Uncasville, CT - Media Reviews
Heavy Metal Showmanship Lives With Def Leppard By Steven Goode
An enthusiastic mostly over-40 crowd at the Mohegan Sun Arena Tuesday was treated to a raucous ride in the way-back machine, courtesy of Def Leppard and REO Speedwagon.
One of the top record-selling bands of the 1980s and an icon of the British heavy metal movement of that era, Def Leppard headlined Tuesday's performance.
Fronted by Joe Elliott, the current incarnation of the band - with the exception of former Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell, who joined in 1992 - has been together more than 25 years.
That familiarity with the material and with each other showed as the band sawed through a 90-minute set devoted mostly to songs that sold tens of millions of albums.
Def Leppard took to a sparsely decorated stage as a retrospective video of old concert footage and album covers flashed across a screen behind them.
While Elliott's range has diminished somewhat, his enthusiasm and showmanship hasn't, as evidenced by the band's willingness to take on the harder-edged tunes of their youth.
The musicians, who formed Def Leppard as teenagers growing up in Sheffield, England, got right down to business with "Rock It," "Animal" and "Foolin'," which showcased the band's legacy of passionate lyrics, scorching guitar work and banging bass and percussion.
With smoke drifting off the stage, they delved further into their early roots of heavy metal, glam-rock with a spirited rendition of "Mirror, Mirror," showcasing the formidable talents of guitarist Phil Collen.
They came into the present, playing one number from their soon-to-be-released new album, before returning to the mega-successful past and delighting the crowd with "Love Bites."
From there they segued into a mini-acoustic set which included a rendition of "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" that started off slow and sweet and finished off fast and nasty, with the added thump of Campbell's talents on instrumental head-banger "Switch 625" at the end.
Def Leppard closed out its set with the wildly popular "Photograph," accompanied by a video montage of pictures of the band through the years, crowd favorite "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and an encore of "Rock of Ages."
By Hartford Courant 2008.
Def Leppard Brings Some Sparkle To Mohegan Sun By JP
Tuesday night saw the return of British rockers Def Leppard to the Mohegan Sun Arena. The band are currently on tour promoting their new album entitled "Songs From The Sparkle Lounge" which comes out April 29. Def Leppard have become regulars to the Mohegan Sun Arena having played there the last three years they were on tour.
Def Leppard has such a vast selection of greatest hits that it would be impossible to play them all at one show, but the band did their best to choose some crowd favorites that night. The evening began with a video montage showing the history of the band. As the montage ended the band appeared to the roar of the crowd and started off the show with their 1989 hit single, "Rocket". With the crowd still on their feet, Def Leppard kept the energy going with more of their popular hits, "Animal", Let's Get Rocked", "Foolin'" and the rare fan-favorite "Mirror, Mirror". The only new song to appear in the set was "Nine Lives", which is also the first single from their new album. Despite being a brand-new song, the audience had no trouble accepting it along with their other greatest hits.
After the power ballad, "Love Bites" and an acoustic version of "Two Steps Behind", lead singer, Joe Elliott got the audience involved by having them sing the chorus to the crowd-favorite "Bringin' On The Heartbreak". Guitarists, Phil Collen and Vivan Campbell showcased their talents and proved to any doubters why they are considered one of the premier guitar combos in rock music with their take on the instrumental "Switch 625". Def Leppard preceded to bring the audience back to their feet, playing four of their biggest hits, "Hysteria", "Armageddon It", "Photograph", and "Pour Some Sugar On Me". Ending the show on such a high note, only left the audience wanting more. Their wish would be granted in the form of the 1983 hit, "Rock Of Ages". After going through 30 years of triumph and turmoil, Def Leppard have perfected their live show with top-notch sound and an excellent live performance.
By Myrecordjournal 2008.
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