Denver/Englewood, CO - Media Reviews

Def Leppard, Poison, Cheap Trick @ Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre By Kyle Wagner | Link 2

Usually there are two kinds of people in the world, but at Monday night's nearly sold-out heavy metal breast-fest, there were three kinds, each one indignant because Cheap Trick, Poison or Def Leppard should have been the headliner.

Obviously, Cheap Trick should have been the headliner (or at least had its name on a marquee somewhere?). The band, still composed of its original lineup, just released "The Latest," a solidly creative effort on an indie label that alternates pop-funk with infectious ballads and a few old-style rockers. What have the other two bands done for us lately? Well, aside from the truly impressive gym work of Def Leppard's Phil Collen that allows him to rock shirtless and "Rock of Love" from Poison's Bret Michaels?

But the real question from Monday night's show is: Since when do heavy metal concerts start on time? The tickets said 6:30 p.m., and by 6:31, Cheap Trick was playing its ridiculously short but nonetheless crowd-pleasing set filled with old favorites. And by 7:15, they were done.

On the way to the show, our group vied for most heavy metal cred. The winner? Tonya, hands-down, with an original Poison jean jacket still sporting pins of each band member and a photo of a 7th grade classmate in the pocket with these words written on the back: "Hey locker partner" stay sweet and a metal fan, your BF Coleen," with the word "Poison" scrawled in a lower corner.

So it wasn't hard to figure out which kind of person Tonya was. And Poison gave her "Something to Believe In" as a tribute to the military, sincerely thanking us all for supporting Michaels' VH1 show and sending up poofs of fire for dramatic emphasis.

As if on cue, the faintest of weepy rains began during "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," and the nostalgia was heightened by the fact that this audience actually pulled out real lighters with which to show the love back. But the reason to see Poison is still "Nothin' But a Good Time," as raucous and rockin' as it gets, with the front row beginning the shirt removal and bra-throwing, and the band stretching its limited musical talents as far it could.

And then it was time for the greatest rock and roll band ever. Oh, sorry, it just seemed that way, based on Def Leppard's slick, over-stylized entrance. They launched into a jamming version of "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)" before taking us all to Dullsville with a lackluster "Animal" and then "Nine Lives" from last year's "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge."

But then it was either having to belt out "Hysteria," "Armaggedon It," and then "Photograph" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me" - the latter two of which were just plain fun - that just about did Elliott in, or it was the throng of half-naked women (hey, he is 50), but he struggled through the rest of the set to hit the hard edges the songs required.

But because the audience was belting out the tunes so loudly, no one even seemed to notice.

By Denver Post 2009.

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