Dublin, Ireland - Media Reviews

By Robert O Connor

With the crowd gleaming up to the nines from Cooper's performance, it's time for the Mighty Leppard to take the stage and show all the naysayers out there why they can headline above any other act in the world. With a striking new stage setup, Leppard emerge triumphantly to rapturous cheering from the now packed O2 arena. Starting with 'Undefeated', one of the three news songs that'll be on their forthcoming live album, Mirrorball, the band are on fire. Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Rick Savage, Vivian Campbell and thunder God himself, Mr.Rick Allen are all at the top of their game, adorned by glittering gloves, mike stands, headphones - the works. 'Action' and 'Let's Get Rocked' follow, sending the crowd into a sing-along frenzy before older fans are treated to the incredible 'Foolin'. 'Make Love Like A Man' and the iconic 'Love Bites' drive the point home that Leppard can damn well do anything they please because this is a band with more hits per album than most others can achieve over a whole career. Sav's now standard bass solo/intro for the bands cover of David Essex's 'Rock On' has to be noted as a highlight.

A duelling guitar solo between Vivian and Phil follows; before the pace is slowed down for acoustic renditions of 'Two Steps Behind' and 'Bringing on the Heartbreak'. Steve Clark's incendiary 'Switch 625' launches the band back into hard rock mode before and extended performance of 'Rocket' is unleashed in all it's pounding drum glory. 'Hysteria', 'Armageddon It' and 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' nail the set down before Leppard brings things near close with the almighty 'Rock of Ages'. Of course they do return for an obligatory encore, performing one of their biggest Irish hits, 'When Love and Hate Collide' which goes down a treat before stunning die-hard fans with a final, hell-raising crack at 'Wasted' from On Through The Night.

By TicketsThere 2011 - (see link for full review/pics).

Read the full review/6 photos at - ticketsthere.com

By Ian Routledge

Another night, another threesome. After jumping on a plane at Newcastle, it's Dublin and Def Leppard, Alice Cooper and Thin Lizzy.

Def Leppard were formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Despite adversity, original guitarist Steve Clark sadly passing away in 1991, and an horrific car accident which cost drummer Rick Allen his left arm in 1984, Def Leppard have sold more than 65 million albums worldwide, and have two albums with RIAA diamond certification, Pyromania and Hysteria. They are one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling over 10 million copies in the U.S. The band were ranked #31 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and ranked #70 in "100 Greatest Artists Of All Time". Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott (vocals), Phil Collen (guitar), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Rick Savage (bass guitar), and Rick Allen (drums). At nineteen years, this is the band's longest-standing line-up. Leppard are releasing a new live album 'Mirrorball' later this month. They then play Download Festival at Donnington before heading to the US to do a multi-date headline tour with fellow rockers Heart.

For anyone that has been to a Def Leppard show, you know what you get. It's always a slick well produced gig, and this was no different, starting with a new studio track 'Undefeated'. Although promoting a new album, 'Undefeated' is the only new track in the set, 'Mirrorball' being a live album taken from recordings made in 2008/9. So, after the initial new song, we then get to rock to the cover of Sweet's 'Action'. Although Leppard have never been a band for great guitar solos, they have always included a Rick Savage bass solo. Tonight is no different, and it leads into another cover, David Essex's 1973 hit 'Rock On'. It may have been my imagination, but was I the only person in my section that new the words to this? Maybe I was just the only one old enough to remember it!! Acoustic versions of 'Two Steps Behind' and 'Bringing on The Heartache' take the pace of the show down notch. A much extended version of 'Rocket' starts to highlight something to me. Joe Elliott, at this point in the show, seemed to be spending quite a bit of time off stage. I may be totally wrong, but it may be that he needs to rest his voice mid-set. Anyway I digress, back to the music, and we're back to Leppard's tried and tested hits in 'Hysteria', 'Armageddon It', 'Photograph', 'Pour Some Sugar on Me', and to finish 'Rock of Ages'. Two encore songs of 'When Love and Hate Collide' and their very first single from 1979 'Wasted', to complete a great evening. There is no doubt that Def Leppard are still one of the best live acts around. Although later albums have never hit the heights of 'Hysteria' and 'Adrenalize', the songs from those albums will keep this live act going for some years to come, of that there is no doubt.

By UK Concert Reviews 2011.

Read the full review/11 photos at - ukconcertreviews.wordpress.com

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