Memphis, TN - Fan Reviews
Fan Review - By Jeremy of Crippled Nation (support band)
The show was awesome ..there was about 5,500 people there ready to rock! this was one of the best days of our lives the people really seemed to enjoy our set for not ever hearing us before we had a blast the crowd was great and big hats off to Def Leppard for taking a shot on Crippled Nation.and being such a great great band.hopefully we'll meet again on the road till then cheers to rock n roll!!!!.
Fan Review - By Angie
The show in Memphis last night was great. I got to the venue a little later than I intended to, but ended up in line around 5:30pm. At that point there were quite a few people already lined up, but not nearly as many as I'd expected. When they finally let us in, my 3 friends and I got down to the 7th row, sitting just to the left of center, which I thought was pretty good considering the number of people we had in front of us in line. I didn't know what to expect from the opening band, Crippled Nation but I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the set, even though I am not really into that sort of music. They seemed to be very grateful to have the opportunity to open for Def Leppard; being a local Memphis band I am sure this was quite a big deal for them. They even dedicated the last song of their set (don't know what the name of it was) to DL. The show was sold out, and it actually looked like there were more tickets sold than there were seats available because people were standing all along the far left and right sides of the amphitheatre.
I don't remember the exact setlist, but as best I can recall it pretty much followed the same format as the previous shows. When "We Will Rock You" came on, everyone was on their feet. It was so exciting. Here are some of the things that really stood out for me: I LOVED their cover of 'Rock On' by David Essex. I have read other reviews about how they perform this song and it was really spectacular. At the beginning, the lights are all out on stage and Joe comes up from behind it with a light shining behind him. He sings the first part of the song for a bit and then all the lights come on and they all just rock out! It was really great and the crowd went wild for it. Vivian and Phil were ON FIRE the whole night. The two of them and Sav were all over the stage and up and down off the drum risers. Very energetic. Sav did his famous pose several times during the show. They played the long ending to Hysteria, which is my personal favorite. I love when they do the long ending. 'No Matter What' seemed to go over very well with the crowd, as they were all singing and dancing the whole time. All of the guys seemed to be having a blast as well - they were all smiles throughout the whole show, which was great to see.
Just before one of the songs (I think it was Two Steps Behind), Joe came out with a guitar and broke into "Memphis Tennessee" just singing the first line, but it got a great crowd response of course. At one point, some guy tried to get up to the railing and got pretty nasty with one of the security guards and even tried to hit him. It was right in front of Joe and he made a remark like "Is that really necessary? Yeah, take that guy out!" The crowd was laughing. What an idiot. And some girl must have been doing some pretty dirty dancing down toward the front because Joe remarked that that was some great dancing and that people pay to see that sort of thing but he gets to see it for free, then remarked that he f*cking loved his job.
When they left the stage just before the encore, one of my friends turned to me and said "Alright they can't leave without playing Pour Some Sugar On Me!" I assured her that they were coming back out and they would definitely play it. It was the last song and ended the show with a bang. The crowd was really into the whole show, all ages had their hands up and were dancing and singing along. At the end of the show Sav even came up to the mic and thanked everyone, which was really cool and unexpected.
I took a disposable camera I hope I got some decent pics with it. If they turn out ok, I will submit them here. I was afraid to take my good camera because you never know when it could get taken away by security. One guard told us no cameras allowed, so I had my friend hide the camera in her shirt until we got in;) Sorry for such a long, drawn-out review. Thanks Def Leppard for another unbelievable show!.
Fan Review - By Trish
I saw them in Memphis two days ago and I'm still feeling the effects of my Leppard-induced high! I feel like I can't even find the words to express how great the show was. Def Leppard rocked Memphis HARD! They all looked and sounded fantastic. Joe was in fine form and his voice sounded great to me. They are better than ever and definitely have not lost anything. The sold-out crowd was wild and ready to get rocked. I didn't see anyone near me with their butts glued to a chair. Lots of loud screaming,singing and dancing. Some pretty nasty-looking moves out there too apparently. I myself at one point had a hideous up-close view of some guy's white Bermuda shorts-encased backside grinding into his wife.(The shorts were white I mean. I presume the backside was too though.) Could have lived without seeing that too. Joe seemingly enjoyed his view more as right before he sang Rock Of Ages he complemented a woman in front on her dancing abilities ("very nice") and he said that people usually had to pay to see moves like the ones she was doing, but they got it for free and that he fuckin' loved his job. Also I overheard a woman forewarn her husband about her moves when it came time for PSSOM because of the effect it was going to have on her.Ha.Ha. Ah, the primal feelings induced by those intoxicating Leppard songs.
It was so entertaining to watch as they performed all their best-known hits. The guitar work by Phil and Viv was as blistering as the Memphis heat. (And just so you know and trust me on this--it was scorchingingly HOT!) They are both very talented, and it was just a joy to watch them tear it up like that. And of course it was great fun to watch Sav (looking great in his white outfit) and Rick (smiling and drumming away behind his kit )as well. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves.
A highlight of the show for me was Rock On. And it went over extremely well with the crowd; they knew the words and sang along with Joe from the very beginning. Where better to hear this song than on a hot sultry summer night by the Mighty Mississippi in Memphis? Joe's voice was just so sexy. And the lighting effects were great. The song started off with Joe on the drum riser, his long body backlit in red then changing to a moody blue as Phil came in on the guitar. I recall the striking image of Joe bathed in blue light with outstretched arms. Then a blinding flash and huge explosion of white light when Joe reached the point in the song where he first sings,"rock on!" Joe was really working the mike and jumping around as that driving native-sounding beat just blasted away. People were going absolutely nuts devouring the whole spectacle. Just very very cool! Hope they put a live performace of this song on a dvd. My other favorites of the night were Rocket and Hysteria. Hysteria is my all-time favorite so of course I really loved seeing that one live.
Mud Island it turns out is a great place to see a concert. After the sun went down the heat wasn't unbearable because there was a slight breeze every now and then, and I wasn't bothered by bugs at all. Also, all the seats seemed to offer a good view of the action. They didn't let people stand at the barrier during the show because there was a deep concrete pit beyond it in front of the stage. Joe's take on it: "That thing is fuckin' deep!" In fact that is what sparked the incident that interrupted Joe's remarks about the Rock of Ages cd. Some guy wanted to be up closer by the barrier and then took a swing at the security guard when he tried to move him. Shortly after, presumably to prevent further incidents, Joe reported to the crowd what all the commotion had been about and told people to pretend they were at the "cinema" and to stay in their seats and they'd "fuckin' enjoy it" and to let them do the runnin' around up on the stage. It was funny how he said it.
What else? Oh, the posted set list is slightly off. They didn't play Gods of War. I wish they had because it's one of my favorites. Also, they didn't use the video screen for this show. Would have liked to have seen that. As for pictures: I had my non-digital camera hidden on me, and when I saw the police with wands I thought I was going to have a problem, but they didn't wand me so I got my camera in. I took pictures and nobody jumped on me. Hopefully they won't all be just blurry blobs. Anyway, I don't know what else to say other than it was a ROCKIN' GOOD TIME! Def Leppard is simply THE BEST at what they do. And that's a fact.
Fan Review - By Peggy
I finally have time to write this! It was a great nite! It was really hot in the Memphis area all day. There were heat warnings out till 10 pm. But the Mud Island Ampitheater is right on the water, so despite the heat, there was a nice breeze blowing! The opening act Crippled Nation was pretty good. Not really my cup of tea..I am getting older and they just sounded too loud or something. Def Leppard hit the stage after "We will rock you" came over the PA..getting everyone pumped. The crowd was awesome! Seemed the band was having a great time onstage. Viv and Phil traded licks on several songs and Sav was running up to Rick on the drums throughout the show. They did a great version of "Rock On", and "No matter what" At one point Joe invited whoever wanted to come join the band for 4 minutes, of course everyone went crazy! All in all it was an awesome concert, I hope they come back soon, 15 years is too long a time between visits! Here's the set list (see above) Rock of Ages (Joe introduced this song as the title track on their new album, he said "I never thought I'd hear myself saying this again").
Fan Review - By Kathy
This was my very first Def Leppard show and hopefully it won't be the last. I had the best time. This killer show was in Memphis TN at the Mud Island Amphitheatre on July 26th, 2005. My favorite local band Crippled Nation opened for this awesome concert. They did an excellent job, and the crowd really seemed to dig their music. Although this was a outdoor concert, on a very hot evening, this has to be one of the best shows that I have ever seen.
Def Leppard rocked hard for their fans. The fans sang, danced, drank, and showed some skin for their favorite band. The fans I met were some of the nicest people I had ever seen. I hope I am lucky enough to see these guys perform again in future, and I look forward to hearing even more great tunes in the years to come.
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