Santa Barbara, CA - Media Reviews

Def Leppard & Bryan Adams Rock The Santa Barbara Bowl By Shazila Mohammed

There's no School like the Old School! And judging by the packed crowd at the Santa Barbara Bowl, everything old is new again and relevent. On Nov. 5th, the "Double Shot of Rock" kicked off with opener Ricky Warwick, who entertained the crowd with songs from his CD's "Tattoos and Alibis", and his latest "Love Many, Trust Few", both of which were produced by Joe Elliott. If Warwick was the leadoff hitter for this night, he set the table nicely for the heavy hitters about to step up to the plate, getting the early crowd on their feet for most of his set.

Next in the lineup was Bryan Adams, who played a full 90 minute set loaded with hits, that had the now capacity crowd standing and dancing, and of course singing most of the lyrics, particularly on "Summer of 69", when Adams, turned the mike over to the crowd, which made for an impressive display. Another highlight of the show was when Adams brought an enthusiastic fan on stage to help him sing a number off his latest CD "Room Service". Eve, from Atascadero, CA. (a "Dental Assistant") made quite the impression, not particularly with her singing but in the way she worked the crowd and Adams himself, giving the singer big hugs and kisses, and of course bumping booties and giving the singer occasional spankings throughout the song, after which Adams, who was celebrating his birthday commented what was apparent throughout the show, "I Love my Job!"

Def Leppard, in many ways, was the definitive hard rock band of the 80's. Few others than the Sheffield quintet captured the spirit of the times quite as well. Emerging in the late '70s as part of the New Wave of british heavy Metal, Def Leppard toned down their heavy riffs and started emphasizing melody in the 80's. They were poised for crossover success by 1983's Pyromania, but skillfully used the fledgling MTV network to their advantage. The group was already blessed with photogenic good looks, but they also crafted a series of innovative, exciting videos, which made them into stars. On March 16, 1999 Def Leppard are one of the inaugural recipients of the newly launched Diamond Awards in the USA. The awards are for over 10 million sales in the US of one album ("HYSTERIA" has now sold 12 million in the US - over 16 million worldwide) in the history of recorded music. Only 61 albums and 45 artists have achieved this level of success. Even more astoundingly, only eight of them were British artists. Def Leppard are in the fine company of The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Elton John, George Michael, Eric Clapton and the Bee Gees.

But this night was clearly not about the 80's, this was about a veteran band solidifying their place in rock history while still being relevant to todays music scene. The Lepps have seemed to have established themselves alongside their peers and heroes, commanding the stage with such charisma and authority as well as being personable and in touch with the audience. The set list touched on most of Def Leppards CD's dating back to 1981's "High n Dry", much to the delight of the many generations of fans in attendance, highlights included "Let It Go', "Foolin", "Bringin On The heartbreak" as well as a killer version of Badfinger's "No Matter What", rumoured to be included on a CD of all cover songs set to be released by Def Leppard in the future, and of course "Rock of Ages", which happens to be the title of the bands latest release, which is a great 2 disc set featuring 35 tracks from all the bands previous releases, clocking in at 2 and a half hours of music. Closing with the mega-hit "Pour Some Sugar On me" vocalist Joe Elliott asked the packed crowd to do him a favor, "Don't forget us Santa Barbara, and we wont forget you." After this performance, I dont think he has anything to worry about.

By CentralCoastTeens 2005.

Back

share this page: