Aberdeen, MD - Fan Reviews
Fan Review - By twice-baked
All I have to say that if this place held 6000+ it was far over the limit. I was talking to a member of the crew who said in fact that over 10000+ tickets were sold for this venue, and that it was considered a sell out. Def Leppard came out with Action, Which sounded great live. All of the other songs sounded great as well. Joe had mentioned the bombings in London and said it was nice to be with "allies" here in the United States.
Rock On was a bit interesting. Joe basically sang the first minute or two singing to a backing track with band off to the side getting dried off from sweat. Then they all assumed there rolls yet again and came in with the chorus. If this is what's expected from YEAH then I will be buying immediately. They truly Leppardized it. Over all, great show, Good DL fan turn out. Actually they sounded the best I have ever heard them. Oh and after 15 years of trying, I finally got front row!!.
Fan Review - By Debbie C
Well, I can tell you one thing. There were three very happy Def Leppard fans who saw this show Friday night. My husband Joe and I have been fans of the band for so long and this concert was special since we took our two year old son Steve to the show (this was his first concert). All of us had a fantastic time and the band really rocked in spite of the fact that Joe Elliott's voice was a bit rough. They did a lot of the Clark family favorites like Rock Of Ages, Hysteria, Pour Some Sugar On Me and Bringin' On The Heartbreak to name a few.
And it was also great since the three of us had backstage passes and were able to meet three guys of the band - Phil, Vivian and Rick Allen. Phil signed our copy of the Rock Of Ages CD collection and Rick Allen gave Joe's and my son Steve a drumstick so we did fare very well. All in all a good time was had by one happy Def Leppard loving family. On the next tour Joe and I are going to bring our daughter Rhiannon with us and Steve since she will be old enough to go at that time (she's three months old).
Fan Review - By Gwen
Aberdeen MD - Well, traffic was horrendous, which meant that I got into earshot as the band was finishing "Let's Get Rocked." I thought that was about the 4th song in, but I checked the official setlist and it was only the 2nd, so luckily I only missed "Action." Ripken Stadium seems nice and new. (Although those directing traffic left a lot to be desired.) I confess I didn't notice much about it, though, because I could see them onstage as soon as I got in and I did my best not to take my eyes off of them as I mowed people down to get to the lawn area. The stage was set up in the outfield grass, so those who stayed in the seats were pretty far away. I got to the grass, finally, and managed to squeeze my way to what would be about the 25th row or so if there had been chairs. After being in the 15th, 10th, and 12th rows for other shows, this was not my best vantage point, but it was still a good show!
DL played first, so this was a different show for me because I was seeing them in daylight instead of a dark arena. They seemed energetic, and at one point I saw Phil and Viv laughing, so they seemed to be having a good time. Joe had a pretty good spring in his step this time too, bounding around a lot. His voice was in good form (thank goodness for concerts after a day off!) The crowd was enthusiastic, although there are plenty of those people who stand still for songs like "Promises" and then explode for "Photograph." With double bill shows, there will always be some fans of the other act that are just there to secure a place up front. The crowd was of very mixed ages, from kids to what seemed like a lot of people in their twenties through someone who had to be a grandmother by now.
Overall, though, the crowd was pretty cool. The setlist was pure hits, so that kept the crowd engaged. Many elements were the same as the other show I saw this tour (Pittsburgh). They did the same thing with "Rock On" with Joe singing alone until the rest came crashing out to finish it up. The commentary before "Rock of Ages" was the same too - 'they never thought they'd say this, but here is the title track to their new album, ROA....' I had fun saying it right along with him! Joe did also comment that these kinds of shows were interesting because they got all sweaty and then bitten by mosquitos all during the same performance! And in a first for me, Sav grabbed a mic and thanked the crowd at the end of the encore. I have usually only seen him wave his thanks. Overall, it was a good, energetic show. The crowd had fun, the guys seemed to have fun, and it was worth the traffic. Well, when isn't it?!?!?.
Fan Review - By Truffing
Well, the show was excellent. They truly were and are 1 kick ass band. I give a lot of credit to Rick Allen. I'd love to hang out with him one day, but that'd prolly never happen. I give him a lot of respect for continuing his career after his unfortunate mishap, years ago. And to adapt to a new style of playing with his foot pedal array, etc......all I can say is WOW. What dedication. A-1 in my book. Even tho these guys are aging, heh...like us all, I'm amazed on how well they performed Friday Night @ Ripken Stadium. All their old hits sounded almost as well as they did them years ago. Joe Elliott was awesome as were the rest of the band. True Professionals. If I had the time, I'd follow them around to their next concert.
Fan Review - By Boz
Ripken Stadium, Aberdeen Maryland July 8, 2005: Def Leppard came on at 7:15pm to what eventually became a packed house. Parking at Ripken Stadium was terrible as the venue didn't have half the parking necessary for the show. Beer was easy to get and only 5 dollars!
Beautiful weather too, with a lot of folks arriving early in the set. The band was as tight as I've ever seen them, and Joe's voice was great, especially considering the number of dates they are playing this summer. Here is the set list: (see above).
This is the 7th time I've seen Leppard, (I'm 27 years old) and sometimes they will change the tempo of certain songs. This time around they slowed down "Sugar," "Animal," and "Photograph," much like the Adrenalize tour. When I saw them on the Slang, Euphoria, and X tours, those songs had a quicker tempo. Sounds good either way. They did the extended version of Rocket, but with no "My Generation" or "Whole Lotta Love" piece in the middle. Joe mentioned it was nice to see so many "Jacks" (referring to Union Jack Flags) in the audience in light of what happened in London that morning.
They crowd (at least in the front) was the best I'd seen at a Leppard show, with a ton of younger faces mixed in. "Rock On" begins with a tape playing in the background and Joe singing, but the band comes on and finishes the song. Looks like a break for Rick, much like they do typically with "Two Steps Behind" normally. To my suprise, this song got a really EXCELLENT response! I hope that the entire covers album is that good. Excellent show by Lep, Bryan Adams sounded good too. The only problem is about 2/5 of the crowd left after Def Leppard left the stage.
Fan Review - By Pamela
Aberdeen rocked! The guys looked happy and healthy. The crowd was just as big as Lancaster. The weather was beautiful and I managed to get front row dead center again. Joe laughed and said “There you are again” when I held up my sign. Yep, the same sign I hold up at every show. Call me a dork! But it paid off, when I met him after the show he said “Your sign makes me giggle”. So he remembered who I was and that makes it all worth it!
All the guys looked great. Vivian and Phil were goofing off with one another, Sav looked awesome in all white, Rick smiled behind the drums, taking in all the action. Joe took full control of the audience, as he always does. Did anyone else notice his Hysteria sneakers? Look for them in one of my photos.
During the show, I threw a t-shirt up to Joe and he caught it as he was singing with Phil. I didn’t even think about taking a picture until the girl behind me said “ Hurry, take a picture of him holding your shirt” I managed to get two shots and they are amazing! So, whoever you were, thanks for saying something.
I was fortunate enough to meet Joe after the show. It was nice, because it was only me and him. It wasn't hurried and rushed. He signed a photo I brought with me. It was a picture my son took of my tattoo. Back in 2002 when I met Joe in NYC, I had him sign my shoulder, which I then had tattooed. When he saw it, he asked me to turn around so he could see it, he smiled and laughed. I will never forget those dimples.
I gave him a hug and kiss and thanked him for taking the time. He had known it was my last show and said “Don’t worry we’ll be back” I replied “And I’ll be waiting” As I walked to my car, I thought to myself just how lucky I was to have met him the way that I did. No other fans around, no security, no road crew, just me and him. It was very private and very special. A wonderful way to end the tour!.
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