Bournemouth, England - Media Reviews
Lep It Up - Def Leppard, Bournemouth International Centre By Derek Oliver
The thing about Def Leppard is that they are a considerable lesson to us all.
From the wastelands of Sheffield, through the years of hard struggle, to the initial success in America and nor forgetting the psychological decimation caused by Rick Allen's car accident, Def Leppard have bitten down hard only to come spinning through bigger and far better than anyone might have reasonably predicted.
It's been no fluke either, these boys have paid a large fortune in dues and only sheer single-minded determination has dragged them on through to the other side. The beauty of it all though, is that even now at such a late stage in their development they are still prepared to work four times as hard on stage as any other band I can think of, bar AC/DC.
And that is what I find truly amazing.
Right, let's put this performance in some sort of perspective. Cast your mind back to September last year, the first UK shows from Leppard in a decidedly long while. What did we find?. Well, or a lot of us it was pure exhilaration from start to finish but for me I seem to recall being a tad disappointed and at certain points decidedly bored.
It may have been purely down to the fact that Joe Elliott had ricked his back, but excuse me for thinking that onstage action was rather laid back - Joe fixed rigid stage centre whilst the guitar crew ambled and shuffled around in one spot looking about as exciting as a squashed hedgehog.
The sound, too, seemed a bit odd. At that time I thought the 'Hysteria' LP had clearly gone too far over the top - production being one thing, but this was just too clinical, even an operating theatre as never this clean.
Yeah, I had massive reservations but, heck, that was then and this is now.
Seven months on and the difference is astounding. I didn't know what to fully expect, the stage seemed huge, all three sides (no, they didn't attempt to go on in the round) cloaked with 'Hysteria' curtains which suddenly and quite unexpectedly fell to the floor as the band struck up those beefy intro chords to 'Stagefright': a golden oldie.
Exposed, the band used the expansive stage set, bare and uninterrupted except for strategically placed catwalks, like chimps in a cage. I mean, they must have covered around 20 miles apiece during the first number.
Rick Savage, looking as always like the archetypal British rocker with cut-up T-shirt and more hair than Dolly Parton, moved and grooved swinging his huge bass in the face of Steve Clark and Phil Collen pulling out the best in both.
Up front as ever, the totally unflappable gob of Joe Elliott this time moving like he wasn't strapped to an orthopaedic bed. Looking streamlined, healthy and fit, Joe's stage craft has reached the point of perfection, all he has to do for a reaction is to point a digit at any section of the audience and they go utterly bananas.
But the best thing is that he doesn't use this power like a total w**ker - he's as genuine as the hair on my palm. Real people, real music, real good fun.
The audience of course, loved every second of the entire performance, lending them solid commitment and tremendous support. They went nuts for the older material, stuff like 'Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)', 'Die Hard The Hunter', 'Too Late For Love' and, during the latter half of the show, for such classics as 'Foolin'', 'Let It Go' and 'Rock Of Ages'.
But what about the mega-complex material half inched from 'Hysteria'? Those synthetic sounding drums, could they keep up with the pace or would they pour out of the speakers sounding alien and detached?. No way, pal, these boys have got it sounding dead right and Rick Allen's drumming is the best these ears have heard since Billy Cobham was last in town.
Frankly the album versions of songs like 'Women' and 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' pale into flat-capped insignificance when placed alongside the mighty bollocks of Leppard live. Now, of course, having heard the real thing I hate those vinyl versions and the sooner they release a double live album the better.
Better still, though, was 'Animal', a song that had everybody singing along, the prime AOR splendour of 'Hysteria' (built on Waite's 'Missing You' principles) and my favourite tender track 'Armageddon It', a song with even more melody than Nightranger muster. Yeah!.
I could go on and on telling tales of specific incidents, lasers erupting mid-song, the great light show, the faultless PA and the semi-acoustic version of 'Bringin' On The Heartbreak', but that would take me forever.
Best then to end on a high rather than better you with more detail, 'cept to say, of course, that they achieved a welcome two encores. That's a spine-tingling rendition of 'Photograph' and an entirely new song that according to Joe's introduction will be 'on the next Leppard album' called 'Got To Be A Better Way', or maybe it was 'Tear It Down'. Who knows? All I care is that it was heavy and lethal. Fab!.
My doubts about Def Leppard's ability were entirely shattered by this performance. There is now no reason for anyone to harbour any suspicions about their significance whatsoever.
By Kerrang! 1988.
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