Thin Lizzy and Def Leppard Live By Andreas Nergard

Def Leppard should not be an unknown name to anyone. The British Rockers have through a 30-year career released a wide number of successful records, among them are the super-selling Pyromania and Hysteria that gained them exhalted status during the 80s. Def Leppard has sold 65 million albums worldwide and are among five Rock bands with two albums that has sold 10 million copies each in the USA. With a very respectable hit catalog, it was quite obvious that this would become a sing-a-long night for sure!

Def Leppard is one of those few 80s Metal bands that were never killed by the Grunge wave, which appeared in the early 90s. Sure it was the darkest chapter of their history so far, but they did still sell many records and sold out venues all over the world. Now it's almost twelve years since Def Leppard were in Norway and this time they played at three different places for about fifteen thousand people. They are not forgotten among the Norwegian fans that have waited so patiently and they proved to be worth the long wait. The band is known to be a magnificent live act, and they still are! Singer Joe Elliot was the first to come out on stage yelling "Guitar! Drums!" Then the rest of Def Leppard entered the stage in front of an ecstasy-filled audience, playing one of the hit singles from their highly acclaimed 1987 release Hysteria entitled "Rocket." Following next was the legendary "Animal" before a new song from their latest release Songs From The Sparkle Lounge: "C'mon C'mon." It was a hungry band fans saw this Saturday night. Def Leppard played hit after hit to this highly pleased crowd with a joy that was contagious to the audience as well, and a great choir of six thousand people filled the venue together with Def Leppard.

The unexpected "Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)" from their second release High N' Dry was also played during the set -- quite fun to hear this one live. The band sounded awesome on this night; a fine and polished sound reached the ears of the listeners and everyone upon the stage played with the greatest passion. The two guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campell played fantasticly all night, proving to be one of the greatest guitar duos in Heavy Rock today. The power ballad "Love Bites" was a very welcomed song as well, and the lighters were held high while the sing-a-long spread out through the crowd. This song relies on its vocal harmonies and the band managed to do this perfectly. It was actually hard to believe that these guys have gotten older at all singing like this.

Lots of other great Leppard songs were played, but "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was the song everybody was waiting for, and when it blasted out through the loud speakers, the crowd went crazy. Evidentl everyone at the venue sung along with the band during this one; one of their biggest hits ever. Then fans were taken back to 1983's "Rock Of Ages," opening with the legendary words "Gunter, Glieben, Glauchen, Globen." After this one, the band left the stage. Extras were compulsory, but what songs would they play? With a hit catalog like Def Leppard has, there would be many choices. Eventually, Joe Elliot came back on stage and said "I got one question for ya - do you wanna get rocked?" It was quite obvious that the super hit "Lets Get Rocked" from the Adrenalize album would be the ending song, and again the massive crowd-choir filled the air at the venue. Then the band left the stage with the words "Don't forget us and we won't forget you."

This was truly a fabulous show and the band was praised by the six thousand strong crowd when leaving the stage. Def Leppard is a band that thrives under the spotlight and they gave fans an unforgettable show!

By Andreas Nergard @ Metal Express Radio 2008.

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