Wichita, KS - Media Reviews
Def Leppard rocks with enthusiastic crowd By Denise Neil
Nutritionally fortified from a cookout on the Wichita Boathouse lawn the day before, British rock band Def Leppard put on an energetic show for fans Wednesday night at the Kansas Coliseum.
The crowd was smallish - the 3,500 people who attended the show gave a rather vacant feeling to the 10,000-capacity venue.
But what it lacked in size, the crowd made up for in enthusiasm. Many danced and played air guitar in the aisles. One group of fans waved a British flag.
Most of the concert's attendees were members of the generation that would have discovered the band during its 1980s heyday - a theory proven by their ability to perfectly sing along with past hits such as 'Photograph,' 'Hysteria,' 'Bringin' On the Heartbreak' and 'Foolin'.'
Others weren't even born when Def Leppard was in its prime.
Duane and Jamie Schneider brought their boys, Jerod, 12, and Trevor, 10, to see the show as a reward for a week's worth of good behavior.
The boys, Jerod in a Def Leppard hat and Trevor in a coordinating T-shirt, said they loved the band - although they couldn't come up with a single song title.
The boys were raised on the music, said Duane and Jamie, who've loved Def Leppard since high school.
"When I was in high school, they were the band," Duane said.
The five-member band, which includes founding member and lead singer Joe Elliott as well as drummer Rick Allen, who lost an arm in a 1984 car accident, played mostly old favorites. But it also threw in a few surprises.
Elliott performed a brief, acoustic rendition of 'Wichita Lineman.' The group also played a song from its new album, titled "X." Elliott dedicated the song, 'Long Long Way to Go,' to the British and American troops still serving in Iraq.
The band, which has been in Wichita all week, was spotted on Tuesday having a cookout on the lawn just south of the Wichita Boathouse. The group's tour manager reported that the band also played golf while in town and possibly checked out one of Wichita's malls.
During a break, Elliott acknowledged the Wichita holiday, saying he'd enjoyed the three-day visit.
"We even made the front page of your newspaper just for having a barbecue," Elliott said, referring to an article in Wednesday's Wichita Eagle. "Unbelievable."
By Wichita Eagle 2003.
Def Leppard proved they are still a viable band capable of stirring a crowd into a frenzy. The band looks good, sounds good and performs with energy and enthusiasm. The venue was not nearly full as the show was not promoted well and fell in the middle of the week yet Lep rocked like it was 1985 all over again.
The band had not played in Wichita since 1983. I had the pleasure of seeing that show. It was a time when the drummer had both arms and the guitar player was still alive. The show they put on that night was breathtaking. 20 years have gone by since that show and I must admit I was curious to see how the band would play. I wondered how well Vivian Campbell would fit in the band (even though he has now been with Def Leppard for nearly a decade it was the first live performance I have seen with Viv wielding the mighty axe).
The band took the stage and immediately my jaw dropped. 'Let It Go' from High N Dry blasted through the arena as old school fans screamed for more. We were not disappointed as the band played the entire first side of this forgotten hard rock gem from the early 80's. 'Another Hit & Run,' 'Saturday Night' and the smash hit 'Bringin' On The Heartbreak' complete with guitar solo 'Switch 625' worked the audience into a fury. I could have gone home then and there and had a smile on my face for a week.
The band finished the evening playing all the hits including, 'Photograph,' 'Love Bites,' 'Hysteria,' 'Rock of Ages' and 'Animal'. Lesser hits such as 'Women' were met with widespread approval and even the new songs off of the band's latest album X were received well. Lead Singer Joe Elliott sang a bar or two of 'Wichita Lineman' before going into an acoustic version of 'Two Steps Behind' with everyone in attendance joining in on the chorus. Each member of the band played with finesse and tenacity.
How did this compare with the concert I saw two decades ago? Not bad. In fact, they played more of the older songs now than before. The band is also more seasoned and have matured resulting in a tight ass sound that will have your head banging and your fist pumping in the air. Classic Rock Revisited highly recommends spending an evening with Def Leppard as they seem determined to keep alive their legacy as well as forging ahead and securing themselves a place in hard rock's illustrious past, present and future.
By Classicrockrevisited 2003.
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