Indianapolis, IN - Media Reviews

Def Leppard Proves Less Can Be More By Marc D. Allan

Beyond reviving rock 'n' roll, alternative music's second-most-important contribution has been to force bands like Def Leppard to become more economical in their approach to performing.

Saturday night at Deer Creek Music Center, about 6,500 fans got a look at a stripped-down Def Leppard show that contained exceptionally loud, straightforward renderings of 20 songs, a minimal number of solos (none lasting more than 60 seconds) and no show beyond the well-designed lighting patterns.

The crowd seemed to like it; I know I found it infinately superior to the windbag approach the band took four years ago when every song lasted six minutes or more and the laser lights took precedence over the music.

For this tour, the songs are king, and Def Leppard is treating them with care. The set list included a balance of old fan favorites -- Photograph, Hysteria, Foolin' and Pour Some Sugar On Me among them -- as well as five cuts from the band's new disc Slang.

Of course, this is lightweight fare at best, full of glittering generalities and easy-to-remember themes sung with sugar-coated close harmonies: "Have you ever wanted someone so bad?"; "All I want is everything/is that too much to ask?"; "rock, rock, to the top."

It's party rock, first, last and always, and pacing is key. That's why it was so refreshing to hear Def Leppard stay aggressive. Joe Elliott refrained from chatter and put his energies into singing convincingly, drummer Rick Allen kept a steady beat and guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell held their worst instincts in check, taking a less-is-more approach to solos (until the encore, anyway).

They made an hour and 45 minutes go by painlessly.

Tripping Daisy (no stars), the worst band I've seen in about three years, opened the show. Everything about this band was egregious, from the singer's strangulated-hernia vocals to the nondescript alternative and hard-rock riffs the goup's three other members churned out.

By Indianapolis Star 1996.

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