[ Def Leppard UK - European Sparkle Lounge Tour 2008 ]
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[SETLIST]
[PA] - 2007 Def Leppard Intro, [01] - Rocket, [02] - C'mon C'mon, [03] - Animal, [04] - Nine Lives, [05] - Make Love Like A Man, [06] - Love Bites, [07] - Rick Savage Bass Solo, [08] - Rock On, [09] - Hysteria, [10] - Armageddon It, [11] - Photograph, [12] - Pour Some Sugar On Me, [13] - Rock Of Ages, [Encore] [14] - Let's Get Rocked. ------------------------------- [Pic Galleries] - none yet. [Media Center] - 25 Pics [Show Recording] - none yet [Venue Pic Link] - View [Capacity] - 15,000. [Tour Map] - View [Show News] - Here [Support Act] - Whitesnake [Support Act] - Toma Zdravkov Def Leppard Fan Videos - NEW 
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Show 36 - FRI 4th Jul 2008: Akademik Stadium, Sofia, BULGARIA. 
[Main Pic] - 4 Pics by Violeta. [Show Notes] - The band's first ever visit to Bulgaria and it's capital city of Sofia. The venue is home to the PFC Koneliano Sofia football team. Local press reported major thunderstorms to hit this show. The show was delayed due to the storms and Lep started at 1am. Show was opened by local act Toma Zdravkov who won 'Music Idol', the Bulgarian version of The X Factor/American Idol, playing Whitesnake covers. Many thanks to Violeta for the review/pics. Buy Def Leppard's new album+single Songs From The Sparkle Lounge / C'mon C'mon Buy Man Raze's new album Surreal |
Fan Review - Violeta - [ Link Back ]
The 'Miracle Show' (Def Leppard - live in Sofia, Bulgaria - 04.07.2008)
'Now, make some noise for yourselves, because you're heroes!'-said Joe Elliott to the people in Akademik stadium' in Sofia who survived the long delay of the show, the pouring rain and severe wind, just to see their idols for the first time ever in Bulgaria.
The show in Sofia was exceptional in every way you can possibly imagine. It was like all the Saints had made a union with Murphy and had some fun over Sofia.
The show was set to start at 8 pm with the rock monsters Whitesnake, but a 3 hour delay of the technique on the Macedonian customs gave the start to the long waiting. We listened to the covers of AC/DC, Sabbath, etc, the opening band made, and the millions of songs played from the stage stereo. Then there were, the most precious words we anticipated to hear 'The equipment has just arrived!' .. Hallelujah! The stage had to be set, but it seemed like the staff didn't bother hurrying. At 11 pm Whitesnake got on stage and brought our numb limbs back to life. But it wasn't over. Half an hour after their appearance the sky decided that the Bulgarian public deserves' more .And it started to rain. Slow at first, and then it was awful. And the wind helped it to spread on the stage, too.The band seemed very frustrated of that fact and it looked like it killed their enthusiasm.
After the end of the Snakes' part, there was Leppards' turn. It was raining and the wind was blowing. It became very cold. Everybody was shivering, and again cursing the stage-staff who showed us one more time their unique slowness in setting it up. But never mind that, the waiting was worth it .There there were Def Leppard. Joe Elliot, with his typical and great sense of humor got on stage with an umbrella and smashed it with the words 'Ah, who needs that?’
'Guitar...Drums...' and that was it! We were someplace else. The rain and cold was forgotten and there was only the warm, beautiful feeling that we are so close to that great band, who really managed to show their class with great sound and performance, even though the delay and the rain, and the lack of sound check and rehearsal!
'Rocket' totally blew us up, and made everybody go into ecstasies; it was followed by 'Animal'. The Lepps made two songs from their new album 'Songs from the Sparkle Lounge' - 'Nine Lives' and 'C'mon C'mon'. 'Make Love like a Man' was next. Then the stage went dark, violet lights ablaze the air above Rick Allen and everybody recognized the beginning of the ballad 'Love Bites'. A song so powerful and moving, that always makes me shed a tear. And this time was no exception. It ended with the emotional guitar solo of Vivian Campbell. The rain finally stopped, as if it wanted to make room for the warm melodies Sav created. And indeed we all melted under the brilliant and powerful sounds of Rick Savage's bass, whose a minute and a half solo made the prelude to 'Rock On' .
The sound again was 'out of Earth'. The hysteria, however, was complete when it 'sounded' - I'm talking about the songs - 'Hysteria', Armageddon It', Photograph'. As I predicted 'Pour Some Sugar on me' absolutely and definitely gave the powerful vibe it always gives. Then we heard the 'most magical words' - 'Gunter, glieben, glauchen, globen '. Yes, you are right - 'Rock of Ages', indeed! Again Phil Collen's guitar riffs were magnificent and made us dream, and Rick Allen's drum set proved once more that he is the greatest drummer ever! It was the last song of the regular program, but of course their Bulgarian fans couldn't let them go and shouted for Encore. We would've never let them leave without hearing 'Let's Get Rocked'. And that very song put the end of the show.
As Joe Elliott said 'With that long delay and the horrible weather conditions it is a miracle that this show is actually happening'. He asked us to applaud Whitesnake for their performance, and ourselves for our braveness. He was very impressed that,even though English is not our mother language we knew the words to all the songs they performed, and even apologized for not knowing Bulgarian. The band loved the public, for we welcomed them so warm, and screamed all the time, having the best time of our lives and making them feel at home. They promised to come back, so we crossed our fingers.
The concert in Bulgaria was very hard to do, and out of luck, but it happened and after 30 years on stage, we finally saw Def Leppard on home ground. The rain, the delay, the waiting and the wind tried to stop and discourage both the fans and the bands, but we all beat it. The high level that Def Leppard showed, in the terrible conditions and with no sound check, proved once again their professionalism and greatness, and just like magicians made us forget the misery and send us high above. I personally will never regret being there, and would live through all of this again just to see that unique band live one more time. Because it is totally worth it!
Media Review - by Svetlana Guineva - [ Link Back ]
Jurassic hard rock, Balkan style ::
If what follows next appears to be a spiteful gutting of a concert foretold, please forgive me, you humble readers and devoted hard rock fans.
I am pissed off. And what seems even more aggravating is the fact that I cannot find anybody to blame. It is nobody's fault.
British bands Whitesnake and Def Leppard were scheduled to perform at the Akademik stadium in the evening of July 4. The Snake is in Bulgaria for a fourth gig, whereas the Leppards are joining in for a first time.
What was supposed to happen: at 7pm Toma Zdravkov, the winner of this-year's Music Idol, was going to warm up the crowd with a half hour of selected heavy classics, at 8 pm Whitesnake should have been on, followed an hour and a half later by Def Leppard. Simple math, is it not?
While the stadium was still filling in, Toma hopped about the stage, under the sound of the first metal accords. The randomly assembled band that accompanied him hit the first notes of AC/DC Highway to Hell and Toma began to sing, or rather scream.
Now, dude, I really liked you on that Music Idol show, you are driven, you seem to have a lot of potential and charisma. But, seriously, HANDS OFF that classic tune, because it is disrespectful, it is offensive to my gentle hearing, let alone the fact that you are annoying a die-hard AC/DC junkie such as myself. PLEASE. Stick to whatever you can sing, whatever it is suited for your vocal parameters. It is not your fault.
Anyway, that was just the beginning.
I waited for so long.
Technicians lingered about the stage for what seemed an eternity. For the longest time nothing happened, only the queues for draft beer grew longer and more impatient. People, it seemed, wanted to drink. And how would they not? Bursting out of the powerful speakers, Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus gave a nightmarish feel to the scene. Like when in your dream you are looking for one place, and suddenly, you get lost and enter some vast emptiness for no particular reason. I mean, I like Depeche Mode, but who cares?
Then someone got a hold of the microphone and announced that there would be a significant delay though the concert will happen as planned. While trying to pass the Macedonia-Bulgaria border, the trucks carrying the bands' technical equipment have been stuck for three hours because of power failure, a voice said. An earlier rainstorm had done the damage. So, really, it is nobody's fault.
Whitesnake will come out no later than 11 pm, the voice assured the roaring crowd.
I sat there and tried to remember why I wanted to come to this concert in the first place. It was some kind of sick nostalgia that sneaked upon me and made me do it. I saw myself back in my college days, hanging out at one of those so dear to my heart parties when friends played the guitars, the rest of us sang, and I was desperately trying to figure out "Is this love that I’m feeling?"
At 11 pm, Whitesnake did come out and the raspy voice of David Coverdale managed to sooth the crowd as if it was some loving lullaby. Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City and Here I Go Again, the stadium was packed, does it matter how many people sang along as one, how many people jumped to their feet as a tribute to a special moment reminiscent of the songs, or Coverdale?
I applauded the audience for putting so much heart into it.
It began to rain.
I saw Coverdale's white teeth flicker in the dark. The staff ran around in attempt to cover the equipment, because at some point the stage drowned in water. No comment was made between the songs, but I could feel how the singer’s strained nerves radiated through the microphone. The people stood there, some covered their heads with bigger nylon sheets, some unfolded umbrellas, but the bulk just soaked the rain.
After exactly one hour, Whitesnake stopped playing, and left the wet stage escorted by anaemic applauses. No emotion, no call for an encore, just the rainy silence underlining great disappointment. But whose fault is it?
Another 40 minutes had to pass for switching equipment, preparing for Def Leppard, and sound check.
The band came out, and despite the fact that calm settled over the crowd as well as many people just left, it brought cheerful mood. Def Leppard were friendly, soulful, gave it their all, played and sang with passion, talked to the audience, apologising for not speaking Bulgarian. I almost felt bad that every new song they performed sounded almost identical with the preceding one, with the exception of their well-recognised hits such as Love Bites and Let's Get Rocked. The frontman Joe Elliott warmly thanked the audience for sticking around and for being such loyal fans, which was nice.
But hey, at 2 am, amid chilling wind, rain and pain in the back from sitting forever in one position, little seemed comforting.
Nevermind. It is nobody's fault.
Svetlana Guineva © Sofia Echo 2008.
Media Review - by Ivaylo Alexandrov - [ Link Back ]
Rain, Love & Rock'n'Roll with WHITESNAKE & DEF LEPPARD ::
For Def Leppard there remained the hard job to keep the fire started by Coverdale, Aldrich & Co., and this after 40 minutes waiting under the pouring rain. But the people, already drenched enough, seemed like they didn't pay attention to the flowing ditches on their backs. And when, shortly after the Leppards exploded for the first time on Bulgarian soil, Joe Elliot showed commitment to the audience and a middle finger to the clouds. Rock and roll, that's it!
Even though lighter, softer and later (in fact, it was already was the 5th of July), Def Leppard received an enthusiastic welcome from their fans. And they returned it back, performing a fresh (and wet) bouquet of some of their most beloved songs. "Rocket", "Animal", "Love Bites" and the great "Hysteria" were the pearls out of the 1987 album of the same name. A little worse sound compared to the killer one of Whitesnake (the fault of which was of the rain), but fans and band ignored the inconveniences and the conditions for an hour and a half of dances. And when everything ended with the anthems "Rock of Ages" and "Let's Get Rocked", tired and soaking, the melomans who stayed under the flood of water, emotions and rock and roll left bearing in their hearts the authentic memory of unforgettable experience. Tests? Yes. And rock and roll!
Ivaylo Alexandrov © Tangra Mega Rock 2008 - (See link for full review/pics).