Detroit/Clarkston, MI - Media Reviews

Def Leppard, Styx, and Tesla rock the heck out of DTE in Metro Detroit By Edward Pevos

The hottest day so far of 2015 ended up being one of the hottest tickets of the concert season in Metro Detroit. Def Leppard, Styx, and Tesla rocked for nearly four hours at DTE Energy Music Theatre.

Sweat poured down the faces of many in the sold-out crowd in the 90 degree temperatures. There was no green grass to be seen on the jam packed lawn as three iconic rock bands performed one hit after another.

Tesla:

Tesla has been around since the early 80s, selling near 15 million albums in the U.S. alone. The crowd arrived early to catch the band perform a number of their hits for 40 minutes, including "Signs," a remake of the 1971 Five Man Electrical Band song, and the powerful rock ballad "Love Song." The crowd showed their love for Tesla by giving them a standing ovation after their set.

Styx:

The rock continued with one of the biggest American rock bands of all-time. Styx has sixteen top 40 singles to their credit in the U.S.

The crowd went from 3/4 filled for Tesla, to nearly at capacity for Styx.

Their one hour set started with a bang with "Grand Illusion," followed by "Too Much Time On My Hands." The 10 song set also included "Lady," "Come Sail Away," and lead singer Lawrence Gowan showing off his vocal and piano skills, performing a medley of "Rocket Man," "Bohemian Rhapsody," and "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay" solo.

The encore featured "Rockin' The Paradise," and crowd favorite "Renegade."

Styx has been rocking since the 70s and shows no signs of slowing down. The crowd loved them and they performed with a lot of energy and sounded great. The only negative... the band left out one of their biggest hit songs, "Mr. Roboto."

Def Leppard:

Def Leppard is one of the top rock bands in history. They've released 11 studio albums with their 12th due out this fall. The band's 1987 album, "Hysteria" is considered one of the top rock albums ever.

Def Leppard took the stage shortly before 9:30pm and performed one rockin' hit after another for a little over an hour and a half.

It was a treat to see guitarist Vivian Campbell back with the band. Campbell had to leave the band right before their tour started due to his battle with cancer.

They started with a song from their third studio album "Pyromania" from 1983 called "Rock! Rock! (till you drop)," followed by "Animal" from the "Hysteria" album.

The band continued with "Let It Go" from their second album "High 'n' Dry."

The mix of blasts from the past continued with "Foolin" from "Pyromania," followed by "Paper Sun" from the 1999 album "Euphoria."

Def Leppard got the crowd yelling the lyrics to the next two songs with "Love Bites," and "Armageddon It." They followed that with their remake of the David Essex classic "Rock On" from their 2006 album "Yeah!"

The band went off the stage for a quick rest while lead singer Joe Elliott performed the acoustic hit "Two Steps Behind" from the 1993 album "Retro Active."

The set continued with fan favorites "Rocket" and "Bringin On The Heartbreak," followed by "Hysteria," "Let's Get Rocked," and "Pour Some Sugar On Me."

Encore:

As if the band hadn't crammed enough hits into their over 90 minute set, they left the crowd happy with two big hits for the encore with "Rock Of Ages," and "Photograph."

Def Leppard brings it every time they take the stage with the strong vocals of lead singer Joe Elliott, background vocals from the rest of the band, and brilliant guitar playing from Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell. Rick Savage is always solid on bass and Rick Allen continues to show why he is one of the top drummers in the world, despite a car crash in 1984 which led to the loss of his left arm.

Everyone in the band is in their 50s now, but as their show at DTE proved, they still draw huge crowds and don't disappoint for a single second during their powerful shows.

By Michigan Live 2015.

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