Omaha, NE - Media Reviews

Def Leppard roars, and the crowd goes wild By John Keenan

Phil Collen played the guitar like a rock virtuoso at Sunday night's Def Leppard concert.

A camera at the top of his guitar's fretboard even allowed the crowd to get a close-up of his nimble fingers as they ran through lick after blistering lick.

Singer Joe Elliott took a turn with the guitar before the show was over. But he spent most of the night playing the crowd, and he did that as well as Collen played the guitar.

All it took was a shrug of a shoulder or the swing of an arm to draw an eruption of cheers, or get the crowd to take a chorus, or pull most people to their feet.

The guy's a showman, and the band - including drummer Rick Allen, bassist Rick "Sav" Savage and guitarist Vivian Campbell - put on a hard-rocking show.

It helped that they started at full speed, Elliott striding out and using the microphone stand as a combination conductor's baton and dance partner on "C'mon, C'mon," a song from the band's newest album, "Songs From the Sparkle Lounge."

As expected, they also ran through their biggest hits during the show, including "Bringing on the Heartbreak" and "Armageddon It." The band let the crowd handle the first few choruses of "Bringing on the Heartbreak," not my favorite rock-show move.

Elliott and the rest of the crew drew approving cheers for the new material, including "Nine Lives," one of the many songs that gave Collen a chance to show off his chops. But the mere mention of the band's 1990 album "Pyromania" - Elliott dropped the name before the band swung into "Foolin'" - brought on a huge roar.

A large screen behind the stage added some spectacle to the proceedings, displaying not only shots from the stage, but graphics - including the band as circus performers - and explosions of color.

The band closed the show furiously, sandwiching "Pour Some Sugar on Me" between "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages," before coming back for a two-song encore. Elliott did seem to have some trouble with some of the high notes on "Photograph."

"Pour Some Sugar on Me," which had everyone in attendance singing along, was the show's high point, and the segue into "Rock of Ages" made for a nice finale.

Def Leppard fans also got a sneak peek of drummer Allen when he sat in briefly during Billy Idol's opening set.

Idol and his band provided a boisterous kickoff to the evening, running through hits such as "Eyes Without a Face," "Blue Highway" and "Dancing With Myself," leaving the crowd more than ready for Elliott and his bandmates.

By Omaha World Herald 2008.

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