Green Bay, WI - Media Reviews

Quickie review By Kendra Meinert

The British pop-metal supergroup that pumped radio full of one rowdy, raise-your-beer-and-sing-along anthem after another in the '80s is an undeniable good time. Songs like 'Rock of Ages,' 'Foolin,' 'Armageddon It' and 'Pour Some Sugar on Me' can still transform an arena into a massive rock 'n' roll pep rally, with front man Joe Elliott leading the battle cry. But the band has put on bigger and better shows, most notably at the Outagamie County Fair in the late '90s. The sound suffered all night, and Elliott struggled with vocals early on. Things turned around mid-point with an acoustic 'Two Steps Behind' that unleashed an eight-song thunderstorm marked by a powerhouse 'Women' and a pounding 'Rocket,' proving Def Leppard is still rollin', rock 'n' rollin'.

Opening act - Irish-born Ricky Warwick, of U.K. rock band The Almighty and a pal of Elliott's, was likeable enough, but putting a solo, acoustic act with essentially no U.S. name recognition on stage to fire up an arena-rock crowd seemed like a mismatch.

Encore - Elliott, in a Packers sweatshirt (after earlier telling the crowd he adopted the underdog Packers as his team when he first came to the United States in 1980), and the band returned to ask two burning questions: "When you make love, do you look in the mirror?" ('Love Bites') and "Do you wanna get rocked?" ('Let's Get Rocked'). But they didn't play: 'Too Late for Love' off "Pyromania," if you want to nitpick.

By Green Bay Press Gazette 2003.

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