Newcastle, England - Media Reviews

Def Leppard and Whitesnake, Metro Radio Arena By Simon Rushworth

FOR Teessider David Coverdale there is no better gig in the world than Newcastle. Adopted by the Geordie nation three decades ago, Whitesnake was taken to Tyneside's heart and if those sweat soaked City Hall events of the late 1970s are a fond but distant memory, then this emotional show rolled back the years.

Coverdale's association with the North East, his endearing banter and relaxed manner ensured an expectant crowd warmed to the first of the evening's co-headliners within minutes. Come the anthemic hat-trick of 1987 standards, Give Me All Your Love, Here I Go Again and In The Still Of The Night, and the sea of raised hands and smiling faces proved one of rock's greatest entertainers has lost none of his on-stage verve. With the Whitesnake choir in full voice, Def Leppard had some act to follow.

Having thrilled a passionate home crowd in Sheffield 24 hours earlier, reaching the same heights in Newcastle was always going to test the mettle of the Steel City heroes. That need to raise their game again, coupled with Coverdale's incredible triumph, clearly affected a band synonymous with slick showmanship and some of the most memorable hair metal anthems in the history of rock.

Try as they might, the Lepps just couldn't recreate the frenzied atmosphere which made Whitesnake's set one to remember.

Where Coverdale's rendition of Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City moved grown men to tears, Joe Elliott's Bringing On The Heartbreak fell strangely flat. There was no doubting Leppard's effort, but the spark was missing. Armageddon It raised fist-pumping spirits and twin guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell were worth the admission money alone as they ripped through a flawless array of supercool riffs.

Not surprisingly, pockets of fans drunk on nostalgia lapped up every note of every song and Let's Get Rocked was a raucous finale. But perhaps the band's 1992 classic should have opened a set which never quite captured Leppard at their barnstorming best.

By The Journal 2008.

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Legends Of Rock Live On By Nicola Juncar

I'VE always been slow to catch on to trends. By the time I'd cottoned on to the hard rock movement it was already the early '90s; the denim was fading and the bleached poodle perm was washing out. Unlike some fickle fans, however, I remained loyal. I continued to buy the albums - even if that meant looking in the bargain bin instead of the new chart-topping entries like before. And I went to the tours and watched, in despair, as former stadium-filling acts struggled to pull in the crowds. But it is now with great happiness, and, I admit, some relief, that I can say my dedication has paid off.

This year has seen a revival of hard rock and heavy metal acts, with bands from Kiss to Thunder taking to the road. Last night it was Newcastle's turn to play host to two of the most successful British rock bands of all time.

Whitesnake and Def Leppard staged a double headline show at Metro Radio Arena, which, I was pleased to see, was packed to the rafters.

Between them the bands have more than 60 years of live performances under their belts. But instead of tired routines, they proved they are still consummate professionals and can give any of today's bands a run for their money.

The night was opened by the brilliant support act, Black Stone Cherry, who, for anyone who missed them, will be coming back to the region in December to play Newcastle's Carling Academy. For their winter gig, they'll have the stage to themselves, but last night they were under no illusions. They knew we hadn't come to see them, but that didn't stop them playing their hearts out and it certainly got the crowd in the mood for the top night that followed.

Whitesnake, fronted by the ultimate showman David Coverdale - the only original band member - were on second. But fans who thought they wouldn't be given enough time with the former Deep Purple singer needn't have worried.

Both the main acts were on stage for 75 minutes each, so Whitesnake was far from a "second support". However, that didn't stop the two-and-a-half hours flying by as the crowd were carried along by ear-thumping hit after hit.

The Whitesnake songs which attracted the biggest cheers of the night and got people on their feet, rather unsurprisingly, had to be Here I Go Again and Still Of The Night.

And for the Leps, Pour Some Sugar On Me and Animal, both from their monster hit album, Hysteria, and Let's Get Rocked, from Adrenalize, got the best reaction.

But the new songs - from Whitesnake's latest release, Good To Be Bad, and Def Leppard's 12th album, Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, out last month - were also greeted with rapturous applause.

This seemed to confirm there's still plenty of life in these two bands, who've both been on the go since 1977, and the fans hadn't just tagged along for a trip down memory lane.

OK, so the band members were older and more reserved than in their heyday - but so were the crowd.

There wasn't the risk of Coverdale or Joe Elliott, the 6ft-plus frontman of the Leps, diving off the stage for a spot of crowd surfing, but I doubt the mostly middleaged audience would have been impressed by that.

A review of a Lep gig wouldn't be complete without mentioning the fantastic performance by drummer, Rick Allen. This was the sixth time I'd seen him live and it never ceases to amaze me how talented he is; his nickname of 'Thunder God' is truly deserved.

The only mildly disappointing point was that Whitesnake's instrumentals were sometimes too powerful for Coverdale's vocals to carry across. This was a shame as he has, arguably, the best voice in rock. Plus, the Leps didn't sing Love Bites, which is their biggest single and only chart-topper. However, they did do When Love And Hate Collide, from their greatest hits album, Vault, which is a close second in the power ballad stakes. To sum up the evening, I'm going to quote the Leps' Joe who told the crowd: "Don't forget us and we won't forget you." I hope that means it won't be too long before we see them on the road again.

By The Evening Chronicle 2008.

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