“He did this encore. Went off. They made him come out again. Another encore. They wouldn't stop. He came out for three encores”: Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and Brad Whitford on the time they were completely upstaged by their support act, a young Rory Gallagher

Brad Whitford and Joe Perry from Aerosmith have been talking about the time they were upstaged by their support act at a crucial New York gig.

During a wide-ranging conversation with Rick Beato, the two guitarists remembered the show, which took place back in 1974. Aerosmith were due to headline the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park that summer, and below them on the bill was an up and coming young Irish blues rocker named Rory Gallagher.

“It was before we were accepted in New York at all,” Whitford recalls. “Rory Gallagher probably had one of the most stunning shows of his entire career.” His colleague puts it more bluntly: “He kicked our ass. We headlined. He went on first, and he kicked our ass.”

“He went off stage, they made him come out for an encore,” Whitford continues. “He did this encore. Went off. They made him come out again. Another encore. They wouldn't stop. He came out for three encores. Oh my God.”

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“And then we got on the stage, and I just remember watching people walk away before we even started playing. It was like the show's over, and who are these guys? They didn't care,” Whitford adds. “I swear, it had to be one of his best concerts.”

Aerosmith soon recovered. The following year’s Toys In The Attic album went nine times platinum and the rest, as they say, is history. Clearly, being upstaged by Gallagher still hurts, though. Before Whitford tells the tale during the Beato interview, his guitar partner quips: “I don't wanna hear about that.”

Wheeling back to 2025, the question of whether Aerosmith have played their final gig remains unanswered. Last month Perry seemed to raise hopes that Steven Tyler could be persuaded into playing one last farewell gig despite his vocal injury. The guitarist told Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM that: “I know there’s gotta be at least another Aerosmith gig, and I’m not looking forward to putting the setlist together for that one. But I don’t know, man. We’ll just have to see.”