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Band:Def Leppard
Album:Yeah!
Record Company:Universal
Writer: Mark Carras
Photos: Live Photos from this show
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So how is a show with two 80’s has-beens you ask? Well, the 20,000 seat venue was pretty much sold out, so you can kindly shut the fuck up about my 80’s buttrock, thank you! These 80’s has-beens kicked some major ass at their sold out show too, and some of the younger bands the other writers love to praise so much on this site could learn a lesson or two from them. It started with Journey. Now the original singer hasn’t been with the band for almost a decade, but a blind man would have had no clue that night. With Journey using so many background vocals, you could not hear a single bit of difference. Now Steve Perry’s replacement Steve Augeri wasn’t there tonight, either. So you would expect the show to suck, right? Nope! Jeff Scott Soto kicked some major ass fronting this band. I have never seen Journey live or any band with Jeff, but the band as a whole put on one amazing show and I don’t think a single fan walked away unhappy. They went through all their greatest hits as well as a few from the new album. Say what you want about this band, but they are far from being has-beens.

Next up was Def Leppard. Now why can bands like Journey and Def Leppard pack a 20,000 capacity amphitheatre when other bands that had platinum albums in the 80’s can’t sell out a 500 capacity club? None of them had the bullshit rockstar attitudes that kill careers! They know they are there to put on an amazing show and if they don’t, the fans won’t come back next time. So all the members of Def Leppard (and Journey) pull out all the stops and do everything they can to make sure every fan there gets their money’s worth. They rock the hits as well as introduce you to the new stuff. So while Jani Lane continues to bitch about being the “Cherry Pie guy”, these bands are still playing the biggest venues around. Both bands also are aging pretty damn well too. Joe had a very slight gut, but the rest of them looked fit enough to still get the really hot groupies. My wife commented that Phil had the ripped abs that would make a twenty-something jealous! They are in great shape and they keep that way by running around that stage like it was a training gym. Def Leppard had a cool mix of animation, and live footage they played on this huge screen behind them. I am sure that this made the show great for the people in the back, as well. Me and the wife were very lucky and had seats way the hell up front thanks to those wonderful folks at Live Nation. In an age where promoters can be tighter then a dolphin’s ass, Live Nation really took care of us!

The whole show was so great I forgot about my back hurting like hell from when I fucked it up earlier in the day. I felt like that 15 year old kid that fell in love with this great music so long ago. For those that wonder about things like set lists, I am pretty sure it went Let's Get Rocked, Let It Go, Rock! Rock! Till You Drop, Bringin' On The Heartbreak, Foolin', Hysteria, 20th Century Boy, Rock On, Rocket, Photograph, Armageddon It, Animal, & Rock Of Ages. Then for the encore it was Love Bites followed by Pour Some Sugar On Me. Now I think I was the only journalist there and I know for a fact that I was the only photographer there for a publication (other then the venue photographer). Because of this I swear Phil was checking out my reaction to the show several times to see what kind of review I would write. Well Phil, if you read this I hope you guys come back real soon because I had a blast! For anyone else reading this, the band is only halfway through this American tour. So they may be headed your way still. I highly suggest you go check out this show. It will be the best 80’s buttrock you will see all year! This show did Rock My Monkey!