St. Louis, MO - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - By Curt Taft

My very first Def Leppard concert was in St. Louis, MO on July 30, 1996.

My tenth Leppard show was also in the St. Louis area in 2003. My twentieth? St. Louis, 2007.

So it was only appropriate that my 30th Def Leppard show would also be in St. Louis here in 2012.

Of course, it only happened that way because I skipped Indianapolis the day before since they hadn't been mixing up the sets as they claimed they would prior to the tour. It was that kind of thing that burned me last year... I spent a lot of money for travel and VIP tickets for shows that offered little in return as far as variety goes.

My goal this year was to spend as little as possible on the band since I didn't feel like they gave me my money's worth last year. And I succeeded. I didn't buy the even more outrageously priced VIP tickets for any of my shows (Kansas City, Chicago, and St. Louis) and still ended up within the VIP Nation guidelines (never being farther back than row 13 and even ending up in the third row in Kansas City). And, as mentioned, I skipped Indianapolis all together.

Mix spending much less money with the longer, better setlists, and I definitely feel like I got my money's worth this year.

Traffic heading into St. Louis was terrible thanks to bridgework, so we got to the arena after Lita Ford had already started her set. We got to our seats, which were in the 11th row right up against the barricade. The catwalk extended out to row nine, so we were very close to the end. The strange thing is that there was about six or seven feet of empty space at the very end of the catwalk due to the barricade.

Lita sounded great as always and the sound in the arena already sounded better than it did in Chicago a month prior. I wasn't sure what to expect since I had never been to this venue, as it is fairly new.

Poison took the stage at 7:55 and played their typical set. I know Lep fans complain about a lack of variety, but geez... Every Poison show is quite literally exactly the same. The real amusement during their set came via a guy directly in front of me that decided to go on a beer run. The rows were pretty tight to walk through, so he had the 'bright' idea of trying to walk down the row on the seats... And he may have already been pretty tipsy since he accelerated way too quickly and toppled over onto people near the end of the row. I saw the whole thing and turned just in time to see a look comprised of "I hope he's ok" and "what a fucking idiot" on his wife's face. His two children, probably in their mid to late teens, were mortified.

It took everything I had not to laugh through the rest of Poison's set. Especially since I saw a security guard staring hardcore at CC's 13 inch platform shoes during his excruciating guitar solo.

Finally, it was time for Def Leppard. Being that this was my final show of the tour, and I have no idea what they'll be doing next year or when I'll be seeing them again, I was going into the show with a 'just have fun' attitude. No worrying about the sets. Would it have been nice to have something like "Promises" thrown in? Of course! But I wasn't worried about that.

It helped that this was a Saturday show...

They hit the stage around 9:15 with "Undefeated" and we were off. I enjoyed this one even more since it was quite possibly the last time I would ever hear it live. Joe's voice cracked a couple of times during this tune, but after that, he sounded great.

"Rocket" followed before they got to the moment I was looking forward to the most. Joe introduced Phil and then they were off into "High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night)." I hadn't seen them play this song since the Moline, IL show in 2003 and it sounded amazing. I especially liked how Viv made the solo his own and really tore it up.

The show went on as usual from there. The shocker of the evening for me is that I even enjoyed "Make Love Like A Man." It sounded great and hey... Last show of the year and all that, so why not?

The 'new' intro to "Gods Of War" sounded better than it did in Chicago (though I still don't like it).

Joe started off the acoustic medley with the snippet of the Rolling Stones "You Can't Always Get What You Want" as he had been doing at some, if not all, shows recently. As with my other shows, the crowd went nuts when Rick made his way out to the catwalk.

Speaking of which, the place looked quite full. I'm not sure if it was a sellout, since there were tickets available the day of the show, but all sections looked packed and people were seated all the way up to the top.

Rick's solo at the end of "Switch 625" brought a smile to my face as always, especially when you see Phil and Viv just standing off to the side admiring him. Even when you see it every night, it's a marvel to watch.

Joe gave his usual anniversary speech after "Hysteria" and had the crowd sing to Happy Birthday to Viv for his 50th. The only other birthday event was Wolfie, Viv's guitar tech, wearing a nurse's outfit that said "HAPPY 50TH VIV" on the back of it.

Joe nailed the high note on "Photograph" and didn't sound strained at all. He was a little raspier than my previous shows, but that can be expected at this point of the tour after he was sick. Nor did he struggle with "Rock Of Ages," for which he amusingly rocked a tiny leopard-skin hat from the audience.

Before I knew it, the show was over. I was rocking my Thin Lizzy shirt for Viv's 50th, which caught his attention during the goodnights.

All in all, it was a very successful tour for me. The band was playing their best setlists since 2007 and I even managed to get three different setlists in three shows spread over three months.

I put a disc of deeper cuts in for the drive home, subjecting my girlfriend to even more Def Leppard. She's been my partner in crime for most of the shows over the last two tours since she not only tolerates my love for this band, but embraces it. Which she showed by humming along to tracks like "Desert Song," "Turn To Dust," and "Go."

Which was the perfect end to a perfect night and tour.

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