By Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Joe Dolan]
March 3rd 2014, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: Up until now, AXS TV’s “World’s Greatest Tribute Bands” series has mainly spotlighted rock and metal tribute bands from Southern California, but in their ongoing third season the program has decided to venture out and bring bands from elsewhere into the mix. Draw The Line are based out of Boston, the hometown of the band they pay tribute to, none other than the legendary Aerosmith, one of the most loved classic rock bands in America and beyond. Draw The Line played at the Whisky last night in front of a packed house at the venue as well as the AXS TV audience watching live at home.
As always, doors opened at 7 PM, the crowd flocked in and within an hour, all was in readiness for the live broadcast to begin. Host Katie Daryl kicked off proceedings with her typically effervescent presence in front of the cameras, and Draw The Line hit the stage opening with a flawless and picture-perfect rendition of the 1975 Aersomith classic ‘Sweet Emotion’ off of the iconic ‘Toys In The Attic’ album, which they revisited soon after to play ‘Walk This Way’. Aside from these, the majority of Draw The Line’s set represented the late 80 and 90s era of Aersomith, with an assortment of popular tunes from the albums ‘Pump’, ‘Get A Grip, and ‘Nine Lives’, but as expected, the epic ‘Dream On’ off of the ’73 debut album was part of the set as well, and Draw The Line closed out the hour-long show with the ’74 rocker “Train Kept A Rollin'”.
Perhaps there was an overdose of the latter Aerosmith era in this set and the old-school fans would have enjoyed more of the early material, plus it was a surprise to not see any tunes from the album this tribute band is named after. But as a representation of Aerosmith’s catalog for a TV demographic, this set served its purpose really well and showcased the instantaneously powerful impact of Aerosmith’s music on a listener, whether it be their first or hundredth time listening to it. And for the younger members of the crowd who never got to witness Aerosmith live in their prime, Draw The Line provided an accurate taste of what it would have been like to see Aerosmith back in the day. The crowd at the Whisky enjoyed every bit of it and gave the band a deservedly tremendous response. The band’s portrayal of Aerosmith’s musicianship and on-stage look was amazing, and it’s no surprise that Steven Tyler and Joey Kramer endorse Draw The Line as the ultimate Aerosmith tribute.
Singer Neill Byrnes was jaw-droppingly brilliant in his role and it was clear from his performance and visual presentation that he’s a hardcore Steven Tyler fanatic. He not only nailed all the vocals but was a bundle of energy throughout the set, carrying the show on his shoulders almost single-handedly. With that said, his band mates combined also played an equally crucial part in making it a successful event.
Overall, this was yet another extremely enjoyable event in AXS TV’s Greatest Tribute Bands series, and this time Los Angeles got a rare taste of a legit Boston-based tribute band. There are some potentially great tribute shows still to follow in the remainder of season 3, and Metal Assault advices you to attend some of these shows if you’re a Los Angeles resident and/or tune in to AXS TV to watch it at home.
Check out a full photo gallery from the show (view the photos here if you’re on a non-Flash device):
Set List:
01. Sweet Emotion
02. I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing
03. Walk This Way
04. Dream On
05. Jaine’s Got A Gun
06. Pink
07. Love In An Elevator
08. Cryin’
09. Livin’ On The Edge
10. Dude (Looks Like A Lady)
11. Train Kept A Rollin’
Visit Draw The Line on the web:
DrawTheLine.net
facebook.com/DTL20
twitter.com/AerosmithBand
Remaining shows in Season 3:
3/10 – Wings Band (Paul McCartney)
3/24 – Bruce In The USA (Bruce Springsteen)
3/31 – Abbacadabra (ABBA)
4/07 – The Nirvana Experience (Nirvana)
4/14 – Bonfire (AC/DC)
4/21 – Mr. Speed (KISS)
Reserve FREE tickets to the AXS TV tribute shows at the Whisky:
GreatestTributeBands.EventBrite.com
Visit AXS TV on the web:
AXS.TV
facebook.com/AXSTV
twitter.com/AXSTV
instagram.com/AXSTV
Visit Katie Daryl on the web:
facebook.com/Katie.Daryl
twitter.com/KatieDaryl