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Thursday, 19th July 2012
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Chicago/Rosemont, IL - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - By Curt Taft

Do I know this band, or what?

As stated in my (glowing!) Kansas City review, I originally wasn't going to go to that show. I went to Kansas City in 2011 and it wasn't worth it.

But this year, being the fifth show of the tour, I went to Kansas City just in case something was in the set then that wouldn't have made it all the way to Chicago, which without KC, would have been my first show of the tour.

My girlfriend and I headed three hours north to the Allstate Arena in Rosemont. We had been here in April for a Van Halen show and sat on the upper level, but for Leppard... We were on the floor in row 14 near the center. Turns out we were only four or five rows from the end of the catwalk.

Lita Ford took the stage a little early and played a quick six song set, one song shorter than Kansas City. She was done at 7:25, so things were already ahead of schedule.

But it seemed to me that the time between her and Poison was longer than it was in KC. Their set was the same as Kansas City except for dropping their (terrible) cover of "We're An American Band" and moving the drum solo's position. Sitting through the performance was a lot tougher this time than it was in Kansas City. The only thing that really made me sit up and take notice was Ricki Rockett having what I assume is his father's American flag with him for the entire show, as his dad had just passed away a few days prior and I believe the funeral was earlier in the day. So props to him for being able to go and play a show after going through that.

I had gotten word via Twitter that Leppard had been trying to hit the stage earlier, even as early as 9:10, but they didn't quite make it. It was probably around 9:18 that they took the stage with "Undefeated."

The set flowed along after that. In a twist, Joe noticed I was wearing my Man Raze shirt and pointed me out to Phil prior to "Let It Go." After a thumbs up from Phil, Joe introduced him as "Phil Collen of Man Raze and Def Leppard" and they tore through a great rendition of "Let It Go," always a highlight.

Just a show before this one, they had unsurprisingly dropped "It's All About Believin'" and added the dreadful, way overplayed, go-to-rotater "Make Love Like A Man." I was really, really hoping for "It's All About Believin'" to return, or maybe even something like "Promises" (which had been rehearsed in the weeks leading up to this show) or even "Slang." I had good luck with "Slang" in Chicago back in 2003, as I got to see the very first play of the song in the US on that tour.

But... My luck wasn't there at this show. "Make Love Like A Man" was played and quite honestly, after Viv started the opening riff, I don't even remember the song. I got on my phone and headed to Twitter to provide the setlist update (and may have accidentally written "Rocks Off" instead of "Make Love Like A Man").

This also ruined my streak of only having to hear MLLAM basically every other tour-year, as I had heard it in 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, and 2011 (skipping 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2009).

I had to be thankful though. This is EXACTLY why I went all the way to Kansas City early in the tour. Had I not, I would have been pissed that once again, the newest song in the set was dropped by the time my first show came around.

Still, seeing MLLAM instead of something better took me out of the show for a bit... I didn't come back in until about halfway through "Love Bites."

"Let's Get Rocked" followed, and then I waited for Joe to leave the stage along with Viv and Phil. But he didn't. And Rick started playing a steady beat on the drums. I was worried that "Gods Of War" had been dropped. Instead, it was just a very awkward opening to the song, as Joe headed down the catwalk to get the audience clapping along. Then Sav came in with the bass. The whole thing felt disjointed and forced. It took me out of the song for a second. The intro to "Gods Of War" is sacred! Don't talk over it!

Not to mention how odd it is for Joe to go down the catwalk, try to get people to clap, and then run back behind the speakers and lift up on the riser behind the drums... I hated the 'new' intro, but was still thankful the song was still in the set. My girlfriend enjoyed it as well, as it was a song she was really hoping to see.

The show went by very quickly after that. I felt like Rick was staring at me throughout the entire acoustic medley, as I was probably one of the few people singing every word to every snippet they played.

"Women," the electric "Bringin' On The Heartbreak," and "Switch 625" were highlights as always. Then came the standard run of hits that remains virtually unchanged since 2007 to end the show.

Despite having one turd in set at the expense of a new song, it was still a great show. Joe was in fine voice and the band was on point as usual.

My only real complaint is that the sound was terrible. I put that down to the venue though, as the wooden roof didn't do it any favors. Between the crap sound inside and the clusterfuck of a parking lot outside, I'm not looking forward to returning to the Allstate Arena any time soon.

At this point, I only have one confirmed show left, in St. Louis. Hopefully the "High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night)" on Saturdays continues that long to give me yet another different set. And depending on what type of addition/rotation we see on the second leg of the tour, I just might hit Indianapolis.

As long as they don't play "Make Love Like A Man" again.


Fan Review - By Joan/Slang67

After thinking I would not be going to the show due to ticket prices, I found that I could afford nosebleed seats only about a month ago. I am SO glad I was able to get to the show. It was fantastic!

My sister and I got there just before Poison took the stage. I won't bother reviewing Poison's set, as I wasn't there to see them and I only like about 2 or 3 songs of theirs.

It's been since 1992 that I had to sit so far back from the stage and wasn't sure how much fun it was going to be. I was expecting to be further away than I ended up, so I was pleasantly surprised to find the seats weren't as bad as I originally thought they'd be. My biggest complaint of the night is about the idiots in my row who spent more time coming and going from their seats to either get beer or go to the bathroom than they did watching the show. I just don't understand paying to see a concert and then not staying in your seat and WATCHING THE BAND!

A smaller complaint is that at the very beginning of the show through to the acoustic set, everyone around was up and dancing around. Once the acoustic set happened, people around me sat down and then didn't get back up to dance around until they played Pour Some Sugar On Me. I half sat and "chair danced" because I just can't sit still when my favorite band is on the stage!

Anyway, it was interesting to sit so far back again and see the whole stage from that vantage point. The lighting and videos were really quite cool and I even saw that part of the front of the stage and the thrust lit up from underneath. It only happened for a minute or two, but it was a really cool effect.

The set list was basically the same as previous shows, but instead of It's All About Believin', they played Make Love Like A Man. The band sounded great, and even from the distance I was at, it seemed the band was having fun. The sound was kind of muddy up where I sat, but it still managed to sounded good. I could hear the audience singing along to just about every single song and, I have to say, we all sounded pretty danged good! LOL

It was great to hear Gods of War again, and Women sounded especially good. The bass really came through the mix and sounded amazing! The backing vocals sounded fantastic on Armageddon It and made the songs sound new to me. Just an all around fantastic job by the band. I just can't have a bad time at a Def Leppard show.

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