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[ X UK Tour 2003 - London 2 ]
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FRI Oct 31st 2003: Carling Apollo, Hammersmith, London, ENGLAND. 
[2 Pics by Jenny/2 by DLUK/3 by Mar (Gallery).] (continued) The best Lep show I've seen but now would it really be over? I looked at Sav and Viv and they went right off to the left for a guitar change - interesting....Phil changed his guitar too, more interesting.....Joe stays at the mike, hmmm. OK Wasted it is......no, Joseph says "OK so it's the last night of the tour, Hmmm what shall we play? two words"...VERY INTERESTING. Joe then says "OK I've got two words for you Hammersmith....Brian May!!" Jaws hit the floor including my own. And then the Guitar God himself emerges from stage right (as we look at it) clad in black sweat pants and white striped t-shirt and it could have been 1973 (yes it's been 30 years since Queen's first album!) and Mr May doesn't look any different from afar. It goes without saying that there were gasps, smiles and cheering all around. Special Guests onstage with Lep are extremely rare: in fact only about 10 people maybe have ever got onstage with them. 20 years ago this man did just that playing "Travelin' Band" in LA, the band also played "Now I'm Here" with him at this venue in 1987. Anyway! getting back to the show......
Just when you think this band can't get any better they go and surprise you. I think I can safely say this week has been my best as a Def Leppard Fan. Or at least right up there with the week I first heard Animal and then bought the vinyl of Hysteria.
Walking home for 3 miles through town in driving rain couldn't dampen my spirits. Side one of "High 'n' Dry" and Brian May onstage in the space of 4 days! Good Lord!.
Support Band Reviews :: by Me Ricky Warwick (25mins): Ricky gave a great start to the evening's entertainment again with a short but satisfying set of acoustic songs. "Church of Paranoia" stood out especially. The new songs that followed (not played in Feb) were very good, especially "Mysterioso". The song came after Ricky's intro where he said "some drugs are bad for you, some are just f**king great" hmmm. And then the first BIG cheer of the night accompanies the arrival onstage of one Vivian Campbell who plays electrically on "Three Sides To Every Story". One of Ricky's better songs and if you haven't heard this version you are missing out. Viv's guitar seemed to be up very loud and his solo work was tremendous. They seemed to be having a real laugh at the end joking and doing mass riffing to finish the song. Ricky played one more song before a very short gap and the next support. MusT (35mins): For some reason, maybe the view and different venue, I really liked this band tonight. Their sound was great, heavy and tight. The band can really play well. The guitarist might look like he belongs to an Indie band but he can play some fat, meaty riffs. Very impressive. "One Night Stand" kicked off their set and they played about 5 songs. Some titles I forgot and I don't think were on the album so they might be new songs - although I only know the album via 30 sec sound clips. The last 3 songs especially were really good. The singer didn't engage in too much banter with the crowd, just a "we are MusT" & one thing about the meaning of a song. Probably a wise move for a support band. They don't have any Joe stories like Ricky to use as help. I have to say that the last song "Heartbreaker" already a favourite of mine from the song clips (see main page for details) was spine tingling. Just a great rock song and an awesome riff. Didn't have enough change to buy the CD though. (BTW It seems the band split up soon after this tour with Lep).
Fan Review :: by Jayne Portsmouth to London – can’t take much longer than an hour? Wrong if travelling by coach – it took us nearly 4 hours to get from Portsmouth to the Q at the Apollo and we were tired and fed up when we got there! Poor Nat wasn’t feeling that well either – she’d shouted and sang so loudly at the other gigs that she had virtually lost her voice! We weren’t too far back in the Q though – although I didn’t expect to get to the front this time – maybe 2nd row if we were lucky! We were all dressed up for this one in black velvet, lace, leather and PVC!!! Well it was Halloween after all! Met some awesome people in the Q and we all kept each other’s places for various comfort and keeping warm breaks. Never mind the cold, the doors would open at 6.30 – earlier than the other gigs! We were wrong! They kept us waiting until just gone 7 – and they opened 3 sets of doors. Our set got jammed and I saw loads of people enter the door next to us that were way behind us in the Q – I moved quicker than I’d ever done before – left poor Nat behind – but I was like a woman possessed he he!! Got stopped by two guards for running but made like the Charge of the Light Brigade for the front row. When I got there, there was one very small space in between a friend of Rick Allen’s that I recognised from the Meet n Greet and another girl. I asked politely “can I just squeeze in here?” and he said that I could and he’d been saving it for me and wanted to watch the gig from the back. That meant I was next to Maria – another friend of the Lepps – great girl – who told me there was going to be a special guest on later. I then turned round to look for Nat and waved frantically as she came bounding over and also got the front next to me – we were RIGHT in front of Joe – couldn’t believe it – last gig – you could feel the atmosphere in the air even before it all started – this was definitely going to be a good one! Nat spotted Brian May by the sound desk and so we knew there was going to be a track with him at some point – so not so much of a surprise as some got – but still bloody awesome! Finally, Ricky Warwick came onto the stage after the usual introduction to all of the bands from the wonderful Malvin “Stumpus Maximus” Mortimer. Ricky was excellent again – great vocals, great musician – although I still say ‘bring back The Almighty’. MusT – I was SO excited at seeing this band – they are just awesome. LOVE them. They started with my fave One Night Stand and then went on to a newer song As We Stand On You – love this track too – during which the lead singer, Dave Ireland, saw some hands outstretched on the right hand side of the crowd and promptly reached out to touch them - and then jumped into the ‘pit’, danced and jumped his way along it, narrowly avoiding the security guards’ toes, and jumped back up onto the stage at our end. Amazing! They went on to sing Freechild next and I think this was followed by Very Wicked. The next track was introduced by Dave as “I wrote this when I was feeling underrated” and is called Underrated, followed by another fave of mine called Pleasure Crush – GREAT track. Only 2 more tracks left to go – these were Inter-Revolution which always sees Dave taking off his waistcoat, loosening his tie and pulling his shirt out – get it on! They ended with a great track from their CD Heartbreaker. I would have been heartbroken myself if it wasn’t for Nat – who has got us tickets to see them in Portsmouth in 2 weeks – yeah! Amazing band vocally, musically, visually – they send shivers all over me every time I see them. Hope they keep Myke Gray on as bass player – he is full of energy and SO into the music!!! Charlie, the other guitarist and Rueben, the drummer, are also brilliant! Couldn’t believe it was now time to see the Lepps for the last time on this tour – where did the time go between waiting in the Q and this point? I was sorely hoping for the High n Dry set but knew we weren’t going to get it and I have to admit to feeling very disappointed – but not for long – because, although the set list was exactly the same as Bournemouth the night before – with one MAJOR addition – Brian May – joining them for the final encore singing Queen’s Tie Your Mother Down (listed as Yo Momma on the set list!) – the whole set sounded bigger and better than it had done on any other gig – and THAT’s saying something! I knew this crowd were going to be the absolute loudest – and if ever anyone has to choose just ONE Def Leppard gig to go to, it just has to be London. London – you truly ROCK! What a crowd – what a band – what a night! The sound has been good for every gig – but this one just topped the lot – and I didn’t have ringing ears afterwards either! And as if it couldn’t get better, Nat asks Viv – whilst he’s on stage playing – to take his shirt off. “You take yours off” he says! But he soon obliged (do it more often Viv – you look great!) and looked for Nat’s seal of approval – cool! I was in for a treat as well when Joe was singing Let’s Get Rocked and the whole audience joined in (as they did for EVERY song). Then it was at THAT point in the song and there was Joe, bending down right in front of me – 3 feet away – eye to eye contact – and he said “I suppose a rock’s outta the question”? I nearly DIED – you made my evening Joe – cheers! It totally made up for not getting to meet you. Track of the whole evening – in fact for the whole tour that I saw (5 gigs) – was Rocket. But in London it was extended with We Will Rock You – great touch guys! Then it was all over and I didn’t want it to be over! I’ve had the time of my live this week – met band members for the first time in 21 years of being a HUGE fan, including meeting Rick and his lovely wife Lauren by winning a Meet n Greet ebay auction, got piccies and autographs, added another great band – MusT – to my list, sang myself horse (well Nat did – literally!), had a laugh with a great friend (thanks so much Nat) on bloody awful coach journeys, stayed in one hotel that was definitely WAY too posh for us, and met some really wonderful people – from the Def Lepp Forum, other Lepp fans from the UK, Sweden and the US - and I hope some of them will keep in touch and remain friends. I didn’t want to go home – I’ve been SO depressed since! But I just hope the next time they gig won’t be in 4 years time! Come back soon guys – you deserve a break – but we miss you already!.
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Brian May goes to the front center of the stage and before you can say "Now I'm Here" he's starting the riff to the Queen classic "Tie Your Mother Down"
WOW! Now way back when, I was into Queen before Lep and considered them my favourite band, they played their last show in 1986 so I never did see them. Picture the scene: My now favourite band Def Leppard onstage before me, and Queen's guitar maestro is also there
and they are playing one of Queen's best live songs: Historical significance factor - HIGH. Needless to say the place went "bloody mental". I don't think they could have picked a better way to end 22 UK dates in 1 year and the English speaking portion of the tour.
The band and Brian stay to get a huge cheer and the night ends in glory. I would sum it all up with one phrase or line but there's nothing appropriate enough.