Denver/Englewood, CO - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - By Ken, Castle Rock, CO

Can you imagine Def Leppard, Foreigner and Styx all on the same bill in 1981? As good as last night's nearly sold out show at Coors Amphitheatre was (16,000+ fans), it would have been even better if we could have jumped into a time machine and seen these bands in their heyday (and with a few original members). Let's start with Styx. I've seen these guys 6-7 times and they do put on a great show. They have a ton of hits and Tommy Shaw is the man, but any band without their original lead singer (Dennis DeYoung) immediately gets a letter grade knocked off. I don't know why, but songs like "Miss America" just don't resonate with me. Give them a B.

Foreigner flat out rocked! Featuring Jason Bonham on drums, Jeff Pilson on bass (ex-Dokken) and Kelly Hanson on vocals (ex-Hurricane), the only original member is Mick Jones and he looks older than my dad. But my dad can't play guitar, so give Mick credit. Their sound was full and tight and tracks like "Urgent" and "Juke Box Hero" are just better songs than most everything in the Styx catalog. "Cold As Ice", "Hot Blooded" and "Feels Like The First Time" were all highlights. They broke into a few minutes of Led Zeps "Whole Lotta Love" - Kelly was jumping around the stage like a possessed Steven Tyler and Jason was driving it home on the drums. Personally, I kept hearing Hurricane songs in my head when Kelly sang - they were scheduled to open for Stryper in 1988 but the show got cancelled and I never saw them. So this was the next best thing. I got a Jeff Pilson bass pick and the band crushed, but they get a B+ because no Lou Gramm...

I've seen Def Leppard 322 times (OK, only 17) but it's nice seeing them with a much bigger production than on the Slang, Euphoria and X tours. It was impossible for me not to peek at the early set lists on the web when they started the tour so that kinda removed the element of surprise. "Rocket" was a good opener and they played "Excitable" for the first time in six years. But the highlight of the set for me was the back-to-back onslaught of "Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)" and "Another Hit And Run" - holy crap these songs rock. For an 11-year-old Lep fan that spent day after day after day rocking out to High 'n' Dry in his bedroom, these are the two album tracks that mean a lot to me. (They were selling a High n Dry retro shirt for $50 but even I had to take a pass.) "Love Bites" was great, but Viv's solo during the extended ending wasn't as fluid as I've heard him play before. (Im being waaaaay too critical about this. I cant play half as good as Viv so I really need to shut up.)

I can still feel Sav's RESONATING bass solo in my chest which segued into a killer cover of "Rock On" from Yeah! From there, the band came out to the tip of a long runway for a few acoustic tracks - their ability to come out into the crowd an extra 50 feet really improves the vibe. They were literally six feet away from us so I shot some video for "Two Steps Behind" but erased it when they broke into "Bringin' On The Heartbreak". They slammed into the electric part at the guitar solo and then Phil and Viv came back out front for the instrumental masterpiece that is "Switch 625". When Rick Allen crushed home the final notes of that track it gave me chills.

They didn't use the video screens enough in my opinion - and Joe Elliott's voice wasn't quite 100%. Hes been screaming for A LOT of years and he's not quite the singer he used to be. I give him credit for nailing all the high notes, but his vocals were a bit buried in the mix. The crowd went nuts during "Sugar", but I could have done without the couple a few feet away from us playing tonsil hockey throughout the whole song. Nobody needs to see that. "Rock of Ages" ended the show and everyone went home happy. Give them a B+ as they never put on a bad show. Only a stronger Joe would have pushed the show to an A. In the last five years, Leppard have toured with Cheap Trick, Bryan Adams, Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon and Foreigner. What about Tesla, Whitesnake or Scorpions? Rumors always pop up about them touring with KISS or Aerosmith, and either would be a better fit than Styx.

Fan Review - By C Rodriguez

Once again a spectacular show. The guys are great, but first a note for all of those Led Zepplin rumors out there, during Foreigner's set, they played juke box hero, in the middle they played whole lotta love, don't know if that's a hint towards Jason Bonham's future, just interesting I thought. Also, didn't know that Jeff Pilson from Dokken fame is also playing with them. It was great seeing the band once again, 3rd time in 3 years, and from the sounds of Joe last night saying "we've been here before, and we'll continue to come back again, and again, like next year when we are out with our new album" so sounds like we'll be seeing them again soon.

It was great to hear Mirror, Mirror, first time I've ever heard that live and I've been going to see them since the hysteria tour. It was cold last night, I asked my wife if she thought Phil would take off his shirt and sure enough he had it off by the 3rd song, he's a lot braver then I was, Viv had his off by the end of the show as well. Sav gave his lifting the hair off his eyes during the bass solo, and the crowd went wild. Rick played his ass off behind the kit once again, and Mr. Elliott once again proved why he is the best front man in the business.

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