Dublin, Ireland - Media Reviews
Black Star Riders, Whitesnake & Def Leppard Take Dublin By Sean Markey
Sunday, December 6th, 2015 marks the day when the giants of rock and roll descended upon Dublin. More specifically, a triple threat concert involving the Black Star Riders, Whitesnake and Def Leppard took place in the Point (or the ‘3 Arena’ as the kids call it these days) for an unforgettable night of old school rocking out.
With so much rock ‘n’ roll to get through, the Point opened up nice and early. Kicking things off at about 6:50pm, the Black Star Riders were the first to take to the stage. Seen as a sort of ‘continuation band’ of Thin Lizzy (which is fair enough most of them were in Thin Lizzy), they’re the perfect type of band to get a concert like this started. While they certainly do some Thin Lizzy songs (and do them exceptionally well I might add!), they mix their set up with a fair dose of original tracks too. While songs like Bound For Glory definitely feel like they were originally written with Thin Lizzy in mind, such is their tempo and delivery, others like Finest Hour have a very distinct sound which mark the Black Star Riders out as being very much their own band. Finishing their all too brief (only nine songs in all) set with a rocked up version of Whiskey In The Jar’ (think half way between Lizzy’s and Metallica’s versions), they got the audience nice and pumped for the bands that were yet to come.
Whitesnake took up the task of keeping the audience entertained during the middle half(!?) of the show. ‘Entertained’ is probably the wrong word to use here. ‘Awestruck’ would be a much more apt description of how most concert attendees were left feeling during Whitesnake’s set at the Point. You’d be forgiven for thinking that you had been transported back to the 1970s. Lead singer David Coverdale in particular defied his 64 years by delivering an impeccable vocal performance. Just how he manages consistently hit those notes so perfectly is one of life’s great mysteries. Whatever his secret may be, we are privileged to be able to hear his like up close and personal.
Of course, there’s much more to a good rock band than its lead singer. Every member of Whitesnake was given ample time to shine and demonstrated their individual skills accordingly. Arguably the most impressive part of the show was an insane drum solo by veteran drummer Tommy Aldridge who, after throwing his sticks into the crowd, proceeded to mesmerise the attending fans by carrying on using his bare hands, sounding every bit as good in the process! With a set consisting of close to half a dozen Deep Purple songs (including Burn and You Fool No One) as well as Whitesnake classics such as Is This Love and Here I Go Again, Whitesnake were out to impress and richly succeeded.
While a rock ‘n’ roll show made up of the Black Star Riders supporting Whitesnake would have been well worth the price of admission on its own, the fun was far from done once Whitesnake left the stage. There was the small matter of Def Leppard bringing the night’s festivities to a close to get through before rock and roll fans could call it a day, sleep soundly and have kick ass hair metal dreams.
With so many classics to get through, Def Leppard were out in force to deliver a true beast of a show. Indeed, choosing highlights of such a performance isn’t the easiest of tasks when saying, “It was all great!” is probably a fair enough critique. One highlight kicked in around the halfway point when Joe Elliot did a fantastic acoustic version of ‘Two Steps Behind’ which slowed things down a bit, giving the audience a chance to breathe. Of course, things got nice and up-tempo once again when Def Leppard brought the main part of their show to a close with sublime versions of Let’s Get Rocked and Pour Some Sugar On Me.
As the Dublin crowd screamed for more, Def Leppard duly delivered in what was the only encore of the night. Returning to the stage to perform Rock Of Ages followed by a truly superb performance of Photograph, the audience could scarcely have wished for a finalé more fitting.
If you’re a true rock and roll fan you should follow this tour wherever it goes. Failing that, build yourself a time machine and make sure that you attend the Dublin gig!
By Krank 2015.
3Arena rocked by Def Leppard, Whitesnake and Black Star Riders By Roisin Dwyer
The clock was turned back on Sunday as a trio of veteran acts proved there's plenty more life left in 'em. The North Wall was host to a hard-rocking party to end them all, and Hot Press was there to catch it all.
Black Star Riders open proceedings in style for a night of blistering hard-rock action at the 3Arena. The outfit formerly known as Thin Lizzy prove they have successfully established their new identity by entertaining with a set primarily culled from their excellent two long-players All Hell Breaks Loose and The Killer Instinct; the title tracks from each being two highlights. Phil classics are present and correct too, though, as ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ and ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ receive a raucous response with Ricky Warwick once again proving himself an exemplary frontman.
David Coverdale then leads his Whitesnake cohorts through a career-spanning bevy of hair metal faves including ‘Burn’ and ‘Mistreated’ from his Deep Purple tenure. A commanding presence, the plummy-voiced frontman is in garrulous form and surprisingly fine voice. Naturally ‘Fool For Your Loving’, ‘Here I Go Again’ and ‘Still Of The Night’ induce mass hysteria.
Speaking of which, headliners Def Leppard’s appearance is liberally peppered with tracks from the multi-million selling album of the same name. However, testament to the success of their current self-titled long-player is that they open with recent outing ‘Let’s Go’ to a euphoric reception.
Joe Elliott and co are all in sparkling form delivering a high-octane hit-packed performance which also doffs its cap to David Essex via a stunning version of ‘Rock On’ and showcases the frontman’s acoustic talents on a solo rendition of ‘Two Steps Behind’.
The show is a tour de force and is evidence of an act at the height of their powers. Elliott pays tribute to his bandmates throughout, especially ace guitarist Vivian Campbell whose spirited attitude to his cancer battle has bestowed him with deserved hero status.
A triumphant ‘Rock Of Ages’ and ‘Photograph’ bring the curtain down on an unforgettable night.
By Hot Press 2015.
Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Black Star Riders @ 3Arena, Dublin By Sakis Nikas
Def Leppard embarked on a mini UK tour with Whitesnake and Black Star Riders and we decided to make the trip up to the beautiful city of Dublin for the opening show.
After the interview that we did with Vivian Campbell (coming up here at Rockpages) and our meeting with Joe Elliott, we headed towards our seats of the 3Arena having already grabbed the necessary stuff (t’ shirt, tourbook, Murphy’s beer).
I knew more or less what I’d expect from Black Star Riders as I had seen them live in March in Cambridge. This band is excellent but I have to be honest I expected a far warmer welcome from the Irish crowd given the connection that Thin Lizzy has with Dublin. Naturally there was a warm reaction towards the Thin Lizzy classics (especially “Whiskey In The Jar”, “Jailbreak”, “The Boys Are Back In Town”) and the overall Black Star Riders was pretty good. I must point down that the band couldn’t almost play as Jimmy De Grasso revealed to us when we met him earlier due to the fact that a wild storm hit the western coast of Ireland thus cancelling many flights. We were there and the winds were fiercely blowing a day before the show but everything’s was calm 24 hours later…go figure!
Set List: All Hell Breaks Loose/Are You Ready/The Killer Instinct/Jailbreak/Kingdom of the Lost/The Boys Are Back In Town/Bound For Glory/Finest Hour/Whiskey In The Jar
Whitesnake had absolutely no problem winning over the crowd as they based their set list with the timeless hits (cued from their rich back catalogue and the brand new “The Purple Album”). Even Coverdale’s voice was in excellent form (maybe the fact that it was the tour’s first show had a lot to do with this) and the aid by all the Snake members was immeasurable. This must be one of the best line-ups of the entire Whitesnake career. Beach and Hoekstra is the ideal guitar duo on stage while Aldridge and Devin provide the ideal rhythm section for all the Whitesnake anthems. I must underline something here…I hear lots of people complaining all the time about Coverdale’s voice. Yes, it’s not the same as it used to be…agreed. But in very few years, we won’t be able to listen to this incredible performer. So, let’s enjoy the moment! All in all, it was an excellent Whitesnake show!
Set List: Burn/Bad Boys/Love Ain’t No Stranger/The Gypsy/Give Me All Your Love/Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City/Mistreated/You Fool No One/Soldier of Fortune/Is This Love/Fool For Your Loving/Here I Go Again/Still Of The Night
You didn’t have to be the most sharp observer to realize that the vast majority of the Dublin crowd was there for Def Leppard. A couple of minutes after 21:30, the huge curtain with the classic Def Leppard logo goes up revealing an impressive stage while the first notes of “Let’s Go” rushed through the speakers of 3Arena. It was evident that the band was on top of their game (as always), well-rehearsed up to the last detail and the sound was unbelievably crystal clear! As a matter of fact, you were under the impression that Mutt Lange was somewhere behind the console handling the knobs! “Animal”, “Undefeated” and “Dangerous” followed and as you will see at the very end of this review the set was heavily based on Def Leppard’s masterpiece “Hysteria”.
The backing vocals were awesome giving you constantly chills down your spine, Collen and Campbell reproduced faithfully all the guitar parts of what someone hears on the studio versions, Allen was impressive with a permanent smile on his face and Elliott’s voice and overall performance were flawless. For this writer, the live versions of “Switch 625” and “Hysteria” with all the photos of that era on the background huge screen were more than touching as they brought back memories of a long past but certainly not forgotten era.
As a closing note, I must say that it’s really a shame for every single opening act for a Def Leppard show as the Sheffield boys put on an unsurpassable show thus making it almost impossible for everyone even to catch up with them (let alone compare with)!
Set List: Let’s Go/Animal/Undefeated/Dangerous/Love Bites/Armageddon It/Rock On/Last Dance/Two Steps Behind/Rocket/When Love and Hate Collide/Switch 625/Hysteria/Let’s Get Rocked/Pour Some Sugar On Me/Rock Of Ages/Photograph.
By Rock Pages 2015.
Def Leppard, Whitesnake and Black Star Riders 3 Arena in Dublin By Jabier Rioboó/Esteban Campos | (Translation)
"Two other disks to the latter "Def Leppard" countless tours, music and even movies like "Rock of Ages" (2012), rock with catchy riffs and choruses hook, veterans and with a background in sales across the puddle few bands equal. Certainly worth seeing this legendary band at least once in your life and enjoy your live."
By Dirty Rock 2015 - Read the full review via the links (Tranaslation is not very good).
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