Def Leppard@ Members Equity,Perth

Tue 4th Nov, 2008 in Gig Reviews

It’s been nigh on 16 years since Def Leppard has graced the stages of Perth. Some might also say that’s when they really reached their peak as the Brit’s brand of heavy metal trash rock. Redundant music genres aside though, they packed the Member’s Equity Stadium on Halloween, and it can’t have all been just for the memories.

What a night they chose to kick off their Songs From the Sparkle Lounge tour! Perhaps it was the spirit of Halloween or perhaps some people misheard that it was a themed night but there were a few punters dressed in eighties getup sporting mullets and what appeared to be mum or dad’s Def Leppard branded leather jackets from back in the day.

A band this big needed a sufficiently big band to be their supporting act and warm the crowd up for their arrival. Cheap Trick was their choice of band and as far as blasts from the past go these old men were all alright. It would be fair to say that they looked sufficiently ancient up there on stage, after all, they had their hey-days in the seventies and eighties and therefore have been around for a good long while. As such, they command a certain respect for their years of rock service. So it was no surprise that the crowd went wild when they played some of their most notable hits like The Flame and I Want You to Want Me.

Soon it was goodbye Cheap Trick and hello Def Leppard. The stage is set. The eerie blue and red lights foreshadow the arrival of the main act and as the giant screen lights up with an enormous Union Jack, and as pictures and song titles from their very impressive career shoot through the centre of it, the five members of the band take the stage. Rocket and Animal are the first songs played back to back and it sends the crowd into a screaming frenzy.

It’s a testament to the sound production that their style of very album oriented music translates so well to the stage especially as their songs are so incredibly multi-layered with vocal harmonies and guitar riffs. But they are quite impressive rock stars, it must be said. The audience was on their feet from start to finish despite the ever so comfy lawn chairs that must’ve beckoned the majority of middle-aged fans to take a seat.

Somewhere in the middle of the set all five members left the stage and only lead and rythym guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell returned, shortly joined by front man Joe Elliot. To titillate their fans they began an acoustic version of one of their very first hits, Bringing on the Heartbreak. But it was when drummer Rick Allen began his booming drums and the electrics came back to play that the crowd reached fever pitch. Then it was all swaying alcoholic singing and sloshing beer as the punters joined their front man for the chorus and for follow up track Love Bites.

Things to note; each costume change had Campbell matching his shirts to his guitar which can’t be said for Collen who couldn’t wait to shed his shirt so all the ladies could admire how hard he’s worked over the years to keep his muscles despite the excesses of being a rock god.

As a stage band, they have retained their charisma through all the years, and they had the crowd staring at them in awe. Maybe it’s the Aussie battler in all of us, but it was the drum solos of one-armed drummer Allen that really had the people cheering the loudest.

There’s nothing more annoying than a staged encore but bands of Def Leppard’s calibre pretty much require it. So it was no surprise that it began with Elliot posing the question, “Do you wanna get rocked?” An excellent choice for their exiting number as it pumped the crowd up one last time and made it all the more apparent that Elliot had this crowd wrapped around his little finger.

Before leaving, Elliot promised the masses of still screaming fans that he wouldn’t wait another sixteen years to come back to Perth. “Do us a big favour,” he yelled. “Don’t forget us and we won’t forget you.” Leaving us with the image of a 50 year old man milking a microphone stand, It’s pretty safe to say we won’t.