Aerosmith has some unfinished business to attend to over the next few days while in Hawaii.

Two years ago the classic rock band was scheduled to perform a public concert on Maui, as well as a private corporate show for national Toyota dealers on Oahu. Instead, their management felt that due to a rescheduled, makeup date in Chicago, it was “;not logistically possible”; for the band's equipment to make the Maui show, but they could make the second concert three days later at the University of Hawaii's Murakami Stadium.

So the Maui concert was canceled—in hindsight, an unpopular move. A class action lawsuit was filed by disgruntled Maui ticket-holders in October 2007 which was finally settled in April of this year. Ticket-holders who were plaintiffs and sent back their claim forms received new tickets to one of the two rescheduled dates.

The drama surrounding the Boston band continued when lead singer Steven Tyler incurred head, neck and shoulder injuries after a fall from the stage at a South Dakota show in early August. Because of that, the remainder of the band's mainland summer tour was canceled and further delayed the Hawaii concerts.

Well, the 59-year-old Tyler has apparently recovered, and the island shows are finally on, which is none too soon for guitarist Joe Perry. During a series of recent press interviews to promote the latest release from his side group the Joe Perry Project, he expressed to The Associated Press frustration over Tyler's overall condition. (Reuters also reported that Tyler was stricken by pneumonia earlier this year and checked into rehab in 2008 to recover from drug use due to painful foot surgeries.)

“;All I know is he's got to get his act together,”; Perry said. “;I mean, he and I haven't written a song together alone in the same room in over 10 years, so there's been some changes in paradigm of what Aerosmith is.”;

HOW MUCH of a paradigm shift there will be could be answered by the time of the Hawaii concerts.

Aerosmith got back on stage earlier this week, performing a private concert in San Francisco sponsored by software giant Oracle Corp. It marked the first time after a two-month layoff that Perry has seen Tyler.

“;The private gig should make for a good warm-up for our shows in Hawaii,”; Perry told the Star-Bulletin last week during a brief phone interview.

Perry, 61, has gone to war for the band he co-founded with Tyler and Tom Hamilton back in 1970 (Joey Kramer and Brad Whitford round out the lineup). After reported personality and musical conflicts with Tyler, Perry left Aerosmith in 1979, followed by Whitford the following year. In '84 the guitarist helped to get the original band back together, thus giving Aerosmith a much-needed second wind.

After establishing themselves as one of the '70s' better hard-rock bands on the strength of touring and a quartet of albums—“;Aerosmith,”; “;Get Your Wings,”; “;Toys in the Attic”; and “;Rocks”;—that represented the band in their rock music prime, it took a rap remake of their 1977 hit “;Walk This Way”; with Run-D.M.C. to bring Tyler and Perry back into the public spotlight in 1986.

Two subsequent albums, 1987's “;Permanent Vacation”; and 1989's “;Pump,”; were filled with such subsequent hits as “;Dude (Looks Like a Lady),”; “;Angel,”; “;Rag Doll,”; “;Janie's Got a Gun”; and “;Love in an Elevator.”; Aerosmith's contribution to the 1998 “;Armageddon”; movie soundtrack, “;I Don't Want to Miss a Thing,”; was an Oscar nominee and yet another hit for the band. Three years later they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

SINCE THEN it's been pretty much tour, tour, tour for Aerosmith. The band hasn't released an album since 2004's “;Honkin' on Bobo,”; mostly filled with blues covers with the exception of one new song, “;The Grind.”;

As for the future viability of the band, Perry candidly admitted he didn't know, “;given the context of what's been going on.”; After the early years of drug and alcohol abuse and now a comparatively sober and healthy lifestyle for all concerned, Perry still said that “;we're all fragile healthwise, but you get used to it as best you can. It seems our lives are woven into the gigs. We still feel we can do it. But it's like driving your old car—one day it doesn't start.

“;When we play live, this is flesh and blood. I play every show like it's my last,”; he said.

Perry has obviously found some rejuvenation with his own solo project—the “;Have Guitar, Will Travel”; album, just released last week, was finished during the band's downtime, and he's even done some shows in preparation for a later tour (the set-list even includes reworkings of Aerosmith songs).

“;I'm hoping this record will preview to people what's in store for the Joe Perry Project and what the band can do live,”; he said.

In the meantime, Perry is looking forward to revisiting the islands. One distinct sensory memory he still retains is tasting mango for the first time.

“;Hawaii is a very special place for Steve and I, (and) I'm sorry it's been so tough to line up concerts for us there,”; he said. “;At one time I thought Steve and I would rent out a house on Maui to write songs, and maybe do some acoustic gigs there.

“;But now we're looking forward to going back to Maui to play.”;