Media Review - Def Leppard and Poison Pour Sugar on Oklahoma City By Steven Anthony

For the last two months, Def Leppard and Poison have been touring arenas and outdoor venues on the Rock of Ages tour. Supported by Lita Ford, the show stopped at Oklahoma City's Zoo Amphitheatre last night bringing with it a hearty dose of nostalgia but more importantly fun.

Def Leppard and Poison have hit the road together before (as recently as 2009), but the two bands seem to have really hit a sweet spot this time around. Managing sell-out shows in most markets, it's clear that people still want to hear this music and the bands are more than happy to deliver.

Lita Ford kicked off the show with a concise set of her most well known tracks. She got off to a rough start with a cover of Elton John's The Bitch Is Back, but recovered nicely for the rest of her set. She performed the title track to her most recent album Living Like A Runaway, but the crowd was far more interested in Close My Eyes Forever and Kiss Me Deadly. While the audience was definitely there for Poison and Def Leppard, Lita Ford helped add just a little more punch to an already solid tour.

After a short set change, Bret Michaels & Co. arrived. Decked out in his standard cowboy hat and scarf, Michaels comes across as extremely likable on stage. With more charisma than any human being would ever need, he was all about crowd interaction and the audience couldn't have been happier. The band has been playing the same set for a few years now and they have the stage show down to an art.

Predictably Every Rose Has Its Thorn turned into a lighter-fueled mass sing-a-long, but Unskinny Bop and Talk Dirty To Me also got the crowd pumped up. The band closed with Nothin' But a Good Time, which also seems to be the mantra they follow. Yes, the music is very much a product of the 80s, but the crowd loved it and the band seemed more than happy to be there.

As the temperature settled into the low 80s and a full moon rose over the massive stage of the Zoo Amp, Def Leppard finally hit the stage. Rising from a massive, two-platform setup, the band kicked off a nearly two hour set with Undefeated from last year's Mirrorball record. The band - with original members Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Rick Savage and Rick Allen along with longtime guitarist Vivian Campbell - sounded phenomenal, bringing their biggest hits to life for the massive crowd.

Joe Elliott's voice is in fantastic shape, still possessing his recognizable tone and range. When paired with great harmony work from the rest of the band, the songs sounded exactly like they do on record. The Hysteria LP (which just celebrated a 25th birthday) was well represented, with the band playing 8 of the record's 12 songs. All of the hits were there (Rocket, Love Bites, Hysteria, etc.) and the band even pulled out the deeper cut Gods of War which went over well with the audience.

About halfway through the show the band stripped things down for an acoustic medley, mixing together parts of You Can't Always Get What You Want, When Love and Hate Collide, Two Steps Behind and a few other songs. The five members surrounded each other while sitting on top of a few instrument cases, relying just on their musical talent and less on the massive stage production they had going on. It was a nice break in the set and the audience ate it up.

The band closed the main set with Photograph and the always classy Pour Some Sugar On Me, which inspired more stripper dancing and boob-flashing than you'll see at just about any other concert. Pour Some Sugar On Me easily got the loudest reaction of the night and the sleazy, sticky stripper-groove remains one of the most recognizable 80s tracks around.

The band came back out for a single encore which fittingly, was Rock of Ages. The ode to rock and roll sounded as fiery as it ever has, with the added voices of several thousand in the crowd creating the perfect atmosphere for the show to end on.

There's something to be said for any band that has maintained the ability to tour and still draw in crowds like Def Leppard and Poison have. Say what you will about the music, but the two bands have their fans (there are a lot of them) and they know how to put on a show.

By Steven Anthony @ Antiquiet 2012.

Media Review - Def Leppard / Poison / Lita Ford By David Huff

Back in the '80s, as was often the case, some rock bands were built to last, like Def Leppard. Many more were built for the moment, like the spawn of Sunset Strip, Poison. The British rockers lived up to their billing by selling more than 25 million records in the U.S. alone. As for Pennsylvania to L.A. transplants, they didn't get the memo. Not only did they manage to record three straight multi-platinum albums during the last half of the '80s, they proved over the last two decades they were indeed made for the long haul.

The combination of Def Leppard and Poison and on the road sharing the same stage together would have drawn scorn and ridicule back in the day. However, with the dawning of a new age in music - and an aging public totally turned off by today's watered down version of forgettable rock music - there's a greater appreciation for bands born and bred in the '80s. Today, this unlikely tandem is not only packing in arenas and amphitheaters, it's creating a new generation of fans for both groups. This particular Friday night, these two former hair bands - one spandex the other totally glam - sold out the venerable Zoo Amphitheatre in Oklahoma City.

Kicking off the evening was veteran female rocker Lita Ford. Well, I should say thought she would be the one starting the evening off. The promoter, Howard Pollack, took to the stage to ostensibly introduce Ford to the audience. Instead, he lamented about losing his contract to run the facility, which he had done for over three decades, due to city politics, and his promise to be back. Lita Ford stood on the side of the stage with a stunned look on her face wondering if the promoter would ever say her name. Finally she exclaimed, "Hey, you going to introduce me or what?" Pollack kept on talking and LIta just started playing the opening chords to her remake of the Elton John classic, "The Bitch is Back". It was an appropriate way to take the stage, and end the promoter's soulful lament.

The festive mood of the crowd on this rare blue moon night was starting gear up while Ford ran through her short set. She performed three songs off new album, Living Like a Runaway, including the aforementioned Elton John song, the title track and "Relentless". The '80s rock goddess closed the show with her two biggest hits, "Kiss Me Deadly" and "Close My Eyes Forever." And then it was time for Poison.

Without a doubt, Bret Michaels, bassist Bobby Dall, drummer Rikki Rockett and guitarist C.C. DeVille are the most dysfunctional group of musicians on the planet. You would think that since Bret Michael Sychak, Robert Harry Kuykendall and Richard Ream have known each other since their teens, they'd get along as time marched on. And, since they plucked Bruce Anthony Johannesson out of obscurity, he'd be a grateful team player as well. Let's just say Bret and Richard never had a physical confrontation with one another. The other two, well, you can Google those warm and fuzzy moments Bret had with his two fellow band mates. Despite the rampant animosity that persists within this band outside of their yearly summer romps, on stage these four are definitely brothers in arms.

This evening, the singer proved to be a masterful ringmaster for the traveling circus he commands. Though I'm sure Bret would rather be on stage performing Poison music with his own band, this consummate showman made sure to give his fellow teammates their proper due throughout their 10-song set list that included two solos by DeVille and Rockett. He also did a brilliant job connecting with this packed house as well.

Michaels' stints on three reality shows - Rock of Love, The Apprentice and Bret Michaels, Life As I Know It - has endeared him to millions of people the past five years. His charitable work on behalf of the American Diabetes Foundation, as well as his unapologetic support for this nation's armed forces, has also contributed to his popularity, and subsequently Poison's as well. And let me tell you something, there were 10,000 fans strong singing every song the band performed.

There were many people in the crowd that weren't even born, or were just mere toddlers, when the band launched into the first song, the 26-year old "Look What the Cat Dragged In." From that point on, it was nothing but a good time, which incidentally, was the name of the tune that ended the night for Poison. Again, you have to give this band its due for creating a lasting legacy with music from just three albums that were routinely dismissed by rock critics upon their release. Poison is still here doing their thing. The critics who panned the band are nothing but torn pages from a distant past.

The real draw of the night, without a doubt, was Def Leppard. They were the absolute kings of pop metal in the '80s. Two of their albums, 1983's Pyromania and its follow up, 1987's Hysteria, earned these melodic British musicians the distinction of being one of only five rock bands to have two original studio albums sell over 10 million copies in America. Tonight, 11 songs from those two epic records would contribute to half the tunes on the evening's set list.

Tonight's show was also an ode, sort-to-speak, to the genius of guitarist Steve Clark, who died in 1990 from alcohol and drug abuse. The music he helped co-write appeared on 17 of the 23 songs performed this evening. That in no way is a knock on his replacement, Vivian Campbell, who has been with the band over two decades now. It does reveal, however, how deeply felt his loss was by the other band members when it came to his creative input. He was a key contributor to Def Leppard's musical brilliance that dominated both MTV and radio until his unfortunate death.

With a walkway from the main stage protruding several feet out into the crowd, it brought the band up close and personal with the audience in more ways than one. Singer Joe Elliott, guitarist Phil Collen and bassist Rick Savage took full advantage of the situation. They all took turns 'walking the plank' into an endless sea of outstretched arms. Elliott in particular enjoyed singing on the extension, leading the appreciative audience in numerous sing-a-longs of the Def Leppard hits he helped create.

As the band came out for the encore, "Rock of Ages", the second full moon of August proved to be a very bright beacon in this very starry, starry night. The rare occurrence also served as a reminder to just how brilliant the music they heard tonight truly is. And yes, it's a fact that a great number of people in attendance tonight were not born when Def Leppard first started 'bringing on the heartbreak'. By night's end, however, the twinkle in their parent's eyes had definitely grown up, and into, the same screaming adults mom and dad once were. It was a blue moon indeed!

By David Huff @ Jam Magazine Online 2012.

Media Review - By

By @ 2012.

Reviews from the 2012 Oklahoma City show.