Atlantic City, NJ, USA - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - By SP

Great show. Sold out. Couldn't buy a ticket online or at the box office. Didn't see Journey, though I did meet them before the show. Nice guys. Gave me some drum sticks. Talked to Joe Elliott for a sec, shook Viv's hand, and saw the rest of the band roaming around backstage as well.

The show... awesome. Very loud, energetic, and crowd was way into the show. Promises and Hanging On The Telephone out... Foolin's and Lets Get Rocked in... the only changes from the Camden show. I've seen a ton of shows in this venue and this was by far the most people I've ever seen in there. The band looked and sounded great. They're coming back in September and I will be their. This was my 20th Def Lep show since '87. Also saw Cheap Trick the night before. Great show. Maybe more songs if Rick Neilson would shut up.

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Fan Review - By Lina

After an opening act, whose name I don't know, but who sounded nice and had a very special guitar tech - Viv, Journey took the stage around 8 o'clock. They gave a good performance and the audience enjoyed their songs, but the audience seemed to be more of a Lepp crowd, so their success didn't match to the Lepp's. I was particularly impressed with their drummer, though.

By the time the Lepps hit the stage around 9 o'clock, the venue was completely full despite of the high ticket prices. Def Leppard started with Let It Go, and got a very enthusiastic reaction from the crowd. From Yeah they played Hellraiser, No Matter What and Rock On. The last two got a better response since those songs had been already the part of the setlist on the ROA tour. The rest of the setlist was already posted as I see, they played the usual popular favourites.

The band sounded great and the performance was very energetic. Sav's solo was a nice surprise. He seemed to be totally in his element, moving around much more than in any concert I saw him last year and he also showed more of himself then before. All the band members were in top form physically and music-wise as well. The audience response was great throughout the whole concert and Joe worked the crowd as usual. The band seemed to have fun, too, they were all smiles when left the stage. Phil even signed a couple of things on stage before leaving.

The camera crew did a great job and the new projected montages were done very creatively. I personally was very happy with the Rocket and Photograph montages, since they used many of Ross Halfin's vintage band pictures with Steve Clark and even Pete Willis, besides the ones with the present line-up, and it felt like the band finally embraced his past. It was an awesome concert. I hope I can see them again soon.

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Fan Review - By Chele Drappel

Spent the weekend celebrating my birthday at the Borgata and getting to see my favorite band. It took a four and a half hour drive from Long Island, NY but was well worth the trip. We waited online for three hours before the show with our $135 general admission seats. Security decided to write numbers on the backs of peoples hands and then when it came time to let the crowd in they ditched the whole numbers plan and just let the crowd in a bit at a time. We were able to get right up against the stage between Joe and Phil with just one person in front of us who was thankfully shorter than me. I've seen the guys at this venue the two other times they played there so I was expecting another amazing performance and they didn't disappoint. Usually they make an announcement about no cameras but this time they didn't and I was able to get some good shots.

Up first at 7:30pm for a short set was Stoll Vaughn. Completely different style of music from the Lepps but actually pretty good and the crowd seemed to like him and gave him a nice round of applause. Viv also enjoyed his set from the side of the stage.

Next up was Journey. They entertained the crowd. Steve Augeri has a terrific stage presence as well as a wonderful voice but just like the Jones Beach show one week earlier, the drummer sang quite a few songs. His voice is pretty incredible as well. After seeing a great show which had a lousy crowd at Jones Beach, I was hoping this would be a Def Leppard crowd. I realized it would be when everytime Steve Augeri said to the crowd, This is a great night with Journey (cheer from the crowd) and Def Leppard" (huge cheer from the crowd).

Finally, Def Lepp took the stage. Hellraiser kicked it off and had everyone pumped up. The guys looked and sounded great as they ripped into Let it go which the crowd loved. One of the best songs of the night was Rock on which started off with a solo from Sav that had everyone captivated. The song is awesome on the CD but live it is unforgettable. You forget that it is a cover song. Joe hit every note and as well as the rest of the band was very energetic and playful with the crowd. Although Joe didn't talk that much between songs he did at one point say, "Hey you in the back get up." Which prompted the people with the mostly casino comped seats to get up off their butts. Only for Joe to laugh and say, "No not you, him" as he pointed to Rick Allen. Rick stood up to a thunderous applause, grinning from ear to ear then led off into a crowd favorite of Rock of Ages.

Phil was really into the music you can tell he was feeling everything he was playing. Same with Viv. Decked out with shades and tight jeans and closing his eyes as he was playing they never sounded better. It was great to see Foolin back in the set as well as Lets get Rocked. This was an excellent show which had the whole band on the top of their game. The crowd was terrific too. Thank you Def Lepp for making my birthday one hell of a night. Can't wait until September to catch them back at the Borgata. Perhaps they'll play "Don't believe a word"? HINT HINT, Please?????.

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Fan Review - By Pamela

The show was great. I bought an ILAA ticket, which was well worth it. We got early entrance and I was able to get front row, dead center. I really enjoy Hellraiser as the opener. The show was sold out and the crowd was awesome. The guys were full of energy and looked fantastic.

The highlight for me would have to be right before PSSOM, when Joe guzzled his water bottle, looked right at me, and threw it in my hands.

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Fan Review - By Phil

"After busing in from New York and spending the afternoon in Atlantic City revelling in the town's incredible cheesiness, I was ready to rock. So I skipped most of Journey, only catching the tail end. (They must replace that replacement singer. He has no charisma and had no idea how to play to a crowd.) I was still a little annoyed following the Jones Beach show, with Def's 80 minute set, but really, how long could I stay mad at them. Sure I want them to play longer and solo, but those 80 minutes were thrilling, and it was great to see people rocking out to Foolin'.

My only issue with this show is that because it's at a casino - where patrons are captive because it's not on the boardwalk - there were a lot of non fans there taking in the only entertainment option available other than gambling, so some parts of the crowd were not into it except for their biggest hits. Hellraiser got another tepid response and I was disappointed - it's fun and hard rocking. Truth be told, I thought the crowd was more evenly split with Journey than at Jones Beach. Nonetheless, the Lepps were in fine form and seem in a great mood. It could just be how well this tour is selling. They are back to playing 12-15,000 a night. And rumor has it they are MSG bound in September.

Great show - maybe they could skip the 3 minute add on to Rocket and the extra minute at the end of Love Bites and give us another song. See you on September 15, boys. Hopefully.

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