Uncasville, CT - Media Reviews

Through The Time Tunnel With Def Leppard By Kenneth Partridge

That Def Leppard is, was, and always will be more pop than metal, no one really denies. The real question, then, is this: Is the band (think long hair, too-tight pants, and "Pour Some Sugar on Me") more schlock than it is pop?

That's a tough one, so we move first to Tesla, Def Leppard's opening act Monday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville. Best known for its 1990 cover of the Five Man Electrical Band's "Signs," Tesla most definitely plays schlock, though there's a real honesty to its big-haired bashing that makes it hard to dismiss the band completely.

With hits such as "Love Song," lead singer Jeff Keith screeched his way through the kind of straight-up, often sweet lyrics that mullet-wearing teens in rural communities across America likely spray painted on water towers and train bridges throughout the '80s. Like those now-faded tags, Tesla lacks relevance yet still serves certain nostalgic purposes, making its presence Monday not entirely unwelcome.

More welcome, both in terms of nostalgia and pure rocking-ness, however, was Def Leppard. The band's extensive catalog of hits sets it apart from most '80s holdouts, and there was little filler in its 18-song, three-video-screen, more-fist-pumps-than-you-can-count performance.

Getting back to how to classify the British quintet - after all, everything must fit neatly into categories - the group may have made a case for a simpler and more accurate label altogether: "rock." During the evening, the band played "Let's Get Rocked," "Rocket," "Rock of Ages," and a cover of David Essex's "Rock On." The pre-show intro music was "We Will Rock You" by Queen.

The band made good on Freddie Mercury's promise, deciding not to alter its sound for the modern day and playing its hits loud and proud. Between the thudding bass and shredding guitars of tunes such as "Armageddon It" and the standout "Photograph," the group found time for the aching power ballads "Hysteria" and "Love Bites." With these, the crowd revisited two-decade-old heartbreaks with giant sing-alongs (younger fans presumably reminisced about second grade).

After the encore run-through of "Pour Some Sugar on Me," which featured shirtless guitar hero Phil Collen and one-armed drummer Rick Allen in all their pop (or schlock, or rock) glory, singer Joe Elliott ended by saying, rather earnestly, "Don't forget about us, and we won't forget about you." No worries, Joe. Like 5 o'clock, it's always 1987 somewhere.

By Kenneth Partridge @ ctnow 2005.

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Leppard pounces on adoring fans By Donnie Moorhouse

Celebrating 25 years in the business of rock'n' roll, Def Leppard has released a "best of" retrospective and launched a summer tour that landed at Mohegan Sun Arena Monday night. It's always fun to see bands like Def Leppard exact a bit of revenge on the fickle music industry. Cast aside in the 1990s.

Review by a breed of darker, heavier rock bands, groups like Def Leppard, Motley Crue and Bon Jovi continue to tour and fill arenas with their aging, yet adoring, fans. For Def Leppard, despite several hits and millions of records sold, it all comes down to one song.

While fans were thrilled to bang heads to the group's metal riffs and scream along to the occasional ballad, the Monday night show was really about the buildup to the inevitable end, a deliriously wild romp through three minutes of "Pour Some Sugar On Me."

The band certainly had more to offer than a single song and strung together a formidable 18-song set. It's just that the finale was a foregone conclusion. The band wouldn't have been able to get out of Uncasville alive without serving up the seductive hit.

Def Leppard primed the pump by blasting Queen's "We Will Rock You" through the sound system before taking the stage to "Action." Lead singer Joe Elliot led the way, directing the band through "Let's Get Rocked" and "Women," before turning the stage over to guitarist Phil Collen, who worked up the intro to "Foolin'."

The group delivered the first bit of delirium with "Hysteria," then surprised the crowd with a cover of Badfinger's "No Matter What."

The band broke down to the acoustic format and delivered "Two Steps Behind" with Elliot asking the crowd to "join the band for four minutes" and sing along. The cover of the David Essex hit "Rock On" was a bit odd, as Elliot came out and sang to a recorded track, but the band helped him recover with a very live and raw version of "Rocket," which featured Collen and second guitarist Vivian Campbell trading licks.

The band rode a string of hits to the end with "Photograph," "Rock of Ages" - which also serves as the title of its just-released "best of" compilation - and an encore of "Bringing on the Heartache" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me."

Tesla opened the show and received a huge response from the Mohegan crowd, earning standing ovation for such hits as "Signs" and "Little Suzie."

By The Republican 2005.

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Leppard not quite the same By David Pencek

Despite a poor showing, fans of the '80s band screamed their praise. A quarter-century after it first came onto the rock scene, Def Leppard can still throw a party. The problem is, those 25 additional years are definitely apparent in the group's look and sound. At least that was the case on Monday when Def Leppard and opening act Tesla performed in a nearly sold-out Mohegan Sun Arena.

Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott's voice was drowned out for much of the night by the band's music and the quintessential arena rock group of the 1980s performed a fairly tepid 90-minute set.

Of course it should be noted none of that mattered to the thousands who came. And it actually shouldn't have mattered because it was still a kick to hear live performances of "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Photograph," "Rock of Ages" and many other of the group's hits.

Still, it was clear that Def Leppard won't recapture the glory of its prime years. Although surprisingly, one of the band's best performances of the night came on its new song "No Matter What," which was recorded for the group's two-CD greatest hits collection.

After opening the night with "Action," Def Leppard performed nearly indecipherable versions of "Let's Get Rocked" followed by "Women." The rest of the band -- drummer Rick Allen, bassist Rick Savage and guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell -- performed on auto-pilot, deviating little from the original recordings. Known for its high-tech shows two decades ago, Def Leppard kept the stage setting pretty basic with just some lights and a few videos.

The group went acoustic for its rendition of "Two Steps Behind" and then performed its apocalyptic number, "Gods of War." More bands these days have been including a world-in-peril song into their set list and accompanying it with video images of bombs dropping and nefarious leaders. Because of the political mindset of many of these bands, America's current president is included in those images as he was on Monday.

Elliott and the band picked up some strength toward the end of the set especially on "Photograph" and "Animal." Their encore consisted of "Bringing on the Heartbreak" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me."

Before walking off stage, Elliott told the audience that if it doesn't forget Def Leppard, the band won't forget the fans. Safe to say, Def Leppard will always have it fans, poor showing or not.

Where Elliott's voice wasn't as strong, Tesla frontman Jeff Keith sounded the same as he did in the 1980s when the band rose to prominence. Tesla opened the evening with a 50-minute set that included the band's hits "Signs," "Love Song," "Little Suzi" and "Modern Day Cowboy."

Keith made a point of saying how the group still has its five original members. It was evident that they have been together for so long. They played their old songs with some punch that didn't make them sound dated. Well, except for the line about the "U.S.S.R." in "Modern Day Cowboy.".

By Norwich Bulletin 2005.

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