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Wednesday, 10th August 2011
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St. Louis, MO - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - By Curt Taft

For my first show of the tour in Chicago a few weeks ago, the stale setlist was overshadowed by getting front row seats and getting to see "Undefeated" live for the very first time.

And considering they hadn't changed the setlist since then, I was wondering just how much I would enjoy the show in St. Louis. I've hit a point where I don't expect much change and I'm going to try my best not to be as disappointed by them as I have been in the past. It's just not worth it!

So I went into tonight's show hopeful, but not as concerned. I was just going to take the show for what it was and alter my Lep concert plans for furture tours.

Thanks to more construction and traffic, I arrived right when Heart started their set. They played the exact same setlist as Chicago, which was good and bad. Once again, I enjoyed the bulk of their main set, but their encore break and choice of encore songs left me unsatisfied.

Around 9:30, it was Leppard time. They hit the stage once again with "Undefeated," and I loved every minute of it. I make sure to enjoy it since it could very well be the highlight of the setlist compared to everything else they had been playing.

Once "Let's Get Rocked" kicked in, I broke out the camera. I figured if I'm bored with the hits, I might as well get some good pictures! I had seats in the 12th row straight away from Phil, so I was able to get some decent shots. On a side note, this show is one of few out of my now 25 shows where I've been on Phil's side instead of Viv's.

The show continued at its standard pace through "Animal" and "Foolin'."

I was so busy snapping pictures that I almost didn't catch the significance of what happened after "Foolin'." In Chicago, the lights stayed down when "Foolin'" ended and then the intro to "Love Bites" kicked in. But in St. Louis? The lights came on.

And then Joe and Phil went walking out to the end of the catwalk.

Suddenly it hit me. SOMETHING WAS CHANGING!

Joe gave Phil a quick intro, and then he ripped into "Let It Go." The song sounded absolutely fantastic and was the highlight of the night for me. First time I've seen them play that song since the Bloomington, IL show in October of 2006. The crowd was clapping along and enjoyed the hell out of it.

The rest of the setlist was standard, but I was having a blast. One little change in the set (an addition at that) made all of the difference in how much I was enjoying the show. Plus it added some rock to the set that I think it badly needed. I could tell the guys were enjoying it too. I know they have fun with what they do, but you know they have to really enjoy playing something different every once in awhile. No matter how much they may like playing those hits over and over again, anything fresh has to be welcome.

"Rocket" was extended by a little more than it was in Chicago after Phil started the intro riff 8 bars late and there was more breathing room after the guitar solos as well.

The band was in a very playful mood tonight. A beach ball was bouncing around at one point. Joe kicked it off the catwalk soccer style one time, then bounced it on his head for awhile during another song. The ball got bounced up to the catwalk during the acoustic break and actually hit Viv in his guitar and mic stand, but he just laughed it off.

Joe and Phil also had some fun playing the intro riff to Heart's "Barracuda" prior to "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" as they had done in Chicago.

The weather in St. Louis was much more kind than it was in Chicago. It was in the lower 70's, or even perhaps the upper 60's. It made a world of difference as Joe was able to sing "Photograph" to perfection. He sounded extremely strong throughout the entire show.

The band ended with "Rock Of Ages" as usual and spent quite awhile on the catwalk saying goodnight. Rick was even nice enough to stop and sign someone's "Adrenalize" long box. He and Joe were the last to leave the stage. The show came to an end at 11:06 PM.

And just like that, my 25th Def Leppard show was over. The crowd was great and looked to be near capacity. And the change in the setlist made a world of difference. Great, great show.

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