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[ X UK/Irish Tour 2003 Page 2 ]
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THUR Feb 27th 2003: BriXton Carling Academy, London, ENGLAND. 
[3 Pics by Jane (Gallery).]
[My review continued] Then followed a lengthy speech about Rick and how they had played the Hammersmith Odeon in 1979 with Sammy Hagar (first London show) then 4 weeks later 4 nights
with AC/DC and on one night someone celebrated his 16th birthday…Rick. [see pic on left by Dini]
Cue National Anthem (well it should be…) "Rock of Ages" and BriXton wanted rock and roll. Joe thanked us all again and mentioned that the Darkness were going into the UK Charts this week and also how great Ricky Warwick had been - they both got a big cheer as did the entire Road Crew. Deafening applause followed and we waited for the encores that we knew we’d get and I already knew there was no way they wouldn’t end with only one. You don’t end a gig this good without a little something Xtra. Sav again came out front before WL&HC to say "hey you guys have been really fantastic thankyou very much indeed". "When Love & Hate Collide" was again encore #1 and sounded mighty fine with loud singing. The crowd were almost taking a breather before things got hot again with that familiar question… Joe "OK that’s about it but I’ve just got one thing left to say...Do Ya Wanna Get Rocked?" "Let's Get Rocked" Cue jumping, screaming and shouting. A very cool ending but instead of taking their bows they were off stage very fast as soon as the song ended. No need to wait so see if we wanted more - they already knew but we hailed them back anyway. LOUD cheering followed and back they came. Time to get… "Wasted". Joe "OK we’re going back to something from our first album" Cue riffing by Phil. The sweat continues to flow. So cool to hear this in London again after hearing it in 1999. It goes without saying by now that the crowd were LOUD. I don’t think this show could have been any better. Even a High ‘N’ Dry side one opening or DHTH… This was a fitting end to their tour and I seriously hope will persuade them to come back for 4 or 5 gigs at the end in maybe Sep/Oct - another 4 years is simply too long. We don’t want to see substandard imitators for that long - we want the real thing. As Del Boy would say "You Know it Makes Sense" The applause at the end was deafening and once again Frank Noon (there for the last few songs) came out onto Rick’s drum riser. Joe: "You want to be in a photograph?" and we all raised our hands as Frank Noon stood on the riser and took a snap or two of them. Last words from Joe: "Thanks for being part of a great occasion". In closing I’d like to say a huge thankyou to Def Leppard & crew. Amazing. And we hope you enjoyed this show as much as we did. £26 + £16 train fare well spent. In fact £26 was a bargain…I may have been the only person on that train home (delayed in the station for 40 mins!) who looked reasonably happy - Why? - see above.
Fan Review :: by Carl Just wanted to say what a class night, 4th time from 1996 that I've seen them and it gets a better and better. Brilliant venue last night. Just like to add it was Pete Mensch you saw, he was chatting in the mixing desk whilst the stage was being prepared for the Leps, could also see him floating in the wings towards the end of the show. As ever DL rocked and I was pleasantly surprised by The Darkness after reading some of the reviews. Good fun filled rock just the squealing vocals that put me off. The songs from X fitted very well. Long Long Way To Go seemed to have a few sound problems as did Foolin' bit heavy on the bass it seemed. I didn't really care for Four Letter Word until seeing it live. Until next time...and there better be a next time sooner than 4 yrs!.
Fan Review :: by Fiona/Michelle We both enjoyed reading your review of the gig Darren. Agreed with everything. The only disappointment was no Love Bites, however Women was AWESOME! and so was Phil's bare chest! Been Leppard fans since our teens and meet up for gigs even though we live at opposite ends of the country now. Took 16 year old daughter with us, now she understands what we have been talking about for all these years! Rock Rock til you drop.
Fan Review :: by Jonathon Dinnes I was looking forward to Brixton Academy a lot for various reasons - It was the last night of the tour, and it was at another truly great venue. We arrived in Brixton after a loooooong drive at around 5pm, and I was impressed by the amount of people already queing. When doors opened I got held up collecting my ticket, but managed to squeeze to the front nonetheless. Funnily enough I ended up behind the same pair of girls I was behind at Barrowlands. (I've got loads of pics of your hair ladies!!) The support bands were solid as always, although the comedy set by The Darkness was getting a little strained by the third viewing. It was cool to see the band hanging out on the right of the stage while the support was on, that was pretty cool. When the band finally took to the stage, I was impressed with the crowd noise - again like Glasgow, much louder than Sheffield with less than half the people! It took the crowd at the front about 5/6 songs to really get into the vibe, but I didnt care cos my one wish of the night came true - they played Bringin' on the Heartbreak!!! This was truly amazing, and far and away my highlight of this show. The rest of the gig took a similar format to most shows, and the Lep didn't let us down with an amazing set. Again there was some good banter with the crowd, who were a little inconsistant, at the front at least. There was a strange mix of people, some of whom just stood there and got all p**sed off every time someone even rubbed against them! One guy in particular was being very agressive, and pushing people away if they came anywhere near! Ever been to a bloody Rock concert? Its not the bloody tellytubbies! [Webmaster: hey don't diss the Tubbies...:)] When the second phase of the show came on, I didn't really care though, and there was a good crowd around me and we all just got into the great atmosphere. Before Rock of Ages came a special moment for me, as I threw my (Scottish) flag onstage with "Barrowlands 24/2/03" written over it, and Joe picked it up and said something about it. I made a lone cheer, followed by a few thousand Londoners booing, which was pretty funny, all in good humour. after the encore, the band played Wasted again, which was superb as always. I managed to get an embarassment of riches after the show - a used drumstic and setlist. I felt pretty lucky that they played Slang at every gig I attended, and Wasted at 2 of them! This was easily one of the best gigs i've seen, and a very worthy follow up to Barrowlands. It wasn't quite up there (and i'm not saying that cos i'm from here, cos i'm about the most unpatriotic person in Scotland!!) but the difference is minimal, both gigs were f**king awesome! I was lucky enough to meet After the gig, and tour, felt a little bittersweet, cos it was all over for another few years (I hope not!). But it felt good to have been part of this tour, which basically was a rock show that outdid every other band i've ever seen. Until next time, and I very much hope next time is soon.
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Joe said "what are ya now..21?" and
Rick was again taken by surprise and almost blown back by the crowd reaction. You could hear him laughing on the mikes too. I don’t know I whether what he inhales up there is legal but he
looked happy again tonight grinning away and pounding out the beat - a true star: no one else plays drums like him and no one else can.