By J.C. Correa

If you’ve been following the latest headlines, you may have read that Aerosmith is apparently teasing a return to the stage after calling it a career, at least as far performing goes, two years ago. It’s well known by now that that original decision was initially forced upon the legendary rock group when singer Steven Tyler suffered a serious injury to his larynx during the third show of their farewell tour in the fall of 2023. Despite this, guitarist Joe Perry remained active by going on the road with both his side band, The Joe Perry Project, and very recently, with The Hollywood Vampires, of which he’s been a member for the past decade. 

Similarly, shortly after Tyler’s injury, bassist Tom Hamilton kept himself busy by going on to form his own supergroup, with guitarist Peter Stroud (Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLachlan) and drummer Tony Brock (The Babys). They call themselves Close Enemies, and their lineup is rounded out by vocalist Chasen Hampton (The Party), and guitarist Trace Foster (guitar tech for AC/DC and Aerosmith). The outfit began to play live in late 2024 and dropped a self-titled album of original material in March of this year. 

On Friday, October 2, they played their first full show supporting that release at the Des Plaines Theatre in the northern Chicago suburb of the same name. Booked on a double bill with Steven Adler, formerly of Guns N’ Roses, Close Enemies took the stage at 8pm to a cheerful crowd that, unfortunately, only made up half of the venue’s capacity. Things were further complicated when, before even playing a single note, Stroud announced to the audience that they were down a man (Foster was absent, likely due to the AC/DC concert that was simultaneously taking place in New Jersey that night) and would thus have to perform as a four piece. Being that Hamilton was the focus of the marketing campaign, I don’t imagine that the adjustment affected many of the 300 or so attendees who were already there.  

The band started things off with “Rain,” a mostly-up tempo, sprawling rocker that also serves as the opening track of their LP. From there, they quickly segued into the Stonesy “Inside Out,” followed by “Sound of a Train,” which afforded Stroud a moment to shine during the solo. Though the performances of these initial numbers were lively and more than competent, those familiar with the recordings would have likely detected the inevitable sonic sparseness that was the result of only having one guitar in the mix. This was true as well during “Midnight Rendezvous,” a song from The Babys that aptly fit the overall style and was also the first cover of the night. 

Under a simple backdrop that projected a blinking eye within a keyhole on permanent loop below their name, Close Enemies overcame their handicap and began to settle in on the fifth song of the set, “More Than I Could Ever Need.” Introduced as something that Hamilton brought to the group, the tune is a moody, mid-tempo number with a great deal of atmosphere, and it allowed Hampton’s voice to truly resonate, thus creating one of the night’s better moments. That momentum was sustained for “Wink and a Feather,” a bluesy, barroom-type stomper with just enough Southern rock flair to give it an edge. 

Fans who went to the gig mainly on the strength of Hamilton’s pedigree were eventually rewarded halfway through the set with a faithful take on “Sick as a Dog,” a beloved Aerosmith deep cut which Hamilton wrote with Tyler in 1976. Though the interpretation lacked a second voice to imbue the song with its notable layered harmony, the musicians did make it a point to pause for dramatic effect right before the big drum strike that signals the start of the outro. Considering the several dozen Aerosmith shirts in the crowd, it was, understandably for most, the highlight of the evening up to that point.   

Close Enemies continued their attack with the Zeppelin-like “Take a Pill,” one of the catchier tunes in their catalog. Right after this, however, they did something clever and well designed by performing the bluesy, moderate “Battlefield,” before going straight into a rendition of the Aerosmith classic (and Hamilton’s signature ditty) “Sweet Emotion.” The transition was seamless and worked very well, in part due to the shared key between both compositions. Stroud aptly handled the talk box bit during the song’s iconic intro, and the performance got most of the crowd on its feet that wasn’t already standing. They were kept there for the 60-minute set’s final number, another Babys cover entitled “Head First.” It’s worth noting that despite the direct connection, Close Enemies’ material is mostly devoid of the power balladry of Aerosmith and is rather much more in line with the old-school blues rock that first made the Boston quintet famous. 

After a 30-minute changeover, Adler and his crew took the stage and treated the crowd to an 85-minute set that was, expectedly, almost entirely comprised of Guns N’ Roses music. Opening with crowd-favorite “Nightrain,” the group ran through selections exclusively from Adler’s tenure as the band’s original drummer, which primarily entails their monstrous debut album, Appetite for Destruction, and its follow-up release, GN’R Lies. 

Though Adler was clearly the draw here, unlike Hamilton previously – who never once addressed the crowd directly and was just content to play his bass – the effervescent skinsman made sure to embrace the spotlight every chance he got; either by triumphantly standing after certain numbers, waving to the crowd and thanking them with multiple hand hearts, or throwing out drumsticks repeatedly after just the third tune. These displays may have seemed a little excessive and egocentric in almost every other case, but they took on a different weight here in light of Adler’s heavily publicized, long-term struggles with drug addiction, and the various health issues he’s suffered like strokes and paralysis. When viewed through that lens, the gestures instead projected an endearing quality. 

Adler’s lineup was comprised of vocalist Ari Kamin, lead guitarist Michael Thomas, bassist Cristian Sturba, and second guitarist Alistair James, all of whom are at least fifteen years younger than their 61-year-old band leader. As a whole, it’s perhaps fair to think of the group as a very decent Guns N’ Roses tribute act, if not much else. Kamin, who by design, visually resembled late ‘80s Axl Rose via the backwards baseball cap he came out with, is the heaviest hitter of the bunch thanks to a wonderfully strong voice that excels specifically in the highest registers. Conversely, he had a harder time channeling Rose’s distinctive baritone on songs like “Mr. Brownstone” and “It’s So Easy.” 

Perhaps due to the later start time, or simply the assumption that the repertoire would be made up of tunes that pretty much everybody knows, the audience seemed to slightly grow in numbers and enthusiasm for the night’s second act. To that end, it was nice to see Adler maintain the same laid-back swing style that imbued those early GN’R recordings with such a unique groove. In fact, the only original song featured was “Good to Be Bad,” a track from the drummer’s 2012 solo album, Adler, which a few fans seemed to know and sang along to. Otherwise, the two most surprising moments were renditions of “Civil War” and “You Could Be Mine,” two staples from the Gunners’ post-Adler Use Your Illusion era. However, this wasn’t entirely arbitrary either since, as only die-hard fans might know, the former tune is the only one on the Use Your Illusion records to feature Adler, whereas the latter was actually a GN’R composition that predates most of what ended up on Appetite. Ironically, in spite of him momentarily messing up the beat in the third verse (Adler played it off by playfully sticking out his tongue and smiling about it), “Civil War” was his band’s best performance of the night.  

For “Welcome to the Jungle,” Chip Z’Nuff, from local ‘80s glam metal outfit Enuff Z’Nuff (and a former bandmate of Adler’s), took over bass duties. Shortly afterwards, during the intro of set closer “Paradise City,” Z’Nuff, accompanied by a random child, blew the referee whistle that signals the song’s transition into the main riff, yet the music inexplicably came to a complete halt. For his part, Adler tried to ad lib by doing a few drum rolls that only created more confusion. Two minutes later, Z’Nuff reappeared (sans child) and blew the whistle once more in the dead silence, at which point the group immediately resumed from that exact spot. It was a bizarre display to be sure, and whether it was all done by design as opposed to a complete flub was probably a point of debate for most in attendance. Regardless, Adler took the microphone at the show’s conclusion to graciously thank the crowd, and his sincerity was evident. 

If there was one missed opportunity throughout the night – and this was a glaring one – it was the fact that midway through their set, Adler’s band chose to cover Aerosmith’s “Mama Kin,” yet somehow didn’t ask Hamilton to join in on bass. Though the choice had precedence (namely the fact that a version of it appears on GN’R Lies), not taking advantage of the double bill in this respect seemed outright criminal. Had it happened, it would have undoubtedly been the evening’s most memorable moment.