Tinley Park/Chicago, IL - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - Curt Taft

It doesn't like it was 16 months since I walked out of The Joint in Las Vegas after the final Viva! Hysteria show.

That show brought to a close a week long Def Leppard paradise vacation that changed my life.

If it wasn't for that (and a brand new album on the horizon), this year's summer tour would have been a lot harder to swallow. Def Leppard touring with (and opening for) Kiss?!?! Say it ain't so!

I usually try my hardest to avoid setlists but considering this was going to be a hits driven tour and my first show was two months in, I didn't bother this year. Instead, I bought second level seats for just two shows, Tinley Park and St. Louis, and decided to save my money for next year's proper tour (behind a new album) and the eventual return to Las Vegas. And I decided to just enjoy these shows for what they are, especially considering the circumstances surrounding our beloved guitar player.

The three hour drive to Tinley Park was rather uneventful. I was grateful for that since the last time I saw Leppard at this venue, which was in 2011, it was a nightmare to get there. Funnily enough, a song by none other than Tripping Daisy popped up on my satellite radio as I was arriving at the venue. Tripping Daisy opened my very first Def Leppard show in St. Louis in 1996.

Tonight, rather than Tripping Daisies, it was dead ones.

The Dead Daisies took the stage just before 7:00 and played a short but enthusiastic set. A couple of the tunes were catchy, but from where I was sitting, the sparse crowd wasn't too into it. At least not until the closer, a cover of some obscure band's song called "Helter Skelter."

The place filled up pretty nicely by the time the countdown for Def Leppard started. It was already feeling strange to be seeing such an event. This was my 35th time seeing Lep, but the first seeing them go on stage before another band. Darkness was rapidly approaching, so the band hitting the stage in the daylight wasn't much of a distraction. Still, Leppard really didn't have a choice in the matter, did they? Def Leppard can play in the daylight because they have the songs to accomplish such a feat. Kiss? Not so much.

But what did I know, I hadn't even seen them yet.

Def Leppard hit the stage just before 8:00, doing their best impression of Ded Flatbird opening with the very end of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again." After that, they were off with the only 'deep cut' of the night, "Let It Go" off the High `n` Dry album. Seeing that one 'open' the show brought back memories of the last time I had seen it open, way back in 2003 on the X tour.

Needless to say, the band sounded amazing. Viv looked and played great. My only complaint was the actual sound in the venue. Since I had gone the cheap route and bought tickets farther back, some of the issues with the venue itself were exposed. I was just here a few weeks ago to see Aerosmith and was in the second row, and time before that, I was front row for Def Leppard in 2011.

The second level, however, showed that the giant steel structure 'trapped' the sound over the heads of everyone on the first level in the front sections, resulting in quite a bit of echo, especially on the snare drum. It's even clearly audible in the videos I took.

Regardless of the venue's questionable sound, I got used to it and enjoyed the show. The hits began with song number two, "Animal", and never let up from there. With such a tight schedule, there was no room for banter. A leftover plus from Vegas is that "Foolin'" and even "Let's Get Rocked" had a bit of freshness to them since I had been spared those two numbers at a couple of the Vegas shows.

The only lull for the night for me was "Two Steps Behind." I wasn't the only one as a few people around me sat down during that song. I think sacrificing that one hit for another rocker of some sort would have benefitted the show, but it is what it is.

By now, I was so used to the lineup of songs that come after the half acoustic "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" that I completely forgot that "Rocket" had been slipped down to the bottom portion of the set. It was a welcome tiny surprise as it's probably my favorite of all the huge hits.

Rick's little drum solo that follows "Switch 625" is always one of my favorite moments, but I enjoyed it a little extra tonight since it was the 28th anniversary of his comeback at Donington. To think that took place just a couple of weeks before I was born...

Viv got a loud ovation during his introduction before "Armageddon It" and a second round of applause following his solo.

As always, the crowd had gotten to the point of going insane by the time "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was played, and it continued through the encore of "Rock Of Ages" and the closer, "Photograph."

At just 75 minutes, the show flew by. Once again, the band was in top form and put on a hell of a show. Three years ago, I would have complained about a setlist like this one (as I did in my review for Kansas City 2011), but Vegas changed things. Now I can enjoy shows like this for what they are regardless of the setlist.

It was amazing.

Normally this is where the show and my review would end, but... There I was, sitting in my seat, waiting for another band to come on. It just felt... Wrong. As did sitting way in the back! I felt like a naughty little die hard.

But no worries, Lep will get plenty of my money next year, I'm sure.

Anyway, the stage was switched over and a big KISS curtain dropped in front of the stage. Around 9:45, the lights went down and a video of Kiss walking out of their dressing room popped up on the screens, causing a huge applause from the crowd... Despite the fact that it wasn't even video from this venue.

Kiss hit the stage with their spider lighting rig, plenty of pyro, and a mediocre song called "Psycho Circus." Only seconds in and I was already rolling my eyes. The crowd roared every time pyro went off. Are we that easily amused??

I had to take a step back and get my mind in check. Just enjoy it, Curt... Just watch the spectacle and enjoy it.

"Deuce" followed. I don't like the song whatsoever, so it was like the band was dropping a big ol' deuce right on stage.

The first big hit of the night came third: "Shout It Out Loud." I enjoyed this one a little more, but it was at this point that I first started to notice the difference in the crowd reaction to Kiss and the crowd reaction to Def Leppard. When Leppard was on stage, the crowd was bouncing... There was movement to the song, singing along to the chorus... With Kiss, the crowd was basically a bunch of people standing there, staring at the pretty colors and fireworks.

You can call me biased if you'd like, but I think the crowd sang much louder during the Def Leppard set.

I will give Kiss credit though, they sounded a lot better than I had expected. Especially Paul Stanley. He's been known to have off nights, but I thought he was pretty solid. The unseasonably cool weather may have helped. My only gripe with him is that if I had been playing a drinking game where I take a shot every time he said "Chicago," I would have been dead from alcohol poisoning after five songs. Paul really gives Bret Michaels a run for his money in terms of kissing the crowd's collective asses.

There I go again, ragging on Kiss... Ok, when I looked past the pyro and the pretty lights and the itsy bitsy spidey and the synchronized guitar moves and the "A Night At The Roxbury" head bobbing... Kiss put on a solid show. It's just that there is so much cheese over the top of it that I feel like I need a bottle or seven of wine to go with it.

I would say maybe I'm too young to 'get' it, but there were plenty of kids in attendance (several wearing face paint), so that can't be it. I guess I just place too much value on hearing a good band play good songs.

At a concert...

Ok, let's wrap this up.

Kiss brought out all the stops for the tail end of their set. Band members flying around, more explosions, confetti, and a few of their biggest hits. By this point I was able to look past all of the gimmicks and enjoy the show. I would have liked to have heard "Strutter," but sadly it has been absent on this tour.

Still, both bands put on a hell of a show tonight and the nice sized crowd licked... Excuse me, ate it up. As Phil has said, it was a concert and a show.

The show was good. But the concert was better.

Back

share this page:

---

---