Def Leppard Tour History Fan Archive.

Media Review - Def Leppard with Poison & Cheap Trick By Jeb Wright

Tulsa, Oklahoma is loving their brand new BOK Center as it has turned the town into a 'must play' stop for major tours crisscrossing the Midwest. On August 22nd, it was Def Leppard, Poison and Cheap Trick who were cruising north from their previous nights gig in Dallas, TX. The fans came out in droves and the event was nearly sold out.

There were plenty of women roaming the hallways who should have gained modesty as the years went on, for obvious reasons, who instead chose to simply push 'em up and show em off, much to the chagrin of those whose line of vision they invaded. The younger girls did their best 'It's 1983' impersonations but, truth be told, they had much better luck teasing their hair than they did walking in spike heels. Adding a few beers to their inexperienced slut shoe wearing meant there was a lot of tripping and falling down. While the people watching was classic, the real stars of the show were the three bands who took the stage.

Cheap Trick started things off and proved, once again, that they are one of the most underappreciated, and underrated, bands walking the face of the earth. They were relegated to only nine songs but still put on a great set full of classic rock staples, including "I Want You To Want Me," "She's Tight," "Dream Police" and the set ending "Surrender." Robin Zander is an amazing vocalist and the rest of the band; guitarist Rick Nielsen, bass player Tom Petersson and drummer Bun E. Carlos are one tight unit. They deserve to be headlining ten thousand seat arenas instead of playing short nine song opening sets. They performed two excellent tracks from their new album The Latest in "These Days" and the rocking "Sick Man of Europe." One of the highlights was the opening number from Dream Police, "Way of the World."

Poison was up next. Their usual pyro heavy set was cut back to shooting flames from each side of drummer Rikki Rocket's drum riser. There was no confetti, no video screens and no real personality. The mix was terrible as CC Deville's guitar was blasting over vocalist Bret Michaels to the point where one could hardly hear the VH1 television star. During quieter moments, it became clear why Bret was down in the mix, as he sounded hoarse and struggled to sing anything more demanding than a ballad; his range was nonexistent.

The band, like Cheap Trick, only performed nine songs. Unlike Trick, however, they had time for more but chose to play guitar and drum solos instead. Both CC Deville and Rikki Rocket are average musicians and the solo sections reminded one of being at a high school dance watching friends attempting to emanate their heroes. CC has written many pop metal classics but twenty-five years down the road it remains obvious that he so wants to be Edward Van Halen.

Musically, the highlights of the Poison set were "Ride the Wind" and "Fallen Angel," both songs one tends to forget when looking at their massive amount of MTV history. "Something to Believe In" and "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" were crowd favorites and featured lengthy sing-a-longs. At the end of the day, however, Poison just didn't have it. Bass player Bobby Dall's onstage enthusiasm looked contrived and the band seemed to be four individuals sharing a stage instead of a band of brothers. Poison are much more at home in an outdoor amphitheater surrounded by their adoring public than they are in a three band setting, sandwiched in-between bands that are both more seasoned and talented than they are.

Def Leppard hit the stage and it was clear from the opening notes of "Rock! Rock! Till Ya Drop" that they owned the Tulsa crowd. They had the audience eating out of their hands the entire show. Unlike Poison, their sound was immaculate and while vocalist Joe Elliott did struggle to hit the high notes, he was left out on his own to either sink or swim. Guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell stole the show. Both looked amazing, sounded amazing and are talented craftsmen. Collen had a tiny camera mounted to the headstock of his guitar pointing down his fret board. This view on the video screen showed a finger frenzy of guitar mania every time he took a solo. Viv played a much more active role in terms of guitar solos than he has in previous years. After a decade or so in Def Leppard he may finally be comfortable showing off his talents.

Ten of the fifteen tunes were classic hits from the albums Pyromania and Hysteria. The other five tunes were the David Essex classic "Rock On," High N Dry's "Bringin' on the Heartbreak," "C'mon C'mon" from Sparkle Lounge, "Two Steps Behind" from Adrenalize and the encore "Let's Get Rocked." The musical highlights of the set were the acoustic "Two Steps Behind" and "Bringin' On the Heartbreak." The one/two/three punch of "Photograph," "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Rock of Ages" ended the regular set on a high note.

While many of Lep's songs have corny lyrics (see "Sugar," "Armageddon It" and "Rocket") one can't deny they are a talented band capable of pulling out the hit machine and delivering the goods. The set list may have been predictable, and long time fans may have loved to see more songs from High N Dry, but to blow a fun time, party band like Poison off the stage is not an easy feat. Lep showed up wanting to prove that this was their show. By the end of their set, 19,000 rock fans agreed that on this night, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Def Leppard ruled the stage.

By Jeb Wright @ Classicrockrevisited 2009.