Albuquerque, NM - Media Reviews

Billy Squier/Def Leppard @ Tingley Coliseum By Albuquerque Journal

Sometimes the headlining act doesn't put on the evening's best performance.

Case in point: Wednesday's show at Tingley Coliseum.

The concert showed just how hot a band Def Leppard has become.

The group has been on the road with Billy Squier for a while now, but anyone who saw the concert wouldn't be surprised to learn that they will be headlining their own tour in two weeks.

The concert had been sold out for more than a couple of weeks, and the large, mostly teen-age crowd, was at a frenzied pitch by the time Def Leppard took the stage.

A young group (the average age of the players is about 21), showed it can crank out heavy metal with the best of them.

Look out, Judas Priest and AC/DC.

Focal point of the band is lead singer Joe Elliott.

He led the energetic assault, screaming the lyrics with a savage conviction over the wall of sound.

A charismatic vocalist, he held much of the audience spellbound, or led them in fist-clenched arm waving.

The players are amazingly good, and confident, for such a young band, but they are still honing their sound.

Once they hit true stride, they may easily rule the roost for hard rock performances.

By Albuquerque Journal 1983.

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