St. Paul/Minneapolis, MN - Fan Reviews
Fan Review - By Crystal
"F**king unbelievable." As the last bars of LGR were winding down, Joe just stood there, looked at us, and uttered those words. I think he may have been right.
The night started a bit crazily for me (driving into St. Paul in a mini-blizzard, getting to our seats a mere two minutes before Ricky Warwick came out...), but I was determined to get to that show no matter what it took. Malvin was out on stage first, to introduce Ricky, and to announce that the Ex (the nickname people around here call the venue) was sold out for the evening. I looked around a little skeptically at the slightly-greater-than-half-filled-venue, but figured the snow might be keeping some people from the show.
Ricky took the stage at exactly 7:30, to a rather disinterested crowd. They listened to him well enough, but none of his songs really got that great of a reaction. I thought he sounded fine, but not really my taste in music. Viv did join him on one song, and I thought that song was great. Ricky was off the stage just after 7:50. I left my seat to go check out merchandise after his set, and the venue was still only 70% full. I came back to my seat by 8:15, and I was amazed - you actually had to look hard to find a seat that was unoccupied. If it wasn't a sell-out, it was still too close to say it wasn't.
And man, was the crowd into it all night. They were a great crowd - they sang, they danced, they yelled - and they never bothered to so much as look at their seats. No one sat down once. Joe made several comments to the crowd throughout the show: one about how usually he has to taunt the audience to get them to make some noise, but that there was no need tonight; one about taking us on tour with them; one about how they wished they would have filmed the show because it was so good; and a comment towards the end about how this had been the best show on the tour so far - to which Viv, Sav, and Phil all nodded vigorously. Then the comment at the end - I think the turnout and atmosphere of the crowd really wowed the band. As for us, I know we were having a great time.
'BOTH' was the first song to get a major reaction out of the crowd, and it was also the song I thought sounded best during the entire show. Happily, all 4 of the X songs went down quite well - a lot of people seemed to know them, and those who didn't danced right along with us. 'LLWTG' was again dedicated to the troops. 'YSB' and '4LW' both sounded fabulous, and of the 4 X songs played, YSB probably got the best crowd response.
The crowd also really got into 'Women'. Perhaps because it was the beginning of the big run, but when the first chords for the song were struck, the energy of the crowd really sky-rocketed.
The songs I most enjoyed were 'BOTH', 'Promises', and Rocket. Phil and Viv took center stage on 'Rocket' for a showdown, and it was incredible.
Sav appeared to be especially energetic - for someone rumoured to be so shy, he was running around the stage like a mad man, striking poses at every opportunity, and pumping his fist in the air with the rest of us. Phil of course lost his shirt early on, and at the end of the show, Viv traded his Rubyhorse shirt with a girl in the audience for a Euphoria shirt.
During the encore, Joe came out in a Minnesota Wild (the hockey team that plays at the Ex and is on their way to the playoffs) jersey, with his name and 03 on the back. That got an amazingly loud reception.
All in all, it was a great concert. The crowd was so energetic, and the band sounded awesome. Two hours have never flown by so fast!.
Fan Review - By Paul
Just arrived home from the St Paul show. Hoarse, soar voice...ears are ringing.... HAD A BLAST. Age 34, but for about 2 1/2 hours I felt 19 again. The set list was same as Grand Rapids, MI. I wish they would play more from X. LOVE DON'T LIE & SHREDS would be nice. I am not please with the electric version of LLWTG either. It should come just before 2 STEPS BEHIND or after as an acoustic version.
Viv played with Ricky Warwick (who kept his personal short stories to himself tonite). No stories of cows & shotguns from Ricky tonight. The crowd was delayed due to f**king snow! Ahhh, Minnesota, it figures.
I'm never disappointed with Joe's voice or the band's playing. (NEED ANOTHER CONCERT DVD, BOYS!!!) Me and 8 other good friends were DEFinately rocked tonite. Peace & Luv.
Fan Review - By Skyking
SInce the Leps haven't announced any West Coast dates on this tour yet, this California boy had to travel north and east. All he can say, after thawing out, is WOW. From the opening chords to the final words of 'Let's Get Rocked', Def Leppard took me back to the glory days of the 80's. Their mixture of the old and the new and their ability to feed off the sold out Minnesota crowd makes me truly believe they are the best band to come out of the 80's.
Joe said that this was the best crowd on the tour and I have to believe them. For 2+ hours, they took us on a journey over their 20+ years with the classics of 'Animal', 'PSSOM' and 'Rock of Ages' to their new classics of 'Now' and 'You're So Beautiful'. All the way, the crowd sang along and re-lived their childhood of rock and I can't wait to see them again.
Fan Review - By pdegreef
Ricky came on!! He was awesome!! I still am floored with the energy he has and gives out! It seemed to be over too quickly. I love the album he has out!
Lights came back on.Then 'Disintegrate' started and the boys where on stage! The Xcel Center may or may not have been sold out, it was really full and we were ready for Def Leppard. It felt like the Quest all over again but a bigger venue. You know you are about to begin a night of pure pleasure, total excitement, singing and dancing and then total exhaustion and no voice by the morning. Everyone gave some of themselves at the show! I loved it all.
'Make Love Like A Man', always makes me smile. I love hearing 'Switch 625' and of course the new songs. Thumbs up for 'Long Long Way To Go' being dedicated to the American and British overseas. When it came time for 'Now'. Joe mentioned the video then saw someone holding what he thought was a Union Jack shirt then he realized it was a flag. Not what he was looking for but appreciated it. Then he saw a gal with the Union Jack shirt and told her it looked very nice on her. Oh, my... 'Rocket'! I love this song but it didn't have the punch to it like it did Cedar Rapid with the drum loop but it was all that and more with the duelling guitars though! I love that song!
Then before 'Photograph' (not exact wording) Joe mentioned how he didn't have to get this crowd riled up, as we where a great crowd. We where thanked by the boys the whole night. It is so cool to be in that atmosphere. No words I have can describe it!! He also mentioned somewhere about singing Prince songs. I would have loved to hear Joe singing Little Red corvette! LOL
What better song than 'Rock Of Ages' and a Big huge round of applause for the best drummer in the world!!! Then they said goodbyes and waved, bowed to everyone. Thanked us for being an awesome crowd and that they would be back! We cheered and they came back out and wow'd again Joe came out in our hockey team's, The Wild's shirt with the number 03 on the back of it. That got a huge applause too! He also had on these small horns on the top of his head with blinking lights. That was sooo cool! Brought a big smile to my face!!! With 'Let's Get Rocked' I saw almost everyone raising hands and singing was a great ending to the show.
It's is so nice that they give us appreciation claps, bows, words of thanks and praise. It is them who give us continued great music and shows though!!! We sat for a bit. Mission accomplished, I was totally exhausted! Like I thought I could get through one of their shows without getting wiped out. LOL I don't know how the boys do that night after night.
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