|
[ X UK/Irish Tour 2003 ]
|
THUR Feb 20th 2003: Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield, ENGLAND. 
[7 Pics by Paul David Drabble (Gallery).] [SETLISTS] [Soundcheck] :: Incl. Let It Go, Now, PSSOM (with Mark Zack).
Disintegrate Intro,
[The Darkness] :: Bareback (Instrumental), Black Shuck, The Best of Me, Growing On Me, Love is Only a Feeling, Get Your Hands Of My Woman, Givin' Up, Stuck In a Rut, I Believe In a Thing Called Love, Love On The Rocks (With No Ice).
External Links :: [ Venue Pic 1 2 ]
[Show Notes] :: Cap: 12,500. Att: 10,000+ Supported by Ricky Warwick & The Darkness. 'PSSOM' in the soundcheck sung (also played guitar) by Mark Zack from San Jose who won the auction to sing with the band. The money raised (£5,000) going to the HallamFM "Help a Hallam Child Toy Appeal".
Fan Review :: by Me Sheffield Got Rocked :: There's a short version of this review which sums up the show: "F**king Brilliant" - but I'll attempt to elaborate for you.. Before the gig we met up with some other fans in a pub opposite the arena: called "The Noose & Giblett Inn" (I kid you not). Whilst there the DJ started blasting out Lep tunes and the big screen showed the local TV news. Suddenly Joe appeared inside the arena with a guy who turned out to be Mark Zack - the guy who won the online auction to play with the band. They mentioned letting people know how he got on tomorrow. The next day I managed to buy the Sheffield Star hot off the presses (and get permission to take the big ad outside the shop too). After queuing for a while to get a programme and a cool White UK X t-shirt we got to our seats ready for Ricky Warwick to come out. [Ricky Warwick Opens] :: Introduced by Malvin in his cap - Being quite familiar with The Almighty, (great band - check them out), I was looking forward to seeing Ricky play live as a solo artist. Having already heard his sets from Las Vegas and San Francisco I knew he would be good. He didn't disappoint and played some great songs acoustically. Playing to almost 10,000 people must be hard but he pulled it off and many fans in the crowd i'm sure were Almighty fans or at least were aware of who he is. I've already grown to love 'The Genuine Fool' and he played that very well. He also told the Cow story about himself, Scott Gorham and Joe. A great opener to what we really came to see... [The Darkness Arrive] :: Not bad. Quite funny to watch. The singer (tried) to get the crowd to sing Happy Birthday to the drummer, Ed. They played the music really well but didn't get a big reaction. Justin's falsetto voice takes some getting used to but they are a great live band.
[Def Leppard The Main Event] :: If you saw my Review from July 2002 you'll know I was in Sheffield for the 'Feel The Noise' show, enduring 3 hours of mimed pop until Leppard came out to show them how it's done. Tonight was obviously going to be a major improvement on that eXperience...and indeed it was!
There was a great sense of anticipation in the air before the band came out. As usual the PA played 'We Will Rock You' before the Intro tape of 'Disintegrate' started and the place went wild. This was helped by having a near sold out crowd and the fact that this is the band's birthplace (well most of them..); making this a very special event. Looking around the arena it was full up save for a few seats right at the back - easily the biggest attendance on the main X tour so far. (A shame the US record company people weren't here to witness it and see the band are still worth promoting...)
'Let It Go' opened the show and the band were in full flight from the word go. Very loud, very energetic and very good. Rock ‘N Roll Def Leppard Style. After (hoping) for the next song to be track 2 from that certain 1981 album they kicked into a very cool version of 'Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)'. That was swiftly followed (without time to breathe) by 'Action'. A great start to a great gig.
Next up the first X track played was 'You’re So Beautiful' which sounded awesome - great vocals by all the band. Then came a moody and great intro into 'Hysteria' which sounded very heavy itself. The lighting effects by this time were really adding to the mood of the show. (nice one Phay). Speaking of which this stage set was slightly different to the other tour legs - a mixture of both Japan and the USA. There was only 4 banks of lights above the band and a big white X on the black section of curtain behind Rick.
A surprise next and a great one…'Slang'. And the building was shaking it was so heavy. They haven’t played this too much on the tour so far so it was great hear it - especially played this well!
Speech time again and this time Joe was alone centre stage with an acoustic guitar. His speech was talking about how much they appreciated still being able to do this in Sheffield and how much they appreciate the support of the fans throughout the 20-odd years they’ve been going. Got a great response to this. Also included a funny little bit which the Sheffield Star (see below) kindly reminded me of but they edited it. "I went to school with some of you. I got beaten up by some of you…BASTARDS! (continued on page 2)
|
