Hartford, CT - Media Reviews

Then Is Now, With Def Leppard In Command By Thomas Kintner

Def Leppard is more than two decades removed from its most popular records, but its accessible rock has aged well enough to keep the group impressively popular over the years. The group came to the Comcast Theatre in Hartford Tuesday night as the headliner on a three-act card, where it powered through a typically slick rundown of hits that began on a pleasantly cool summer night and ended in a torrential lightning storm.

After beginning the show with a video presentation that ran quickly through the band's history and claimed, "that was then, this is now," the band spent its time almost exclusively on then. Only one of its 16 tunes was from its current album, as the group focused instead on the likes of "Rocket" and a slithering rendition of "Rock On.

Always able to do impressive things with meticulously polished studio work, the band didn't always translate them to the stage in ways that measured up, as in an "Animal" ill-served by the raw edges in its chorus. Singer Joe Elliott's haughty bark was augmented by processing on many tunes, including "Foolin'," but not so much that it sounded false.

The five-piece group's dual guitar sound remains its strongest card, as Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen, who may not own any shirts, worked out in complementary fashion at every turn, and powered the raucous instrumental "Switch 625." Their licks inflated the appeals of "Armageddon It" as drummer Rick Allen thumped out its pulse on a kit specially designed for his single-armed playing method, and ranged to flashy solos as Elliott howled the punishing "Photograph."

The night's biggest blowout came when Def Leppard offered up its friend to catwalk prancers across the land, the ultra-grabby anthem "Pour Some Sugar on Me." The throbbing finale " Rock of Ages" was equally energetic but not nearly as fun, and an encore of "Let's Get Rocked" was thunderous, but hardly comparable to the lightning that crackled outside the venue as a late show downpour soaked people on the lawn.

Def Leppard's show Tuesday included the following songs: "Rock! Rock! Till You Drop," "Rocket," "C'Mon C'Mon," "Animal," "Foolin'," "Love Bites," "Rock On," "Two Steps Behind," "Bringin' on the Heartache," "Switch 625," "Hysteria," "Armageddon It," "Photograph," "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Rock of Ages," (Encore) "Let's get Rocked."

By Hartford Courant 2009.

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Def Leppard and Poison Live and Loud in Hartford By Don Laviano

If you missed Tuesday night's Def Leppard/Poison/Cheap Trick show at the Comcast Theatre (formerly the Meadows), the bad news is you missed over 25 loud and decadent hits from the 80's. The good news is you will be able to see some of what you missed.

VH1 started filming for a six-week concert series called "Live and Loud Fridays" and the Hartford crowd will be prominently featured as both the Def Leppard and Poison sets were recorded.

Each 30-minute special will feature three songs by the featured band, exclusive looks backstage and interviews. The show will start airing on Friday nights on July 17.

Def Leppard then hit the stage at 10:30 p.m. and played nonstop until midnight. The band looked in great shape and was surrounded on the stage by a massive video screen behind them with monitors also on the drum riser. The screen started the show with a quick history of the boys from Sheffield, England then said "That was then, this is now" before they jumped on stage and ripped into "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)".

Out of the 15 songs they played, ten came from their two mega-hit albums "Pyromania" and "Hysteria". They did play "C'mon C'mon" from the latest release "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge" that was met with polite applause because the crowd was still amped up from singing along to "Rocket".

After three more hits, bassist Rick Savage started a funky beat that led into a cover of the 70's song "Rock On". Everyone seemed to recognize the song ("Hey kids rock and roll, rock on"), but you could see the crowd asking each other to remember who sang the original. For the record it was David Essex, and yes I had to Google it.

The highlight for the diehards in the crowd had to be what followed a mostly acoustic rendition of "Bringin' on the Heartbreak". Big fans know that on the "High 'n' Dry" album, this song is followed by an instrumental called "Switch 625". When it's played on the radio they always fade out before the thumping bass line begins and Def Leppard doesn't always include it in their shows. But when the beat for "Switch 625" started, you could see pockets of fans throughout the crowd getting excited for the full rendition.

Joe Elliott and company closed with three of their biggest crowd pleasures: "Photograph", "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Rock of Ages". But the audience didn't let them get away without coming back to ask , "Do you wanna get rocked?". Def Leppard finished with "Let's Get Rocked" and then thanked the crowd and promised to be back again.

After all that, the hardest part for VH1 will be picking the three songs from each of the bands set lists because Def Leppard and Poison stuck to playing basically their hits and crowd favorites.

By NBC Connecticut 2009.

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