Fresno, CA - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - By Lisa

Having seen Def Leppard the night before in San Jose we knew how worth it standing in the HOT sun for 6 hours was going to be. We met a lot of very cool Lepp fans! Once again we got right up front to rock hard with the Lepps!

After Bryan Adams' set not one person moved from their spot (except the poor lady who fainted next to us). It was awesome to hear the crowd roar when Def Leppard hit the stage!

Their sound and stage presence was spectacular! The boys still have their energy. Joe still even has his "rock star poses". We can't wait for our next round of concerts!!.

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Fan Review - By F.J. Rodrigue

After winning the Drum Raven Foundation passes, I was very excited to finally meet Rick and possible the band. I drove up to Fresno with 2 friends of mine from San Diego, I know crazy 5 hour drive but I felt like this could be a once in a lifetime trip. I felt like I was extremely lucky to have won the passes and got them for a steal. I wouldn't have gone to that show unless I got the passes, I might have gone to San Bernardino instead. Anyways, there was some question to where the passes were and who to see for them but it was worked out quickly… for those of you who win them, most of the time they will be at Will Call and I suggest you go as early as they allow to get them because the passes allow full access even sound checks etc. But don’t try to see the band yet let them prepare for the show and junk just be a spectator.

I didn’t know there was a difference between the floor tickets and the general admission tickets… the guys checking those tickets were very stick about who go to the floor so don’t attempt to sway your way, more times than not you’ll be turned away and cause major problems for other fans trying to see the show ect. They kept the gate slightly open so people had to almost squeeze by but when I approached they saw my passes from a distance and they opened that gate wide and waved me through like I was royalty. Let me tell ya that were a great feeling. It was like I was friends of the band or even better a member of the band.

The show was great. One of my friends not a huge fan but heard of them, so I was introducing him to the music and he loved it. The show seemed a bit slower than usual, playing a lot more ballad songs but that's good in a way because the last 2 tours I covered they were fast action packed non-stop rock. Keep in mind they have so many songs they can play they simply can't get to them all in a show, so changing the set list to cover all the songs in two to three tours lets say it's a good idea to catch this band every time they are on the road. Once they got to "Photograph" it was full rock onslaught. Now I have to also say that there are a few songs that seem to get the crowd going are simply sound awesome in concert, "Animal" is one of them but when Joe step up and said "I thought I would never hear myself say again this but we are going to do one off our newest album." As they go right into "Rock of Ages". It was like it was a new song, a new hit. It had to be the best song all night.

After the show the venue people were giving me a hard time about getting backstage. I realize I may not be in the right place so I moved to the other side of the stage and there was David and the other winners. David is Malvin’s assistant and he escorted us back and took us to wear everyone takes breaks etc. We sat down outside under this canopy and waited for Rick. It wasn’t long until the legendary Thunder God came out and came right to us and sat down right next to me. Obviously get down to business and sign autographs. He was more than happy to sign everything you bring but do keep it down the number of items so you can enjoy a very intimate conversation. I have to tell you that Rick has this auction for the passes thing so right… 2 people win and you take a guess so 4 people backstage and that is it. There were no one else there, it’s your time with Rick and for about 30-45 minutes he signed autographs took pictures and talked with you. At one point he step away when his cell rang and we got to over hear him talk to his family and tell them he love them before they all went to bed.

IT WAS AWESOME to see a side of them like this. We asked questions, he answered them… it wasn’t like die-hard fans and rock-star type thing it was like a dude chatting it up with his buddies. He was funny, and such a great personality. I never felt so great about a decision I made back in 1982 that this is my all-time favorite and and over the years that has not changed. I will tell you after meeting with him talking with him… that reaffirmed why I named them my all-time favorite band back then and always has been them and always will be. After the San Bernardino show he has like a day or day and a half off and he is going to drive home to spend some time there. I thought that’s a long drive to England… but I asked him were he lived and he had no problem telling me where and I was surprised he lives in Malibu. I said I just moved to San Diego and he went on about telling me places to shop and junk just across the border… I mean just a great cool conversation.

I went on to ask him about the tattoo that some have been discussing on the message board on their website and he said yes he understands Joe has a new tattoo but wasn’t sure what it was “…but it has something to do with the year he was born 1959”. He did go into a story that was somewhat amusing to us. He said… ‘There is a tattoo that he has on his ass right here’ he demonstrated on his. They had been changing and Rick noticed something on Joe’s ass. He said ‘Joe what the hell is that’. Joe had said damn I didn’t want yall to see that as he tried covering it up with his hand. It’s a tattoo of red lips on his ass as if someone kissed his ass and left lipstick there. Soon after we said our good-byes and he went to his bus. I sat down with my friend and we waited to see if something else was going to happen and wouldn't ya know it Phil Collen comes out and heads to the bus. I have to let you know that I caught the band on the X tour in Portsmouth VA and when the band came out I was waving and yelling and he saw me in the 5th row and waved at me and said what's up and did this for a bit… I shut up and was star struck, I didn’t know what to do next.

I stopped Phil and got a photo taken with him and autograph. I told him about my experience with him and was stumped me was he said yes and that place didn’t the roof blow off after they played there? I thought for a second and I realized yes it did, there was a Noreaster storm that came in with high winds and blew off the top of this canopy amphitheater type roof. Before the show I even recall saying something to someone about man what would happened if this fell or blew away. Soon after the show like the next day or so it happened. He said his girl had called and told him that. I then realized that what a dude he is… recalling that after all the shows and tours right out of a hat we are having a conversation like it was yesterday it happened. He posed for photos and autographs for all 4 of us that were there. Next on the list was Rick Savage. He helped me by showing me how to hold it and I was wanting to do something completely different and he said trust me I signed enough of them, lol. I said yeah I bet.

Vivian Cambell, somewhat quiet but gave us all photos and autographs we could handle. My impression is that he is still awed and happy to be a part of Def Leppard. Well I guess that's it, oh wait there is my favorite male singer of all Joe Elliott. Joe stopped put his things down and signed away I let him use my pen to sign everyone's thing when he joked to me that he should probably get his own. I got a photo taken with him and he didn’t think the photo took so he said wait make sure take another one. THAT WAS GREAT… now I have two taken with him, lol. Like a start struck school-girl groupie, I forgot two things to get a photo of that damn tattoo and I wanted him to do my voicemail on my cell phone damn! What I was noticing is he is by far the tallest of the band. He talk to some roadies about his voice that night and he said “I was a bit raspy”, I didn’t hear the response but Joe came back with “Well it was no Rod Stewart” I had a chuckle about that and then he was off.

I did notice the bands drink of choice was wine, not beer, not whiskey… they all had some wine as they left, except for Rick he had nothing. I don’t know why I am mentioning this but just the fact that it was just a detail I recall.

Looking back I realize how great those guys are… sticking through all the turmoil they went through as a band, Rick's car accident costing him his arm, losing Steve Clark and still making music. Most bands would simply fade away but it’s obvious this band lives up to their famous line “Its better to burn out than fade away.”.

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