Omaha, NE - Media Reviews

Fans don't stop believin' in classic rock By Niz Proskocil

Many rock bands from the '70s and '80s continue to launch successful concert tours without their original members.

Fans will show their support even when the lead singer is no longer part of the group.

After a 25-minute intermission, '80s hard-rock band Def Leppard took the stage. The group wasted no time firing up fans with a career-spanning collection of arena-rock anthems.

The band led off with "Let's Get Rocked," which featured a half-dozen flames shooting from the stage. The fist-pumping crowd danced, cheered and sang along during the bulk of the band's performance.

Sunday's show included several songs the British rockers played at their concert last year at Lincoln's Haymarket Park. "Let It Go," "Foolin'" and "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" were among the crowd-pleasers in the group's 90-minute set.

Though both Journey and Def Leppard first hit the charts decades ago, the arena wasn't packed solely with Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers.

With their music now a staple of classic-rock radio, and with a resurgence in '80s pop culture, the crowd included a number of tweens and teens who knew all the words to songs just like their parents next to them.

Band members may get old, but their music lives on. And for the 11,000-plus fans at Sunday's concert, that's something to celebrate.

By Omaha World-Herald 2006.

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