Aerosmith, arguably the greatest hard rock band of all time, brought their legendary live show back to Jones Beach last night with fellow hard rock icon Sammy Hagar supporting on the “Cocked, Rocked, Ready to Rock” tour.

Hagar got the party started right, whipping through classics “There’s Only One Way To Rock,” “Bad Motor Scooter,” “Heavy Metal,” “Mas Tequila,” a slowed-up rendition of “Right Now” from the Van Hagar years, and “Why Can’t This Be Love.”  The Red Rocker showed up in perfect form with the Wabo’s doing an excellent job backing him up.

The only problem with Hagar’s set was the fact that so many stupid people failed to show up to Jones Beach for the opening of Sammy’s set.  The Wabo’s should not be playing “I Can’t Drive 55” in front of such a minuscule crowd. Again, this is the fault of the ungrateful tardy Long Islanders that can’t comprehend the importance of honoring true rock godliness.

Aerosmith sounded phenomenal on the stage from the very opening riff of “Toys in the Attic.” As always, they brought their huge light show and flawless sound system. Steven Tyler’s voice was dead on, as was Joe Perry’s lead guitars. The wind blew strong and seemed to leave the sound unaffected, a rarity at Jones Beach shows.

At times throughout the set, it was difficult to watch Aerosmith because you could feel that uneasy tension churning between Tyler and Perry.  There were moments when you could feel Tyler was annoyed and frustrated as Perry strutted along his catwalk, overstaying his welcome. I get the feeling that Aerosmith will not be returning to the New York area any time soon, if not ever.

Following an amazing rendition of The Beatles’ “Come Together,” Tyler introduced Perry’s guitar solo.  Here, Tyler referred to Perry as his “American Idol.” Hahahaha! Sick burn.

Aerosmith’s set was going great until the “Guitar Hero” showdown solo break where Perry battled against his video game self, which then led into the bluesy point of the show. Perry sang lead on Jimi Hendrix’s “Red House,” which destroyed the momentum of the overall set.

It was pretty much downhill from there with the chick-pleasing-ballad “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” and the Honkin on Bobo monstrosity “Baby Please Don’t Go.”  I have seen Aerosmith about 10 times now and most shows unfold the same way; The band starts off with such great energy, does a nose dive to near-oblivion, delivers a weak rendition of “Sweet Emotion” (they can just never get the harmonies and sound effects right live), comes back to life with a solid performance of “Dream On,” then its either tunes of awesomeness or pain to the end of the night.

Unfortunately, there was no “Mama Kin,” “Seasons of Wither,” “Rats in the Cellar,” “Same Old Song and Dance,” or “Back in the Saddle” on this night.  If they slid these gems into the set, replacing the weak crap, it could have been the greatest rock show (and perhaps greatest farewell show) of the decade.