Tulsa, OK - Media Reviews

Def Leppard still delivers rock of ages 23 years later By Matt Gleason

Def Leppard's front man, Joe Elliott, wiped the sweat from his brow Sunday night at the Tulsa Convention Center and reminisced about the last time his rock band performed in Tulsa. It was the summer of 1980, and Def Leppard was just the appetizer for Ted Nugent's raw, musical steak. Back then, Def Leppard wasn't a star band, it was just a bunch of kids from Sheffield, England, touring to support its debut album. The band didn't have long to win over the crowd, either - just 30 minutes.

It was great, though, Elliott said on stage after playing a searing version of the band's classic tune 'Pour Some Sugar on Me.' The notoriously rambunctious band was offstage and in the bar by at least 8:15 p.m.

Twenty-three years later, Elliott can look back on those times and smile, even though the band's career has been fraught with tragedies. Why wouldn't he? He's 43, still has all of his long, golden hair and gets to play with his mates - players who are just as integral to Def Leppard's sound as his own voice.

It doesn't hurt that thousands upon thousands of Tulsans sang along to virtually every one of the more than 20 songs Def Leppard delivered Sunday night.

It's nice that Def Leppard has finally come back to Tulsa. Just a few years after its initial '80s Tulsa gig, Def Leppard didn't really need to stop in Tulsa anymore. They became one of the biggest metal bands of the '80s, but after two decades of bypassing Tulsa for larger cities, Def Leppard's luster has dimmed enough to where the guys happily play T-town.

For a time, the band seemed a bit irrelevant, but it's made a recent comeback on the music scene due in large part to 1980s nostalgia and the band's ability to still write infectious hooks complete with wailing guitars and drumming by the greatest one-armed drummer in rock history, Rick Allen.

Sunday night, Elliott and his cohorts obviously knew their fans didn't pay the price of admission just to hear their latest tunes, such as 'Now' and 'Four Letter Word.' It would have been great if they hadn't bothered to play the bombastic love song 'Long Long Way to Go,' but at least Elliott dedicated it to the troops in Iraq.

Def Leppard's glory days are in the past - and they know it - but they seemed to have a genuinely jolly good time plundering their back catalog to wow the crowd. That's why Def Leppard plays the Tulsa Convention Center instead of the Tulsa State Fair. They have such an amazing catalog of rock songs that they can't help but put on a good show.

The performance, which spanned about two hours, included many of Def Leppard's best-known songs culled from the albums "High 'N' Dry," "Adrenalize," "Hysteria," "Pyromania" and "X."

Each of the tunes were three minute reminders of a time in people's lives when, like the band members themselves, they were interested in only two things -- rocking and shagging. Toward the end of the show, it was almost startling how many of the band's songs were immediately recognizable. That could be attributed to classic rock stations playing a variety of Def Leppard tunes on a regular basis.

A highlight of the performance was Elliott's cover version of Lynrd Skynrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama,' even though he had considered playing something by Gene Pitney, perhaps his "Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa."

Before an encore of 'Love Bites' and 'Let's Get Rocked,' the band played 'Rock of Ages,' a tune that summed up the show and its intent: Def Leppard indeed set T-town alight Sunday night, and I ain't f-f-f-foolin'.

Tulsa World 2003.

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