Quebec City, QC - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - By Steve

What a night, what a show, what a band...

I wanted to get there early so I could meet the guys, while leaving the bus to get inside the Colisee Pepsi for soundcheck. By 4:30 PM, I'm making my way to the back of the arena, but unfortunately, soundcheck started 30 minutes ago. My friend Julie, who arrived earlier and had the chance to catch the Leps on their way in, told me they rehearsed Go, not without some trouble forgetting the lyrics. Will they play it live ? Let's hope...

6:30 PM. No sign of a Leppard going back to the bus. Looks like I won't have time to get a meal. Ah, later...

By 7 PM, we enter the arena to get ready for showtime. At around 7:30 PM, the lights went out, and in comes Billy Idol. Surprise, Billy is not blonde anymore. Everyone goes "Look ! He's got brown hair now!! " The 52-year old punk rocker seems a little shy at the start of the show, but nonetheless in great shape. His abs are not like Phil's, but thing's for sure: I don't think I'll be shaped like this when I'll be 52 !!

Musically, the band is strong. Steve Stevens is a guitar god. Simply incredible. The drummer is quite unbelievable too. The bass player provides good vocals and the keyboard player is very good too. They ripped through Dancing With Myself, Flesh For Fantasy, Eyes Without a Face, Rebel Yell and White Wedding. Rick Allen also joined the band during this song. Good set, but since I was here to see and hear the Leps, I wanted to get through with this.

The intermission arrives. Still don't feel the hunger. Good, 'cause I won't be able to have a meal for the next hour or so. As soon as the PA blasted the AC/DC song For Those About To Rock..., we knew what was coming. Lights out ! Welcome to the Sparkle Lounge ! Guitar ! Drums ! The band opened with Rocket showing great energy. Joe struts around very enthusiastically, encouraging the crowd to cheer. No trace of that infamous virus here !! Animal came with great response from the crowd. Then the first Sparkle song, and the one I wanted to hear: C'mon C'mon, which blends perfectly with the older songs. Sounds really good live. Wished my 7-year old son were here with me to hear this one !!! Next came another favorite, Foolin'. First surprise of the night, Mirror Mirror gets bumped by a joyful rendition of Make Love Like A Man (sorry Darren !), complete with Phil's lead vocals towards the end of the song. Not much pause in between songs... Very hot and sweaty in here...

Then another surprise: Joe leads Phil to the end of the thrust tells us that this next song has never been played live before. And as he says "This is the lead-off track from our new album", I'm thinking "Oh my God ! Could this be ..." A shirtless Phil Collen plays the opening riff from Go as the real fans (like me) went nuts, and the others who came for the hits went "Huh?" Great live version. After that came Love Bites, very much to the delight of the lovely Valerie, Vincent's girlfriend, who were standing right beside me. Always takes me back to the summer of '88 (a girl named Judith!). Next was Sav's bass solo, tagged with Rock On. The final bombastic part sounds amazing ! So hot in here, sweat drips from Sav's bass...

Joe, Phil, Sav and a now shirtless Vivian then moved to the thrust for the acoustic set. Joe told us that during Two Steps Behind, we were part of the band and had to sing along. Which we did very well indeed ! A renewed version of Bringin' On The Heartbreak, very similar to the '88 live version, ending fully electric... allowed it to blend with Switch 625. The band ripped through Hysteria, Armageddon It (sounds SO much better live than on record), Photograph, the ever popular Pour Some Sugar On Me (we had fun watching the girls dancing on the two big screens on each side of the stage) and finally Rock Of Ages, during which a soaked Joe frantically asked for more screaming. That guy knows how to work up a crowd.

The band came back for the encore with the third Sparkle Lounge song, Bad Actress, played a little slower than the studio version, but still a great fast-paced rocker. Joe then told us we did great and asked for the last question : Do you wanna get rocked? Hell yeah !!! Once again the crowd reacted very well. In fact, too well for a blonde girl close to the stage who managed to take off her shirt, and then her bra and shake it loose !!! Bare chested for a minute, she then put the shirt back on and threw the bra onstage ! Joe seemed pretty amused: "Well, that's not something you see everyday, is it??" It never ceases to amaze me what some women will do to draw the band's attention. Anyway... Shows over. Loud cheers roared as the guys went to the thrust to salute the audience. I could read Rick Allen's lips telling Joe: "They're loud !!" You bet mate !! The show finished with Joe's Famous Last Words: "Don't forget us, and we won't forget you !" That's something you shouldn't worry about...

After the show, we were about 30 people who waited around 30 minutes for autographs and photos. Cool breeze outside. They all showed up, to everyone delight (except Sav. Vicki's 9-year old daughter was disappointed). Rick was extremely nice and genuine, taking time to talk to everyone. Vivian seemed very shy, Phil was as usual very nice to everyone (That's very cool ! he said when he saw the Man Raze shirt I made), while Joe had no other choice but to join the rest of the guys when we sang Happy Birthday to him. Still, he was in a good mood when he signed my Cybernauts CD... Then they left, and so we did.

And I still hadn't had a meal yet!!!

Back

share this page: