Victoria, BC - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - By Miss Magic

If someone had told me that I'd be boarding a ferry for a one and half hour sailing over water that I so deathly fear to see a Lep show, I would have told them they were off their rocker. Well, that someone is still on their rocker 'cause I did.

I made the crossing on Sunday morning over to Victoria from Vancouver to see my fifth show this tour. I had seen the show in Vancouver the night before, but I was interested in seeing how it would be in Victoria considering it had sold out in less than an hour. What I found on Sunday night is that the fans in Victoria reminded me of what a rock and roll show should be. I was right on the floor (Row 7), right in the middle of the chaos and I wouldn't have changed a thing. The crowd was loud right from "Action" to "Pour Some Sugar on Me". "No Matter What" was received well, but "Rock On" blew the audience away. But then every song did. It even made a drunk middle aged man run lengthwise up and down between Rows 3 and 4, encouraging everyone to stand up. Being three sheets to the wind, he didn't notice that we already were. A show within a show - can't ask for more. All in all, fabulous show and worth the extreme anxiety and fear I had making it over the water!.

---

Fan Review - By Ruthie R

Victoria BC: August 29, 2005 (the morning after)

They did it to me again. My shoulders ache, my voice is gone, and my world is wrapped in cotton. A temporary condition (I hope), but textbook evidence that Def Leppard was here. Maybe it’s good that the new arena was not fully complete for the biggest concert to hit Victoria since the last Lep visit in 1983. Anything that fell off during the show can be claimed as new construction rather than repairs. Between the band and the crowd, we may have proved that the building meets seismic standards in a mighty earthquake zone.

When did the shaking start? The Tea Party got the rumble going, with a darkly alluring opening set that highlighted the sultry voice and seductive style of singer Jeff Martin. They’re loud, they’re Canadian, and they’re actually pretty good. They held my attention for the duration, due in part to the challenge of deciding whether Martin is a natural or a poseur. He looks and sounds like Jim Morrison, he plays like Jimmy Page, but his talent is his own. Bass and drums support him, but he’s clearly the man to watch. If you like dark and exotic, give these boys a try.

We got a short break to adjust our hearing between sets, but when the white mike stand was placed on stage and Queen started up on the sound system, the real rocker hit at 12 on the Richter.

They blasted through their greatest hits, adding three covers (the most ever in a Lep set of my attending): charging through Sweet’s "Action", infusing a buoyant playfulness to Badfinger’s "No Matter What", and using David Essex’s "Rock On" as a teaser for the covers album due early in 2006. The Lep version of the latter is easily the best I’ve ever heard; it starts slow and sexy, builds up, then erupts in a sonic boom that blows you off your feet.

Joe was in full form, clearly recovered from his shoulder surgery of two years ago. Loud, proud, fully engaged, blazing, commanding, taunting, daring, all attitude, no weakness, getting stronger with each song; a feral king feeding on the energy of his subjects. He tore through the arena like a mistral wind and left us gasping in his wake.

The band played as if their lives depended on it, loosing a full-on aural assault that took no prisoners. The crowd took one huge hit after another, rolling with it, revelling in it, returning it only to have the band strike back harder: "Hysteria", "Armageddon It", "Promises", "Love Bites", "Animal", "Rocket", "Sugar", "Let’s Get Rocked" "Heartbreak" (hey guys, why not return the favour and Leppardize one of Mariah Carey’s greatest hits? Er, is there such a beast?) No casual fans would be disappointed; every radio-friendly Lep track from the 80/90’s was present and accounted for, delivered with their signature symphonic flair. Their multi-layered melodies and polished harmonies mark them the classical musicians of a generation.

"Two Steps Behind" was the only real acoustic mercy they gave our ears; as he did on tour in 2003, Joe expected the crowd to sing with—or for—him; as he said, "With 6 shows in 7 days, I need all the fuckin’ help I can get." He got. In spades. And though his voice was rightfully shredded from a gruelling schedule, he maintained the long notes in "Foolin’", "Photograph" and—best of all—"Gods of War" with no sign of failing lung capacity!

Of all the Lep shows I have seen over the years, this one was a diamond: a hard, glittering, polished gem of a set, precisely cut with no margin for error. It was simply dazzling. They came, they played, they conquered.

Will I ever leave a Leppard show without feeling pummelled? I hope not!.

Back

share this page:

---

---