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Saturday, 8th September 2012
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Mexico City, Mexico - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - "Hysteria" In Mexico City 2012 By Carlos Gonzalez

The Pilgrimage

The trip for me began very early in Guadalajara. At 8 am boarded a bus to Mexico City. Arrived around 2:30pm. And then, to the subway heading to the "Arena Ciudad de Mexico", a new arena of 300 million dollars cost. After some photos of the venue, I talked to some fans. I discovered there was a bus with 50 people who traveled from Guadalajara too just to attend the show. There was people from Toluca, Veracruz and other cities. There was a group of 6 people in their 40's who flew from Guadalajara too. Even some couple in their 50's returned to Guadalajara in the same bus with me. That'd be at 1am of sunday and 90 minutes after the show ended. So I was there really just for the show.



But the first one to arrive, at 6am of this memorable saturday, was a guy who was slept on the floor covered with the mexican flag and the union jack sewed and with the Def Leppard name painted above both flags. The guy was so early, he said when he woke up, just to make sure he'd be the first to enter to the floor/standing area and the get to the front row. And so it was. I have a picture of me with the flags in the background. For me, being early (3pm) paid off, because some employee of the arena gave us a green bracelet, which meant that we were the first ones to come over and we'd enter before to the standing area. Having this bracelet, didn't need to remain in line, so I could move, and that leads us to the following...

Soundcheck Spotted

We were talking outside the venue. Just relaxing. The arena doors were still closed. And suddenly, around 4pm, the soundcheck starts. It sounded low, basically just noise. But then, this fan from Toluca tells me that there's some spot in the arena store where you can hear like you were inside the arena, and there was an alluminum wall with little circles where we could see some of the stage and the screens being tested. I have recordings of this. Hysteria, Let it Go, the riff of Wasted, and the acoustic set were played. I guess Phil played Wasted. Joe said something after the riff, but I couldn't hear it well. So, I got to hear my favorite song, Hysteria, twice. I recorded Let it go and the acoustic set. It's a very sneaky video, just the image in the little circle of the alluminum wall. The important thing is the audio.

YouTube Videos Link



Unexpected Fame

Helen received and guided the people for the Meet & Greet. All of them had arrived in time (4:30pm), except one person. A bloke called Rodrigo Acuña. She even came to the doors and asked for him. Nothing. Then we talk a little bit with her. I wasn't in the M&G list, but as a fan I wanted to talk to Helen, ha. She seemed a little bit surprised of being recognized. I said to her: "Yes, you're famous too now". She smiled and took pictures with some fans and went back inside. Later, the so called Rodrigo finally appears. And it was an entire family. He, his wife and two little kids, a boy and a girl (yes, you know where I'm going). They just made it in time. Little we knew at the moment that some of them would become unexpectedly famous too.

Once we were inside I got myself a good spot and remained there till the show. I mean 2 hours just standing there. I decided to stay in the middle of the thrust to have a close up of the acoustic set. And so it was. Right next to me, in the front row, there was this family, again! They had to be careful with the kids, to avoid some hitting or being pushed. So, as a recomendation of the security guys, the kids were seated all the time in the edge of the barrier. Being seated like this made them be as high as any adult. That was a factor for them to be spotted later, in both shows, Poison and Def Leppard.

The Show

I was a little worried. The arena was at half capacity 5 minutes before the show. I didn't know if there was traffic or what was the reason. But in 5 minutes, everyone missing arrived. Sold out, packed to the roof, literally. This new arena has no 2, but 3 decks, plus 2 box decks. So the final number is 22,300 people. Poison finally got onstage. Very good show. Brett always smiling, moving fast all over the thrust, puttin' himself on his knees so he could shake hands of fans. Some mexican flags were thrown at him and he posed to the cameras showing them. People were very excited, jumping and singing along all the time. Perfect way to start the perfect night. Nothin' But a Good Time is a good way to close their setlist, lettin' you wanting more... As it has been documented, Poison played exactly 50 minutes, in this case from 8:10 to 9pm. No Lita Ford.

Do You Wanna Get Rocked?

So, how do you top this? Well, with experience, good showmanship and good rock. 9:20pm starts the countdown in the screens. Only 2 minutes for the show. People screams. When the countdown got to 10 secs, people counted it loud: diez (ten), nueve (nine), ocho (eight), etc. Undefeated starts. Sadly, didn't got a major response, just the regular emotion of the opener song. Rocket is 2nd and the ovation roars... And the thing goes on, hit after hit. There was one novelty: the former Rock On intro, the bass solo, was now the intro for Gods of War. Good to hear that again. In the setlist is marked as Bass Solo, and I know that because I have one of the setlists. It was excellent for us die hard fans to have a little surprise, since we know everything, ha. The acoustic set is just the coolest thing. You can see it 1000 times on line, but to live it, being there, is something else, especially when you're just 2 yards from the band! This was the highlight for me. I was pointing out to Phil and singing along during all the acoustic set, and for a moment, since I was in the front row and right in front of him, he seemed a little bit surprised I knew all the lyrics. Take "Now", for instance. But a die hard fan knows all the lyrics, always, hehe.

In general, I think the band was a little surprised for the people's response. The audience was crazy almost all the songs. Two Steps Behind got a huge response. Hysteria, Photograph, Let's Get Rocked, Animal and Rocket too. And, obviously, one of the things that'll be remembered for a long time is the little boy who got up onstage during Armaggedon It. As I said, I was right next to the boy's father. You should see his face when Joe took the boy. BUT, here's an EXCLUSIVE: his mother missed the whole thing. She took the little girl to the bathroom and didn't see any of this! I guess A LOT things can happen to your kids or to your loved ones when you simply go to the bathroom. When the show ended I said to the mom not to worry, I was sure there'd be a lot of videos in youtube about the unexpected fame of his son. Incredible she missed this... Come on...

Joe said that this was the premiere night of the tour, because there was so much people and so loud and remarked it was their first time in this new arena. "It's just wow", he said. As you can see in the videos, Joe remembered that it's Hysteria's 25th anniversary, Adrenalize's 20th anniversary and 20 years since Vivian joined the band.



I got 3 guitar picks with Rick Allen's signature and the setlist. It was definitely the best show in Mexico, at least since the Adrenalize tour (which I didn't witness). Better than the Slang tour and the 2005 shows... That's a fact!



Fan Review - By Luis Díaz/Mexico City

I have no words to explain it… I'm 17 and yesterday was my first time seeing to Def Leppard on stage. I like some songs by Poison, my favourite one is "Look what the cat dragged in", but we were late and I couldn't listen to it. It doesn't matter because I had a great time listening to their hits. I think Bret is a great singer and musician, nevertheless, it was a "mini-concert" they played for only 45 minutes, at 9:00 pm they left us.

On a countdown to zero, we were waiting for Def, we just wanted to shout, sing, etcetera. I had seen in another show that they come with a flag (UK), but this time I didn't see it. I'm influenced by them and British culture, the environment was totally about it. I want to tell you how we felt.

They started with Undefeated. I got excited with Animal, such an amazing song! Gods of war was excellent. I just couldn't stop singing. I enjoyed the Mexico City Arena, it's very elegant, comfortable and organized. By the way, I want to buy a guitar with the UK flag.

They finished with Rock of Ages. If you ask for my opinion, I really like "Slang" but they didn't sing it. They showed us that they loved Mexican people, and we showed them that we love their songs. At the end, I was really beat! and my happiness was bigger! I don't know if they'll come back soon, but anyway, I've got to say--- THANK YOU FOR GIVING US THE BEST NIGHT OF OUR LIVES…

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