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Aerosmith and ZZ Top will perform here: eventually

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 08/6/2009 5:17 PM | Comments: 0

WINNIPEG — The on-again, off-again Aerosmith and ZZ Top show is officially off again.

But the promoter for Friday night’s concert is encouraging fans to hold onto their tickets as he works to reschedule the rock bands at the stadium before the end of September.

"Right now we’re just saying it’s a postponement, please hang on to your tickets until we set the new date," said Bryan Taylor.

Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler suffered injuries in a stage fall Wednesday night in the U.S. The 61-year-old was airlifted to a hospital in Rapid City, S.D., Wednesday.

Taylor said early indications showed that Tyler suffered cuts and bruises, but that prognosis quickly changed.

"(Tyler’s) doctor’s advice was to take the night off," Taylor said, adding that Tyler suffered a shoulder injury. "He’s hurt enough that he can’t play."

"Steven Tyler did get a bit banged up and had to have a few stitches, but all Canadian dates are going on as planned," an initial statement from the band’s management said.

Winnipeg is the only Canadian date cancelled and the band plans to perform in Regina on Sunday.

On Thursday afternoon, dozens of crew members worked to tear down the massive stage setup in the north end of Canad Inns Stadium. Only 10,000 tickets have been sold for the 23,000 seat show, Taylor said.

Tyler fell while entertaining the crowd by dancing around after the sound system failed during the song Love in an Elevator, said Mike Sanborn, spokesman for the Buffalo Chip Campground, which hosted the outdoor concert.

Tyler was on the stage’s catwalk when he fell backward onto a couple of fans in the middle of what was a record crowd, Sanborn said. Security rushed to help him and the crowd cheered when Tyler got back up.

"He was good-natured about it," Sanborn said. "He was in good spirits when he got in the helicopter. He was talking and joking with the physician."

"It was an unfortunate end to an extraordinary evening."

Tyler was taken backstage and around 12:15 a.m., guitarist Joe Perry came out to tell the audience Tyler was being taken to the hospital and that the show would not go on.

It happened about halfway through the performance, Sanborn said.

"He does a lot of dancing on the stage and he does a lot of stuff with his mike stand. He put his stand down and twirled around and stepped backwards off the stage," he said.

Sanborn said Tyler was attended to on site by a physician and flown to Rapid City Regional Hospital, the only major hospital in the region.

Jennifer Horton, the hospital’s vice-president of public relations and marketing, said early Thursday that Tyler wasn’t in the hospital directory. Under the privacy laws, that means the person is either not there or chose not to be included in the directory, according to the hospital’s website.

Tyler attended Sturgis last year to promote his Dirico Motorcycles line and was back this year to do that again and play at the Buffalo Chip.

The band’s current tour with ZZ Top has been a rough one on Tyler so far. The band was forced to cancel seven shows last month when he injured his leg during a June 28 concert in Connecticut.

"It just happens in this business," Taylor laughed. "It’s rock ‘n roll."

— Staff/The Associated Press

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