AEROSMITH’s JOE PERRY On Coronavirus Pandemic: ‘This Is As Close To A World War As You Could Get, In A Lot Of Ways’

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In a new interview with WBUR, AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry spoke about the band's touring plans now that most of the concerts and festivals this summer have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping the globe. "I would say this is as close to a world war as you could get, in a lot of ways," he said. "If you tick off the boxes, it is a world war. Basically, it has shut down the touring business for an indefinite period of time." AEROSMITH had "Deuces Are Wild" Las Vegas residency performances scheduled for May 20 through June 4 at the Park Theater before it was announced that they were being rescheduled in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. "If they somehow wanted to open the shows — and I doubt they would do it — we wouldn't push our luck," Perry said. "We also feel like we don't want to be the ones responsible, the ones to say to people, 'It's okay to come in. Take your chances. Wear masks. Come in and rock out!' "I don't see 5,000 people in an arena or theater," he continued. "It's too contagious. It doesn't take much to pass it from one place to another. It would take a lot to get me on a plane to Vegas at this point." Perry went on to say that he would rather wait until it is safe to play concerts again than jump back in too soon. "There's a real lot they don't know, even now," Perry said. "Which really makes you scratch your head if they start opening certain things. It doesn't make any sense to close everything down, but people have to do that social distancing and wearing gloves and masks. That's the only thing we know we can do to fight it. I think that, really, people gotta use their common sense." AEROSMITH launched its Las Vegas residency in April 2019 and had completed several legs of the "Deuces Are Wild" concert production at Park Theater before the latest postponement. As of last October, "Deuces Are Wild" had already grossed more than $35 million. The legendary rockers had played more than two dozen shows at the Park Theater in Las Vegas, plus a few shows at other MGM locations around the country (three at The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon, Maryland, and four at MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts).