Montreal, QC, Canada - Media Review Quotes
By Jordan Zivitz
When Elliott stayed in his husky lower register, his shortcomings disappeared. The party-prepped reading of Let's Get Rocked (knowingly hammy even in 1992) has endured, Pour Some Sugar on Me swaggered as always, and he earned his prizefighter's strut in the opening Undefeated, a studio track from last year's mostly live Mirror Ball collection. Still, when Def Leppard dubbed this the Rock of Ages Tour, the implication is that this is the We Know You Don't Want to Hear the New Stuff Tour. If the 9,368 in attendance had been asked their preference between the pristine run-through of the prosaic It's All About Believin' and the scratchy Women (okay, we get it - Hysteria has sold enough copies to bury entire villages), a show of hands would have clinched the result. And considering how forgiving those fans were on Monday, their opinion mattered: the audience deserved all of Elliott's genuine praise, lifting the show far higher than it would have gone otherwise.
The mid-set acoustic breather was an undeniable highlight, with all five band members perched on a road case at the lip of the catwalk. Sections of Now, Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad, Two Steps Behind and others were stitched together so artfully, the patchwork transcended the mechanical nature of medleys. It wouldn't have outlasted its welcome at twice the length, especially since Elliott was a rock throughout. Later on, even when he faltered (and not just in terms of technical limitations - the entire quintet snoozed through Hysteria), the sheer number of blockbusters in the home stretch was a reminder of the catalogue's strength.
Whether Elliott's voice is shot or whether he was having a rough night is a question for someone who has seen multiple dates on this tour. Judging by a perceptible improvement late in the set and the fine performances preserved on Mirror Ball, I'd lean toward the second option. All the same, there was an unfortunate poignancy to Photograph, with snapshots of Def Leppard from years past playing out across the screens as Elliott sang about trying to get a hold on the intangible.
By Montreal Gazette 2012.
Read the full review at - montrealgazette.com
By Uncle Ronny
"Let's Get Rocked" was an appropriate anthem for the 80s rock revival concert at the Bell Centre featuring Def Leppard, Poison, and Lita Ford. In a day and age where dance music and auto-tune have conquered the radio airwaves did nearly 9,400 people turn out to rekindle with music that was mainstream over 25 years ago. Def Leppard's frontman Joe Elliott was quick to point out that 2012 marked the 25th anniversary of their commercial mammoth Hysteria being released. Not surprisingly, the album had no fewer than eight songs featured during the show including perennial favourites Pour Some Sugar on Me, Animal, Loves Bites and Rocket. The latter, played immediately following opener Undefeated, started showing the singer's struggles with higher notes. It would continue throughout the evening but luckily the British outfit's core strength, the accompanying vocal harmonies by other bandmembers, provided a solid foundation for Elliott to fall back on even when he stumbled.
Regardless of Elliott's struggles, Def Leppard still knows how to put on a good rock show with the right dose of rock stances, visuals and audience interaction to keep the hordes satisfied. We even had the signature Union Jack curtain dropping at the beginning of the show and hydraulic rising platform for THE ultimate rock god intro thrown in for good measure. Even with all these theatrics, it was the stripped-down acoustic mini-set on the catwalk with all five members sitting on what looked liked a storage piece for equipment that gave us the highlight of the evening. The band seemed to be breezing though the Where Does Love Go When It Dies/ Now / When Love and Hate Collide / Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad / Two Steps Behind medley, and Joe Elliott's vocal woes suddenly disappeared.
Other highlights included my favourite Def Leppard song Photograph with the backdrop depicting photos of the band throughout the years and Gods of War that provided the political statement moment of the night. The band was tight the entire evening and it's still quite remarkable to see drummer Rick Allen doing his thing after all these years with only one arm!
By Rontreal 2012.
By Sandra Godin
"British cult band Def Leppard has injected his old powerful rock in the veins of thousands of fans gathered at the Bell Centre Monday night, celebrating the Quebec public with the 25th anniversary of the release of the Hysteria album, their album most popular career."
By Journel De Montreal 2012.
Read the full review at - journaldemontreal.com
share this page:
explore def leppard tour history
