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[ X UK/Irish Tour 2003 Page 4 ]
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THUR Feb 27th 2003: BriXton Carling Academy, London, ENGLAND. 
[3 Pics by Jane/1 by Gwyn Cole (Gallery).]
Media Review :: by James Ritter :: [ Link Back ] When did gigs stop being fun?? Your writer went to see Oasis at Finsbury Park over the summer and found the whole experience ugly, boorish and ultimately very boring…is this what rock ‘n’ roll is about these days?? Is this the sum of our progression?? Hold the phone!! Jaded gig-goer has epiphany, of all things, at a Def Leppard concert, of all places!!! Sadly, it wasn’t the Lep-sters who inspired him to write his first review for ages, but four young men from the UK who go by the name of The Darkness. Take all of the best but most-neglected elements from rock history: bandanas, guitar solos (lots of them), high fives, men sounding like women when they sing, ass-shaking; add them all together with youth, spunk and a REAL sense of humour and you get the most refreshing gig experience since Guns ‘N’ Roses went all pompous on our asses. Yes, The Darkness are camp, silly and quite possibly taking the piss but at the same time they can solo like Satan himself blessed them with the skills of Eddie Van Halan, they know how to put on a SHOW (High point of set: the singer walking through the crowd on the shoulders of his roadie WHILST soloing and then taking a fag of an audience member…and continuing to solo) and they have the tunes; all of which, by the way, sound like they would have made it on to ‘Appetite For Destruction’: ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’, ‘Love On The Rocks (With No Ice)’ and the band’s own ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’, ‘Love Is Only A Feeling’. If you ever sit at home and long for the good old days of stadium rock, bands that have more than one idea for their songs and leaving a gig with a smile on your face, then The Darkness are for you. All of this return to ‘classic rock’ traditions should have made Def Leppard prepare for a second wind as kings of rock in the UK…and when they stomp onstage in a blur of big lights and (still quite) big hair, you could almost believe it’s true…the bassist has an eighties style headset and his mum’s blouse on, the one-arm drummer plays drum solos (how??) and Joe Elliott…ummm….looks a bit too much like Widow Twanky after extra Ginsters. Yes, time has been hard on the once stadium filling lads from Sheffield, and whilst they do manage to pull off the moves and please their (now pretty old) audience, you get the feeling that maybe they shouldn’t be up there…especially when the predictable ‘Here’s a song from our new album!!’ brings barely disguised groans from the crowd and the lack of hits frankly brings your writer down to earth with a large bump. So, rock music might be back, but let the lesson learned from tonight’s show be: don’t take yourselves too seriously and rock is never, ever out of the question. James Ritter © Dripfed 2003.
Media Review :: by J Ritchie First up, former Almighty front man Ricky Warwick, who was playing a solo acoustic spot. Not bad but just like a pub singer really – nothing special and not a tune remained in my head after the gig. His debut album maybe worth a look as Joe Elliott is listed as the producer. The Darkness have been the object of much hype in the rock press - a camp heavy metal band as Classic Rock magazine named them! They started off with a Quo like boogie riff before the vocalist, dressed in a fetching pink jumpsuit, started his highly-strung vocals. A mixture of Geddy Lee meets Jon Anderson with the stage moves of the late, great Freddie Mercury! The music is classic heavy rock but the thing that will make or break the band are the highly pitched vocals - hard to explain unless you hear them first hand. Not a bad set but those vocals are something else. Def Leppard took to the stage in a mass of lights and a packed audience full of loyal fans. ‘Let It Go’ started off their set in fine style. All the classics were there including ‘Photograph’, ‘Foolin’, ‘Rocket’, ‘Promises’, ‘Bringin’ On The Heartbreak’ and ‘ Animal’. Even the classic Sweet cover ‘Action’ was aired and boy does the band rock out on this! Newer tracks are represented by ‘Now’ and the forthcoming UK single ‘Long Long Way To Go’. The acoustic spot featured ‘Two Steps Behind’, which has become a firm favourite from the ‘Retroactive’ album. A great concert - the heaviest I’ve ever seen them play - with a good mix of songs. Quality melodic rock from a band that just gets better with age - come back soon! © J Ritchie 2003 :: (Link expired).
Media Aftershow Story :: by Ray :: [ Link Back ] Def Leppard live at Brixton Academy 27 Feb 2003. Where as Portsmouth show had only 20 guests after the show and free drinks for all tonight there is 200+ guests here but it is only free drinks if you have the correct wristband so cheers to Mercury Records for sorting mine out. A bit thin on the ground celeb wise. Most of Def Leppard stayed in their dressing rooms apart from singer Joe Elliot who was chatty to all but his security guy kept a close eye on things. Headbangers Ball babe Vanessa Warwick was there with hubby Ricky Warwick. All of support band The Darkness were beaming with the news they are to support Iron Maiden at Donington Park. It finished at 1am and was a pretty good party.
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