Manchester, England - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - By TEE

WOW - What a great night, kicked off by Black Stone Cherry, who I thought were a very good opening band, lots of twirling hair and twirling guitars, and the best damn drummer I have seen in a long while., Whitesnake next up after a very impressive turnaround. Mr Coverdale hasn't been in this business all this time without knowing how to get a crowd going, very interactive set, would have liked one less ballad and Don't Break My Heart instead of the guitar duel, but otherwise a classy set from the old timer, ably supported by a very tight team behind him, the blond haired guitarist (don't know his name) was superb.

Finally the star attraction, the last time I saw the Leps in Manchester was on the Slang tour and I thought that night lacked atmosphere, the crowd not getting behind the band with their stripped down stage set. No such problems tonight, huge video screens counted down the bands tracklist finishing with " That was then, This is now" cue Rocket. This band are like a good wine, they just get better with age, as you would expect Joe struggles sometimes with some of the higher notes but the rest of the band just play better and better. The set list was pretty much as the other UK shows, but they ripped into Animal after a brilliant C'mon C'mon and that for me set the tone for the evening, no chit chat just brilliant songs, almost everyone on their feet singing and clapping. This gig wasn't advertised as sold out but it was a close as didn't make any difference.

Loved Sav's bass solo lead up to the excellent Rock On, the souped up version of Sugar and Bad Actress is a riot with some cool guitar work by Viv & Phil ( love the mirrored Destroyer Viv) Biggest shock no Promises, but I am being picky. An old Whitesnake fan stood next to me summed up the Leps gig " F*** me I didn't know they where that good" Yes they are, thank God they are coming back for a return leg. Get there if you can, you will not regret it. The only downside for me is the merchandise very poor for a band of their standing.

Fan Review - By Phil Kemp

After the quiet Birmingham crowd, I was hoping Manchester would be much better. And much better they were! The place was absoloutley packed, and people actually stood up in the standing sections!

Whitesnake went down very well indeed again tonight, and Coverdale worked the audience perfectly. A lot of crowd participation and clapping in sync. Another rocky setlist mixing old and new, and a real treat to watch again. Tonight Leppard were even better than Birmingham, and I truly believe the audience helped this. They were loud from start to finish and clapped and sang along all night. You could tell Joe was really happy about this, and the rest of the band used the "thrust" more than in Birmingham.

The setlist was the same, apart from the order being changed slightly. Would still love a few different songs, and i'll be keeping my fingers crossed. The Sparkle Lounge songs went down far better, especially "C'Mon C'Mon" which really got the audience clapping and screaming. Basically every song went down far far better tonight, "MLLAM" and "WLAHC" were well recieved, as were "Armageddon It" and "Photograph". "LGR" and "Animal" were obvious crowd favourites, but "Sugar" made the most impact all night. Not as much as Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" though (the impact that made was quite surreal!)

Leppard again were truly mesmerising! The sound, the energy, the whole package. They have it, and again showed why they were closing the show. Phil and Viv were fantastic as usual, and Viv's "Heartbreak" solo actually gave me goosebumps. Joe was even better than in Birmingham, and his voice is just stunning live. His "feel a lot beeettteeeerrrr" at the end of "MLLAM" made the place go crazy! Whilst Whitesnake were excellent, Leppard are just outclassing them. If the setlist was different, with this production, it would be the perfect show! Here's to Sheffield!

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