fly 11 hours to Monterrey Mexico of course. On the way we had to stop in Lima, Peru for gas and the guys started to get a little antsy on the plane. So after Mr. Perry assisted the local airport worker fill the plane with petrol the guys had an impromptu photo session with Billie Perry behind the lens. It was one of those moments besides the stage and the fuselage of a airplane where the guys just hung out for 45 minutes and enjoyed the sunset in Lima, Peru.

See you on the Road!"

* Photo by John Bionelli: Slash, Scott Weiland and Joe Perry. For more photos head here.