Estero, FL - Media Reviews
Uneven work by other bands doesn't dampen Def Leppard's fire By Matt Clark
A thousand pairs of tight jeans and at least a dozen heads of crimped hair turned out to Germain Arena on Sunday night. They came for Styx and REO Speedwagon, which both put on decent 45-minute sets, but neither of those opening acts held a swaying lighter to the headlining band.
The first two groups merely warmed up the arena for the band concert-goers wore the Union Jack for, Def Leppard.
"That was then, this is now," appeared on a giant video screen as the group took the stage. The screen showed several photos, notes, album covers and clips from the band's decades of history. Then: "Welcome to the Sparkle Lounge," as the packed arena screamed. Like a fine stone-washed denim, Def gets better with age. Their 90-minute show rocked a crowd that was at first reluctant, but at their feet by the end.
Some of the group's hits sounded better than the recordings featured so often on classic rock stations. Perhaps this was because of Rick Allen, likely the only drummer to have lost an arm mid-stardom and then successfully fought to maintain a band's momentum. Now, Allen has ditched some components of the electronic drum kit he turned to after losing the limb in a New Year's Eve car accident in 1984. The nearly half-dozen cymbals, bass drum and other acoustic elements that encircled Allen at center stage were a spectacular addition for fans wanting more - and they got it. This is a band that has been updated to the pleasure of its old, and new, fans. Fans ranged in age from high school freshmen to 40-something professionals.
If the ladies in the audience came for a little skin, they weren't disappointed. The clothing (what there was of it) guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell were wearing when they hit the stage had been removed by mid-set.
Filling out the stage attractions were band mastermind and lead singer Joe Elliot and bass guitarist Rick "Sav" Savage. Though Elliot remained fully clothed, he had no problem strutting and swaying his way into "Pour Some Sugar on Me," which the band played before its "Rock of Ages" encore.
"I'm hot. Sticky sweet. From my head to my," Elliot said as he grabbed an area below his shirt. The sweaty-haired rocker didn't finish the sentence. The ladies screamed, as did Elliot.
During an acoustic warm-up to "Bringing on the Heartbreak," which Collen, Campbell and Elliot performed at the tip of a catwalk extending into the floor sections, the band leaned on the audience to fill in the chorus. The response sounded more like a group of bored high schoolers than a bunch of over-excited fans. Thankfully, the electric guitars weren't far behind and the band's true connection - its music - went on posthaste. The cocky musicians' insane skills nearly make up for anything they might lack in on-stage personality.
Their album "Welcome to the Sparkle Lounge" is set to be released in late April. "Two Steps Behind" features Tim McGraw and though the country artist was not on hand, the group performed the song anyway. Elliot asked the audience for help with the chorus. He didn't receive much response. "Rock on," however, was a different story. The crowd screamed as Savage plucked his bass, emblazoned with a Union Jack, during a solo that matched or surpassed anything that Collen or Campbell produced throughout the set. The song, a David Essex original, was featured in the group's 2006 cover album "Yeah!" "There will be a next time," Elliot said as the show concluded. "Don't forget us, we won't forget you." Long live rock 'n' roll.
By Matt Clark @ Naples Daily News 2008.
>Def Leppard rocks Germain Arena By David Dorsey
Def Leppard, a guitar-blazing, one-armed drumming and bass-thumping heavy metal band filled Germain Arena on Sunday night.
The fans, starved for a big-name concert in town, packed the place to see Styx, REO Speedwagon and then Def Leppard put on a show that rocked the ages. Returning to Estero for the first time in five years, vocalist Joe Elliott and company played a 90-minute set list largely comprising their greatest hits. They opened with four songs of sonic fury: "Rocket," "Animal," "Let's Get Rocked" and "Foolin'." The band, which will release their new CD, "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge" on Tuesday, April 29, later played "Nine Lives," from the new one, co-written with country singer Tim McGraw.
"Tim couldn't make it tonight," Elliott told the crowd. "But I brought his hat." With that, Elliott tossed a black cowboy hat into the crowd, and the band launched into a song that sounded vintage 1987. The band then made one mistake: Bassist Rick Savage started his solo one song too soon. But the band quickly regrouped, playing "Love Bites" with an extended Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell guitar solo, followed by Savage's solo and "Rock On."
A two-song acoustic set of "Two Steps Behind," and "Bringin' On the Hearbreak," even allowed fans a chance to mellow for a bit. The only thing missing: a drum solo by Rick Allen, who lost his left arm in a car accident in December, 1984. That temporarily derailed the band. Def Leppard played 17 songs, saving the best - "Rock of Ages" - for last.
By David Dorsey @ News-Press 2008.
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