Montreal, QC, Canada - Media Reviews

Def Leppard less than electric By T'cha Dunlevy

Little oomph. Veteran rockers save best songs for last. The metal's getting lighter as the summer goes on. Def Leppard performed at the Bell Centre last night. It was the third big rock revival show in the past month, following the ruthless riffage of Metallica (before 50,000 on Île Ste. Hélène) and the melodramatic camp of Iron Maiden last Saturday. And it ain't over. Next Sunday we get Poison.

Def Leppard falls somewhere in the middle. Melodic hooks, power chords and shiny production are their trademarks. The made hard rock MTV-friendly - not quite as mainstream as Bon Jovi, but not far off.

Little of that party-starting oomph was in evidence last night, however. Try though they did, the group couldn't get things off the ground through the first half of a generous (but perhaps excessive) two-hour performance.

While there have been attempts, Def Leppard has never really returned to the heights of its mid-'80s heyday. And though "They seem like a nice band," (as my date put it), it wasn't enough to shake the feeling that these guys are way past their prime.

The modest crowd of 5,600 - half-full by Bell Centre standards - reflected the music's waning relevance. That the first five songs of the night were from the band's first album, 1981's High 'N' Dry, was a nice nod to the hardcore fans, but doesn't say much about the new material.

Only three songs were played from last years album X. And yes, the biggest hits - Armageddon It, Pour Some Sugar On Me, Rock Of Ages, Love Bites and Let's Get Rocked - were saved for the end.

So of course things finally off the ground. But why try to stretch the power of those songs over two hours? Or rather, isn't it a problem if it takes so long - or feels like it does - to get to them?

Anyway, back to the "nice band" bit. Singer Joe Elliott whooped it up as best he could, leading the crowd in cheers. And guitarist Phil Collen showed off a buff chest by performing the entire show with his shirt off - which drummer Rick Allen matched by playing in bare feet.

And the crowd applauded all the way through.

"Just how we always remember you guys," said Elliott, "always the loudest." He was being nice of course. Or perhaps it was the crowd who was being nice. Either way, the energy level, as giddy and nostalgic as it was, was somewhat less than electric.

By Montreal Gazette 2003.

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