Aerosmith Debate Set List Before Summer Tour with Slash

When you've been rocking crowds as long as Aerosmith, tuning up and getting out on stage is the easy part. Deciding what you're actually going to play is where things get a little tricky sometimes.

"Everyone in the band has a different view," admitted guitarist Joe Perry when speaking with USA Today about the process of putting together the band's set list for its upcoming summer tour with Slash. "If you put in new songs, what old songs do you take out? That's the battleground. We're not talking about screaming matches. It's more philosophical."

For singer Steven Tyler, it's a philosophy centered on sending the fans home satisfied. "The world is living on the edge. Every now and then, people need a big fat bonfire to dance around, and that would be us," he mused, adding, "There are two hours, and we fill them up with what people want."

And while it's exciting to slip a few surprises into the set, Tyler adds that playing the band's greatest hits provides its own thrill. "It's the greatest feeling," he said. "There are songs we fought hard to get on a record, that took a year to write, and they stuck in the craw of people all over this planet. That's overwhelming."

Added Perry: "A lot of what Aerosmith offers is that rock 'n' roll sense of excitement that the train might go off the rails any minute. The challenge is to put enough energy behind every song to make it fresh so everything locks and we can say, 'Tonight we were the best band in the world.'"