Half-time show not a sellout
Boston Globe, February 1st, 2001
Steve Morse

''It was a roll of the dice at best, but it worked out fine,'' Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry said of the Tampa gig. ''There were 400 people pulling the stage and plugging in the wires - and to watch the stage go up and down in six minutes was amazing.''

The halftime extravaganza cost $3 million to produce, according to Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, who highlighted the short program by belting out ''Walk This Way'' with aid from the guests. Some Aerosmith fans, including late-night sports-talk host J.T. the Brick, have accused the group of selling out because they allowed Spears and 'N Sync to sing on the song, but Tyler has a message for them.

''Lighten up,'' he said. ''Sure, we know that 50 percent of our fans might think it [expletive], but maybe 50 percent of 'N Sync's fans liked seeing them rock out. It doesn't matter. It's all about a good song.''

''It was just entertainment - and a big adventure for us,'' said Perry. ''I remember the '60s, when you'd see Jethro Tull and Sly & the Family Stone on the same show. No one complained about that.''

''Aerosmith has always been about extremes anyway,'' said Tyler, adding that even in its early days, the band was doing very different song styles like ''Dream On'' versus ''Train Kept A-Rollin.'' ''And, hey, rock 'n' roll is supposed to [expletive] people off. If some people were unhappy, that's OK.''

The National Football League asked Aerosmith to do the halftime show and invited MTV to produce the segment. Then MTV and Aerosmith brainstormed and hatched the idea of the guests. (MTV will air a behind-the-scenes look at ''The Making of The Super Bowl Halftime Special'' on Saturday at 6 p.m.)

''We wanted to have a mix,'' said Perry. ''We wanted rock and pop and a taste of everything. The hardest part was that we only had six hours to rehearse. The rehearsal went poorly, and the sound was so bad that some of 'N Sync's [microphones] weren't on. But it all came together at the end.''

''We said we wanted 5,000 people in front of the stage and to bring the stage down to just 6 feet tall, which they did,'' said Tyler. ''We thought that would create more excitement.''

Aerosmith also sang its new single, ''Jaded,'' from the forthcoming album, ''Just Push Play,'' which comes out March 20. The album will be followed by a tour that Tyler expects will hit the FleetCenter, the Tweeter Center, and the Worcester Centrum Centre. ''We'll probably play all of those places,'' he said. (No dates are yet available.)

The album release date will come a day after Aerosmith's formal induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Other inductees include Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Queen, Solomon Burke, Ritchie Valens, and the Flamingos.

''The jams should be good,'' Perry said of the event. ''We go way back with Queen, so I'm sure we'll play with them. We're really honored to be getting in.''