Hamilton, ON, Canada - Media Review Quotes

By Vickie Young

The band quickly ripped into action with several chart making hits, including "Rocket," "Foolin'," "Animal," "Love Bites," and "Let's Get Rocked". Elliott proved to be an infectious frontman while encouraging fans to wave their arms in the air and summoning cheers. Nevertheless, it became evident at a few points during the set that the higher registers were getting away from him. He would choose to let the band shoulder the reaching vocal and bring it home with his smoky husky tones. Regardless of the dynamic used to pump out the hits, fans were so enthralled they soaked up every single lick with nothing but love.

Def Leppard hit their sweet spot for the evening by performing a full band acoustical melody. An equipment case was placed in the front of the stage while each member joined in partway to deliver a five song layering of "Where Does Love Go When it Dies," "Now," "When Love and Hate Collide," "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad," and "Two Steps Behind." Elliott's vocals shined among the collective harmonies, while Allen played the maracas with a grin that was so contagious you couldn't help but smile.

On the home stretch, fans were now dripping in sweat yet totally unaffected as they welcomed the next round of songs with the same amount of 'hysteria', including the hit… "Hysteria". "Armageddon It" followed suit, and "Photograph" garnered huge cheers as a slide show played on multiple digital screens of the band in their heyday. The transformation of 25 years erupted in some giggles on the overuse of hairspray and leather.

By Lithium Magazine 2012.

By Laura Wiebe

But the sheen, as it turned out, was just an essential part of the show, a lingering reminder of the glitz, glamour and excess that bands like Def Leppard came to represent a couple of decades or so ago. I was so close I could smell the incense drifting from Rick Allen's drum riser and could tell how much and well the guys have aged. But their vintage (more than 30 years now) hardly echoes in the sound or magnetism of their performance, except maybe in a general sense of ease and expertise.

Like Poison, Def Leppard gave us an instrumental break and a (very) brief drum solo, and did their fair share of rocking out, but we also heard a lot of ballads amidst a setlist of historical hits. Still, how could you really argue with song choices like "Two Steps Behind" when it gave you all five musicians' perched on a trunk at the edge of the crowd, swaying together in a good-natured groove? Beginning with "Undefeated" and "Rocket," the Brits built toward climactic renditions of "Photograph" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me." Then after a short encore-ish pause they closed with "Rock of Ages," politely saying good night, shaking raised hands as they left the stage, and letting the credits role.

The bands were solid, the songs mostly classic, and in the end, I had "nothin' but a good time". (oh, the cheese!) Was my pleasure amplified by nostalgia, my proximity to the stage, and the enthusiasm of those around me? Absolutely. But if you didn't give up on Def Leppard in the early 80s, when they left the NWOBHM behind for MTV, it's hard to see how this time-warp tour could disappoint.

By Hellbound 2012.

Read the full review/11 photos at - hellbound.ca

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