Def Leppard, Wembley Arena, London, 26 June 2008
SETLIST: Rocket - C'mon C'mon - Animal - Nine Lives - Make Love Like A Man - When Love & Hate Collide - Rick Savage bass solo - Rock On - Two Steps Behind - Bringin' On The Heartbreak - Hysteria - Armageddon It - Photograph - Pour Some Sugar On Me - Rock Of Ages - Bad Actress - Let's Get Rocked
Confession time! Back in the day I did quite like Def Leppard and for awhile I could not get enough of "Slang" (It's a very danceable tune. Well that's my excuse anyway). And how can you not be transported back to whatever it was you were up to in the 80s whenever you hear "Pour Some Sugar On Me"?!
If I had a choice I would have liked to see them way back when Steve Clark was still alive but it didn't work out that way. So a few of us found ourselves going to the Wembley gig for Matt's birthday where, get this, Whitesnake were second headliners. Now I draw the line at Whitefuckinsnake! I timed it so that I turned up when they would play "Here I Go Again", their only hit. I wish someone had reminded them of that because they had the nerve to play another song after that. Like they had any other song bigger than that!
Anyway, Def Leppard apparently have a new album out. Songs from the Sparkle Lounge or something like that. Yeah, I know, no one cares. Bands like Def Leppard should just come to terms with the fact that their best work is behind them and that fans don't want to hear new stuff!
In all fairness to Def Leppard, they are a band trying their darnest to not be written off as a band of the past. When they came on for the first song, the screen showed images of them from 1979 to the present day and ended with "That was then, this is now". Apart from a really bad hairstyle from Joe Elliot, gone were the mullets and Def Leppard powered through the gig like the seasoned rockers they are (Joe was most definitely "seasoned", the guy has bingo wings!). As predicted, no one cared about the new songs although I will concede they did sound quite good live. It was great to hear all of the classics and the acoustic set was a great cheesefest because I do really like "When Love & Hate Collide" and "Two Steps Behind" (sue me). Before they kicked off the acoustic set, Joe told a story about them starting off and my hero Ross Halfin and Geoff Barton checking them out in a club in Sheffield in the early 80s. I hooted at the mention of Ross' name and wondered if he was in the audience (turns out he was - look under 26 June).
Unsurprisingly, "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was the biggest hit of the night and thank fucking GOD they did NOT play "Love Bites". Everyone else was disappointed but I was relieved because I cannot stand that song, it's a watching paint dry song in my opinion.
AND I finally got to see a one-armed drummer! Rick Allen is one of those survival stories that has always amazed me and I just had to see him for myself.
Def Leppard did exactly what it says on the tin - they played the classics and entertained. I'm not sure I would see them again, maybe if I got a free ticket.
Because everyone but me was so disappointed that they did not play "Love Bites" and kept going on and on about it after the concert like it was the biggest tragedy since 9-11, I decided to see if I could find an answer and so the next day, I e-mailed my hero, Ross Halfin:
From: Lyn Low
To: Ross Halfin
Subject: Def Leppard/Geoff Barton/The Legendary Ross Halfin
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:45:03 +0100
Ross
I was at the Def Leppard concert last night and thought you'd be amused to know that as a long time fan of your work and dedicated reader of your website, I was chuffed to hear the amusing story told by Joe Elliot that, at the very mention of your name, I let out a loud cheer, which did not go down too well with the people around me who thought I was a complete lunatic. They obviously were not familiar with your name but I didn't think there was any need to explain myself.
Sincerely
Lyn (London)
P.S. My friends were quite disappointed that Def Leppard did not play Love Bites. If you have any inside knowledge as to why they left it off I'd love to know. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Love Bites and was hoping they would play Slang.
To my surpise and elation, the Legend himself replied with the following a day later:
From: Ross Halfin
Sent: 28 June 2008 18:25:17
To: Lyn Low
It's a Shit song and i know a certain guitar player is sick of it....
Cheers
Ross
Finally, some inside knowledge. If Ross says it's a shit song, then it is a shit song!
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