London, England - Media Reviews

Def Leppard @ Hammersmith Odeon By Harry Doherty

And back to LONDON, where Harry Doherty seemed to witness a different event.

Def Leppard not only aspire to greatness.

As far as a rock 'n' roll band goes, they are greatness itself.

And I can't believe that the shows in London and Birmingham were so different as to alter this opinion.

As regards Tesla, the feeling is the same.

Great band. Great future.

But we've been saying that for months.

So on and up to Def Leppard.

As far as popularity, and the potential of it, goes, the Lepps nearest competitors are Bon Jovi, and this was a better ROCK show than Jovi's less flash, less pose, more real feeling and hard-hitting rock.

True, it was a pretty stage and it takes a lot of getting used to not seeing stacks of amplifiers range the back, and Rick Allen did look a trifle lonely near the Gods on the drum kit.

But once you got used to that (it took all of one minute), you were confronted with a band intent on rocking it out and delivering the goods.

Which they did in spectacular fashion.

Allen, for me, personified the mood in the Def Leppard camp.

He laid into his specially designed kit with a vengeance, left leg hammering on the snare and generally a blur of movement for the entire set.

The rest of the band were tight and occasionally flash. riffs banging against four walls in a sound that was damned near perfect.

But, believe me, as close as it sounded to the record, as perfect as it was, there was that little bit of magic and adrenalin that made this very much a LIVE gig.

Joe Elliott is abrasive, brash, arrogant...all those words and more.

But, hell, if I had tonsils like his, I would be too.

The bottom line is that he gave a performance to match, and his cheekiness was a nice aside.

The set?. Beautifully paced, and taken to heaven when Mr. Elliott announced the arrival for the final encore of "the best guitarist of our generation - Mr. Brian May", after which Leppard and one Queen flew through a version of 'Now I'm Here', from 'Sheer Heart Attack', with an exquisite solo from May and two thrashing rhythm guitarists backing him.

Ironic, it was probably the closest May ever got to reproducing the record version on stage. A great show - a near LEGENDARY one.

By Metal Hammer 1987.

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Nottingham, England - Media Reviews

Def Leppard @ Hammersmith Odeon By Sharon Gilbert

Some things never change.

Lemmy's underwear, Donington's mud, the Marquee Club's beer - just three examples of the many constants in the world of rock 'n' roll.

I used to think that the British fans's apathetic attitude to Def Leppard was one of these perennial consistencies.

But that the nation's rockers now worship the band they loved to hate is testimony in itself to the magnitude of Def Leppard's achievement.

Def Leppard exploded onto Hammersmith's hallowed stage to the deafening chords of 'Stagefright', only to have those same chords drowned by the roar of the full-house audience.

'Stagefright' was merged skilfully with 'Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)' before the band launched themselves into 'Women', with Phil Collen proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is one of the most exciting guitarists to hit rockdom in recent millennia.

This band have progressed in leps and bounds from a presentation point of view and treated the enthralled throng to a spectacle of light and colour that included more visual effects than a Steven Spielberg movie.

After running through an assortment of past faves from High and Dry and Pyromania, the audience were brought back to the present with a bang as Leppard laid 'em in the aisles with 'Animal'.

The song that had reached number six in the singles' charts had Hmmersmith singing along from front to back.

From one hit single to another - 'Our Some Sugar On Me' was greeted with a hail of sugar lumps from the gleeful masses.

Def Leppard wound up the basic hour and a half set with their stirring anthem 'Rock Of Ages' during which they managed to slip in the odd bar of The Who's 'My Generation', Led Zeppelin' 'Whole Lotta Love', Golden Earring's 'Radar Love'. and a bit of Beatles with 'Come Together'.

No need to ask if there were encores.

Def Leppard didn't disappoint a crowd who would have stayed at Hammersmith Odeon 'til dawn if the band had let 'em.

'Photograph' and 'Wasted' were delivered up for the ears, and for those lucky enough to be present on Leppard's last night at Hammersmith, Brian May assisted 'da Lepps' with a stunning version of the wondrous 'Now I'm Here'.

Def Leppard are certainly 'here' to stay.

By Solid Rock 1987.

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