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Friday, 7th September 2007
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Salt Lake City, UT - Media Reviews

Three For The Show By Doug Fox

Def Leppard closed the evening with a set full of rockers and a big-stage production that fans have come to expect. The band - featuring Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Phil Collen (guitar), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Rick Savage (bass) and the amazing one-armed Rick Allen on drums - made good use of the extra 30 minutes it had on stage, as compared to Styx and Foreigner, by mixing in a few album cuts among its solid gold repertoire. Seeing songs like "Excitable," "Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)" and "Another Hit and Run" performed live was a welcome treat.

Def Leppard's stage contained an added thrust-runway that went out into the crowd. Band members took turns roaming out on the walkway and getting closer to a larger portion of the crowd. During a two-song acoustic set, Elliott, Campbell, Collen and Savage all went to the end of the runway to perform. The former three all played acoustic guitar for "Two Steps Behind" and most of "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" -- before closing with a blood-rushing electric finish.

Before introducing "Two Steps Behind," Elliott played a portion of the Osmonds's "Crazy Horses."

"Everybody used to laugh at the Osmonds," Elliott said. "I don't know why. So that was our little tribute to the Osmonds."

Much like Styx's guitar tandem of Young and Shaw, Def Leppard's Collen and Campbell perfectly complement each other on stage. Regardless of who is playing lead or rhythm, the combined end result is a great guitar sound. Good examples are songs like "Foolin'" and "Armageddon It," where the two trade off solos with equal aplomb.

Another guitar highlight was "Love Bites," which was impressively augmented by an extended dual guitar interlude.

Savage performed a two-minute bass solo that led right into "Rock On" - the band's cover of the old David Essex classic. The last half of this song is as rocking live as anything Def Leppard has ever recorded.

During "Photograph," the big screen behind the band flashed a series of old pictures - many of them showing original Def Leppard guitarist Steve Clark, who died in 1991.

The band closed its main set with "Pour Some Sugar on Me" before returning for a one-song encore of "Rock of Ages."

At the end of the show, Elliott delivered his standard parting shot.

"Until next time -- and there will be a next time -- don't forget us and we won't forget you," Elliott said.

It's a line Utah fans have heard him utter several times before. And he's delivered on it every time.

By Daily Herald 2007.


Def Leppard, Styx, Foreigner offer a musical time machine By Scott Iwasaki

The past caught up to the present Friday night when Def Leppard, Styx and Foreigner came to town - H.G. Wells would have been proud.

The four-hour concert was a musical time machine as the three bands played their hits, some of which were originally released some 30 years ago.

In fact, the only new song played during the night was "Everything All the Time," by Styx. And even that song complemented the other Stygian hits such as "Too Much Time on My Hands" and "Come Sail Away."

Def Leppard - vocalist Joe Elliott, bassist Rick Savage and guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell - had access to a stage extension where they played "Two Steps Behind." Just prior, Elliott tipped his hat to the Osmonds with an excerpt from "Crazy Horses."

The band, as usual, didn't play anything from its first album, "On Through the Night," but did touch its album "High 'n' Dry" with "Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)," an acoustic sing-along version of "Bringin' on the Heartbreak," which flared into an electric ending and segued into the instrumental "Switch 625."

The band did "Photograph," "Foolin'" and "Rock of Ages" from the album "Pyromania." But it was the 1987 best-seller "Hysteria" that got the most attention. The album's title track, as well as "Animal," "Excitable," "Rocket," "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Armageddon It" were all played to the audience's heart's content.

And everything old became new again.

By Deseret Morning News 2007.

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