Oklahoma City, OK - Media Review Quotes

By Steven Anthony

As the temperature settled into the low 80s and a full moon rose over the massive stage of the Zoo Amp, Def Leppard finally hit the stage. Rising from a massive, two-platform setup, the band kicked off a nearly two hour set with Undefeated from last year's Mirrorball record. The band - with original members Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Rick Savage and Rick Allen along with longtime guitarist Vivian Campbell - sounded phenomenal, bringing their biggest hits to life for the massive crowd.

Joe Elliott's voice is in fantastic shape, still possessing his recognizable tone and range. When paired with great harmony work from the rest of the band, the songs sounded exactly like they do on record. The Hysteria LP (which just celebrated a 25th birthday) was well represented, with the band playing 8 of the record's 12 songs. All of the hits were there (Rocket, Love Bites, Hysteria, etc.) and the band even pulled out the deeper cut Gods of War which went over well with the audience.

About halfway through the show the band stripped things down for an acoustic medley, mixing together parts of You Can't Always Get What You Want, When Love and Hate Collide, Two Steps Behind and a few other songs. The five members surrounded each other while sitting on top of a few instrument cases, relying just on their musical talent and less on the massive stage production they had going on. It was a nice break in the set and the audience ate it up.

The band closed the main set with Photograph and the always classy Pour Some Sugar On Me, which inspired more stripper dancing and boob-flashing than you'll see at just about any other concert. Pour Some Sugar On Me easily got the loudest reaction of the night and the sleazy, sticky stripper-groove remains one of the most recognizable 80s tracks around.

The band came back out for a single encore which fittingly, was Rock of Ages. The ode to rock and roll sounded as fiery as it ever has, with the added voices of several thousand in the crowd creating the perfect atmosphere for the show to end on.

There's something to be said for any band that has maintained the ability to tour and still draw in crowds like Def Leppard and Poison have. Say what you will about the music, but the two bands have their fans (there are a lot of them) and they know how to put on a show.

By Antiquiet 2012.

By David Huff

The real draw of the night, without a doubt, was Def Leppard. They were the absolute kings of pop metal in the '80s. Two of their albums, 1983's Pyromania and its follow up, 1987's Hysteria, earned these melodic British musicians the distinction of being one of only five rock bands to have two original studio albums sell over 10 million copies in America. Tonight, 11 songs from those two epic records would contribute to half the tunes on the evening's set list.

Tonight's show was also an ode, sort-to-speak, to the genius of guitarist Steve Clark, who died in 1990 from alcohol and drug abuse. The music he helped co-write appeared on 17 of the 23 songs performed this evening. That in no way is a knock on his replacement, Vivian Campbell, who has been with the band over two decades now. It does reveal, however, how deeply felt his loss was by the other band members when it came to his creative input. He was a key contributor to Def Leppard's musical brilliance that dominated both MTV and radio until his unfortunate death.

With a walkway from the main stage protruding several feet out into the crowd, it brought the band up close and personal with the audience in more ways than one. Singer Joe Elliott, guitarist Phil Collen and bassist Rick Savage took full advantage of the situation. They all took turns 'walking the plank' into an endless sea of outstretched arms. Elliott in particular enjoyed singing on the extension, leading the appreciative audience in numerous sing-a-longs of the Def Leppard hits he helped create.

As the band came out for the encore, "Rock of Ages", the second full moon of August proved to be a very bright beacon in this very starry, starry night. The rare occurrence also served as a reminder to just how brilliant the music they heard tonight truly is. And yes, it's a fact that a great number of people in attendance tonight were not born when Def Leppard first started 'bringing on the heartbreak'. By night's end, however, the twinkle in their parent's eyes had definitely grown up, and into, the same screaming adults mom and dad once were. It was a blue moon indeed!

By Jam Magazine Online 2012.

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