Milwaukee, WI - Media Reviews
Media Review - Def Leppard falls short of best efforts By Gemma Tarlach
Def Leppard doesn't just thrive on adversity. The band seems to need it.
The pop-metal pioneers battled to be heard in the early '80s - and won, ushering in a new genre that paired hard rock's swagger with downright pretty melodies. After drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a near-fatal car accident in 1984, the band clawed its way back to the top of the charts with its most successful album, the bazillion-selling "Hysteria."
In August 2000, the last time Def Leppard was in town, a power failure struck midway through its set at Wisconsin State Fair Park. The lads from Sheffield, England were undaunted. Roadies rigged a generator for their instruments and the band kept playing, on a dark stage, energized by the newest challenge placed before them.
Saturday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena, however, the strobe lights fired on cue, the dry ice machine puffed the right amount of atmosphere around Allen's drum riser and guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell were technically proficient but tasteful, the band's trademark since the days Collen shared the stage with the late Steve Clark.
Everything went right Saturday night. Maybe that's what was wrong.
Things started promisingly enough, with a rousing "Let It Go" off 1981's "High 'N' Dry."
The quintet quickly lost momentum, however. Singer Joe Elliott in particular seemed to be straining to hit the notes even in scaled-down versions of "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" and "Hysteria."
Another problem: newer songs such as "Promises," off 1999's "Euphoria" and nearly all the offerings from 2002's "X" feel rehashed, including the ballad "Long Long Way To Go," which Elliott dedicated "to the British and American guys" fighting in Iraq.
Before some of the Def Leppard fans who held lighters aloft throughout the near two-hour show pick up their pens to write an angry defense of the band, hear me out: I've seen Joe and the boys eight times over the years, and the ticket from Saturday's show isn't one for my scrapbook.
But kudos to Def Leppard for its choice of opening act: Ricky Warwick, formerly of New Model Army and The Almighty.
The heavily tattooed Irishman alone onstage strumming an acoustic guitar and growling about hard livin' in a voice somewhere between Shane MacGowan and Joe Strummer wasn't what much of the nostalgia-hungry crowd seemed to want. But Warwick had the fierce, punkish energy of a street busker who's going to play whether you like it or not.
Songs such as "Tattoos and Alibis" and "Mysterioso" were equal parts County Down and Johnny Cash, offering an arguably meatier set than the evening's main course.
By Journal Sentinel online 2003.
Media Review - Metal Nostalgia By Michael Popke
My, how times have changed. When Def Leppard last played what is now called the U.S. Cellular Arena in 1987, the British quintet was well on its way to becoming one of the biggest bands in America and gave a memorable, sold-out performance on what at the time was considered an innovative in-the-round stage. Last Saturday night at the same venue, the band that helped define a decade of slick pop-metal anthems put on a stage show that was nothing extraordinary and only managed to summon enough nostalgia-drenched fans to fill about two-thirds of the venue.
The fact that Def Leppard still has even that much pull 16 years later is a credit to its talent, its tenacity and its back-catalog. And the band knows it, boldly opening up the two-hour, 22-song set with the complete first side (played in the original running order) of their pre-breakthrough second album, 1981's High 'n' Dry. Also aired was the entire first side of 1987's Hysteria (although neither in succession nor in the original running order); four tracks from the band's newest album, 2002's low-key X; and a smattering of songs from 1983's Pyromania, 1992's Adrenalize, 1993's Retro Active and 1999's Euphoria.
Bassist Rick Savage and guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell played like seasoned rockers and worked all corners of the stage, while one-armed drummer Rick Allen was tighter than most of his two-armed peers. But singer Joe Elliott's voice-sounding hoarse and challenged-has lost most of its range, and the rest of the band's background vocals carried his lead on a few songs.
That didn't stop the enthusiastic fans from thrusting their fists into the air during practically every song. A pair of fans even held aloft the American and British Union Jack flags, symbols that took on added significance with forces from both countries fighting in Iraq-a fact not lost on Elliott, who flashed the peace sign throughout the night and dedicated new ballad "Long Long Way to Go" to the troops and those "waiting for them to come home.".
By Shepherd Express 2003.
share this page:
explore def leppard tour history
