Atlanta, GA - Media Reviews
I was, however, so fortunate as to get to see Def Leppard. Their performance drew a crowd of die-hard fans who have followed the band since they burst onto the scene in the '80s, the children of those fans and many astute music fans of ages in between who learned to love their music on their own, if a little late in time. Personally, I belong to the latter group, so I felt very lucky to see a band that I had long thought I was 10 years too late to ever see perform live.With all of those high expectations and my relatively dismal opinion of many of the other bands at Music Midtown, disappointment and letdown over Def Leppard's performance almost seemed imminent.
However, this is one band that got it right. In fact, the only complaints I have are about the giant man who purposefully stood in front of me, obstructing my entire view of the stage, and the woman near the front who kept exposing herself to the band.
By University-Wire 2005.
Despite it all, Music Midtown ended on a high note, sort of. Joe Elliott from Def Leppard could barely hit his high notes, but the 25-year-old band did a stellar job of buoying any shortcomings into an open-air worthy arena-rock show, and some chick in a black top up front rewarded several guitar solos with a quick flash.
By Creativeloafing 2005.
Def Leppard is the perfect outdoor festival band. The British ’80s rockers carry a testerone-driven, guitar-crunching sound merged with a hook-laden sensibility that generated 15 top 40 hits, more than enough to fill a one-hour set. Beer-buzzed, tank-top wearing fans can sing along badly to the simple lyrics and nobody cares.
This is the band’s second trip to Music Midtown in three years, and lead singer Joe Elliott said he had so much fun the first time, they came back. (Promoter Peter Conlon probably gave the band a great financial incentive, too.) And as he sang, “Let’s get rocked,” the crowd obliged with much gusto.
Though Elliott's voice sometimes got swallowed by the fine guitar work of Phil Collen and Viv Campbell, the big hits still carried a full-bodied heft. And while predictable, the final three songs in succession — “Photograph,” “Rock of Ages” and “Pour Some Sugar In Me” — was pop-rock heaven.
By Atlanta Journal-Constitution 2005.
Review of Music Midtown 2005 By Ronnie
Def Leppard: Subtitled: "What the hell was I thinking?" There are two Def Leppard musical eras: The "two armed drummer" era and the "one armed drummer" era. The "two armed drummer" era Def Leppard wrote some catchy big hair metal hits that are a guilty pleasure. The "one armed drummer" era Def Leppard writes lame crap that panders to the absolute lowest drunken common denominator (i.e., people who watch "Spinal Tap" and ask you at the end of it if Spinal Tap were a "real" band). Def Leppard is stuck firmly in "one armed drummer" era. From the five songs I heard are in no danger of leaving this era any time soon. The Sig Heil's from their fans to the music of Queen's "We Will Rock You" played before Def Leppard set tells the whole story. Def Leppard's songs plodded along with all the grace of a bull in a china shop; a heavily sedated bull that is. Although one could say that Def Leppard should receive brownie points for sticking with their drummer, the fact that the drummer's condition ties him to heavy reliance on drum machines further hinders their already boring and uninspired material. Five songs were enough for me. In fact, five songs was about four too many. (Special thanks to Ear Candy writer William V. for pointing out the "one arm", "two arm" Def Leppard musical divide to me).
At first I was totally hyped to see Def Leppard again, especially after their fantastic 2003 appearance at Music Midtown. However, this year the band suffered from a bad choice of material! In fact, after 6 songs I left in disgust - the only decent song they played during my stay was "Foolin". In my 25+ years of seeing Def Leppard live this was the only show of theirs that I would describe as BAD!
Ronnie @ EarCandyMag 2005.
Next to take the stage was classic rockers Def Leppard. The band looked and sounded like they were fresh and ready to eat up the Atlanta crowd of thousands. Joe Elliott, lead vocals told the crowd he was happy to be back since he played the festival a few years ago.
Def Leppard also consists of Phil Collen and Viv Campbell on guitars, Rick Savage on bass, and Rick Allen on drums. They opened with “Action” and did many other songs including “Let's Get Rocked,” “Photograph,” “Animal,” and “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” Def Leppard is currently promoting their new CD, “Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection.”.
By Lumino Magazine 2005.
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