Vancouver, BC - Media Reviews

Hot Times At Centre Ice By Steve Newton

Being a rock critic is not all fun and games. "Sure, Steve," you're probably saying, "all those free concerts and backstage brewskies must be real tough." Okay, so there are worse occupations, but like anything else it can get boring. You become pretty jaded after your first 100 or so trips to the Pacific Coliseum. Luckily, though, there are still a few bands like Def Leppard, who do things a little bit differently and can transform the old hockey rink into something really special.

Last Thursday the youthful British quintet turned the Coliseum into a veritable rock palace of heavenly guitar blasts and soaring melodies. The main difference between other Coliseum shows was the centre-ice placement of the stage. "We wanted to do something a little bit different this time," bellowed lead singer Joe Elliott, "so we thought we'd put it in the middle!" The idea works well in a large venue, giving everyone a decent view, and also dividing in half the number of people getting squeezed against the stagefront barriers. A totally effective laser/light show helped focus attention on the stage, especially when coupled with frontman Elliott's adept drive-'em-crazy antics. He really brought the 15,000-plus crowd together as one screaming rock-thirsty unit.

And how many bands do you know that would stick by their drummer if he lost an arm? Leppard did just that, and with the help of today's foot-pedal technology Rick Allen has been able to develop a drumming technique that suits perfectly well the band's bone-crunching sound. "We've experienced a few ups and downs in the last four years," Elliott told the crowd, "but the biggest up is sitting right here." Then he clasped hands with Allen, and the crowd saluted his courage with a standing ovation.

Almost all of Def Leppard's material was taken from its last two albums, they only went back to the older material once, for a killer version of "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" that featured a flamenco guitar intro by Steve Clark.

For the encore, an outline of Marilyn Monroe's face was drawn above the stage in green lasers, and the band played one of their hits from '84, "Photograph", which was dedicated to her. Then they played a bit of "Radar Love" before bringing out Jon Bon Jovi for CCR's "Travellin' Band", tossing in bits of "Rock and Roll" and "Good Golly Miss Molly" for good measure.

After the show, Clark, Collen and Allen were spotted down at Club Soda, hanging out with the likes of local rockers Paul Dean and Brian Macleod. Not surprisingly, the night's top-40 act Chrissy Steele played a Leppard tune or two. Needless to say, even those versions got folks riled up.

By Steve Newton @ The Georgia Straight 1988.

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Def Leppard Keeps The Faith By Tom Harrison

If anybody ever wondered how Def Leppard has managed to command the loyalty of its fans after a five-year absence, when so many other, more visible hard rock acts have not, they should have been at the Coliseum last night.

They'd have seen that Def Leppard's loyalty to it's own members - meaning Rick Allen, whose specially arranged foot-pedals compensate for the loss of his left arm - has repaid itself.

The group has survived intact a four-year bout of adversity. Rock and roll needs its heroes and Allen qualifies. The standing ovation he earned last night was heartfelt and more palpable than the usual involuntary motor responses of a heavy-rock audience.

People want to see Def Leppard thrive again and thrive Def Leppard has. In return, not only is it rewarding the fans with a genuinely entertaining show but it is investing that loyalty in the future.

Compare, for instance, Def Leppard's well-conceived, laser-crazy theatre in-the-round with the cutrate show presented by Tiffany's organisation the night before.

Contrast 10 bucks spent on an eight-page Tiffany program against $15 for David Fricke's 144-page full-colour Def Lep biography.

It's not wonder that the Def Lep concession sold out its allotment of shirts and other merchandise three times before the two-hour concert was through.

The show itself, which included an encore with Jon Bon Jovi joining Allen, Joe Elliott, Steve Clark, Rick Savage and Phil Collen going heads-down and flat out on Good Golly Miss Molly and other jams to close the final night of the Canadian tour, concentrated almost entirely on the Pyromania and Hysteria LPs.

Photograph and the recent singles Hysteria, Animal and Pour Some Sugar On Me, highlighted a band that can deliver a melody and body blows at the same time.

Def Leppard had the drive and locomotion that made Robert Plant's concert, Tuesday, seem like the posturing that Plant is trying so hard to transcend.

"Thanks for keeping the faith," Joe Elliott told 15,000 fans. By keeping the faith itself, Def Leppard was assured that there will be 15,000 more the next time 'round.

By The Vancouver Province 1988.

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Def Leppard Turns Coliseum Into Hard Rock Heaven By John Mackie

You never hear classical pianists going "let's get classical!" It would be a definite faux pas for a jazz guy to stand up from his piano and shout "Jazz! Whoo!"

But for some reason rock and rollers continue to sing songs with "rock and roll" in the lyrics. Most of these songs are silly, but when a band has conviction and power, they can pull it off.

Def Leppard is such a band. Last night, they finished off a rock solid performance at the Coliseum with the anthemic Rock of Ages, from the zillion-selling Pyromania.

You just knew singer Joe Elliott was going to get some call-and-response action going with the crowd. You just knew that he was going to get each side of the crowd to out-scream each other in turn. But it still was a sight (and sound) to behold when he asked "What do you want?", and 15,000 Lep-heads shouted back "I want rock and roll!" "What do you want?" "I want rock and roll."

And indeed, they got that very thing. Def Leppard came out with all guns blazing, rockin' up a storm with a thunderous hard rock attack. Power choruses, strong melodies, big group chant vocals and savage guitar are Leppard's trademarks, and they were in abundance last night.

Drawing on old standards like Foolin' and Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop) and slipping in new favourites like Women, Animal and Pour Some Sugar On Me, Leppard proved they lost none of their live prowess during their three year hiatus from the road.

The ringleader of the show is singer Elliott. Joe's a screamer, with a piercing voice and non-stop energy. His favourite move is to thrust his arms skyward like a soccer player who's just scored the winning goal in the World Cup, and the crowd responds with a roar each and every time he does it.

Like Elliott, the other four band members work hard for their money, dashing all over the stage. They're masters of the grand gesture: guitarist Steve Clark helicopter spins, guitarist Phil Collen plays on his back and ragamuffin bassist Rick Savage punches the air enthusiastically.

The crowd favourite, though, had to be drummer Rick Allen. Allen lost an arm in a car crash, but has learned to do the parts he used to do with his arm with his foot and a series of foot pedals. Elliott made a little speech about how the band had gone through some ups and downs, ending by looking at Allen and saying "but I can honestly say the biggest up we ever had is the return of my mate." It drew a standing ovation.

Another big ovation greeted Jon Bon Jovi when he joined Elliott and crew for the second encore. Beginning with Creedence Clearwater Revival's Travellin' Band and rolling into snatches of Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll and Little Richard's Good Golly Miss Molly, Leppard and Bon Jovi had the crowd on its feet, rockin' till they dropped. It was hard rock heaven.

By Vancouver Sun 1988.

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