Def Leppard, Cheap Trick @Entertainment Centre, Adelaide(02/11/08)

Wed 5th Nov, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Do you wanna get rocked!!

British rock heavy weights Def Leppard made a triumphant return to our shores after a sixteen year absence after rocking the Entertainment Centre back in 1992. With more than sixty five million record sales, playing to more than fifty million fans over their career and a back catalogue of killer albums such as Hysteria, Pyromania and Adrenalize the stage was set for an awesome night of rock music.

Adelaide should be counting its lucky stars that we were included on their Australia tour after initially not making the itinerary. With that in mind I would have thought that the Entertainment Centre would have been packed to the rafters but a small die hard legion of fans made sure it was a night to remember.

Along for the ride was Cheap Trick and local lads The Galvatrons who would have no doubt benefited from the experience and to play in front of a more cashed up and – œmature’ audience.

Cheap Trick in short was fantastic and made up for the fact they pulled the pin on their Australian tour a couple of years ago. For a bunch of old buggers they still have it and really did entertain with a awesome back catalogue of hit singles including If You Want My Love, The Flame, Surrender and set closer Dream Police. Looking back at the career of Cheap Trick there were plenty of hits they could have played but didn’t being limited to fifty minutes. Robin Zander finally removed his hat to let his long locks roam free for the final number and Rick Nielson left the stage saying “see you next year” which makes you wonder how many times he has said that before. For those who got showered in guitar picks – lucky you!

The band everyone wanted to see was Def Leppard who hit the stage bang on 9.30pm. The staging was typical for a massive stadium rock show with three massive video screens fired up to show the Def Leppard timeline from conception right up to now.

The crowd went bunter as they opened with Rocket followed closely by Animal. I thought the tendency could have been to load the set with Songs From The Sparkle Lounge but there was a good balance with a handful being played. C’Mon, C’Mon was the first taste of the new album and fortunately most of the crowd knew the words and sung along. The runway down the middle was a great idea giving more people the chance to get closer to the band.

It was great to see that Go made the set with Love Bites receiving rapturous applause. For me the acoustic set was a little hum drum for my liking with Two Steps Behind and Bringin’ On The Heartbreak being stripped back and a chance to regroup before launching in to Hysteria, Armageddon It and the very popular Photograph.

Rick Allen celebrated his birthday the night before and Joe told a story about how he was playing drums on his sixteenth birthday, opening for AC/DC. The crowd sung happy birthday with Joe holding out the microphone for full effect.

The set closed out with Pour Some Sugar On Me and Rock Of Ages before returning for a one song encore with Let’s Get Rocked. I’m sure they could have done a couple more but did seem like a timely point to exit. Interestingly enough once the band left the stage the lights dimmed giving a false impression that there would be more but not be… hopefully it’s not another sixteen years before another return.

Set list for Adelaide:
Rocket
Animal
C’mon C’mon
Foolin’
Make Love Like A Man
GO
Love Bites
Two Steps Behind (Acoustic)
Bringin’ On The Heartbreak
Switch 625
Hysteria
Armageddon It
Photograph
Pour Some Sugar On Me
Rock Of Ages

Encore:
Let’s Get Rocked