Monterrey, Mexico - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - By Def Leppard show at Monterrey City Fest Review By Carlos Gonzalez

Oeee... oe oee oeeeeee Leppaaard... Leeeppard!

This is what people was screaming while the so called Deftones were performing in the other stage prior to the Def Leppard appearance in the first edition of the Monterrey City Fest. It is a scream very used in soccer games (when audience is happy about their team) but it was adapted with the "Leppaaaard" ending... People was craving for their mighty leps. They couldn't wait. They just wanted the other band to finish his noisy thing and that someone let the leopards out. Now.

Since we arrived to the event it was very clear who was the important artist there. It's something not only related with who is the head liner. It has to do with who they this 15 000 people (according to official figures) really wanted to see. Who they really wanna get rocked by? And I know this because there were a lot of people with Def Leppard t-shirts that made this point clear. And the scream mentioned was sonic proof of that.

Even the casual listeners and the fans of other artists understood this too: the main dish, the real buffet, it was still to come. It was a rocker one, a classic English band that would blow their minds with their big and countless hits. Even some of this casual listeners expressed literally: "your leppards rocked", "good show", "that's really good music", "I liked them, and I had higher expectations", some of them said.

All of this are ingredients that made this show a little different. It was a fest and there were a variety of audiences and ages hard to blend in just one event. In fact, it had this slogan: Cultures fusion... It's the first time I see DL in a festival, by the way. I don't know if the fest really achieved that; what I can testify is that the head liner and his fans made very clear they were there, and they rocked the place. And casual DL listeners and no fans noticed.

"Hola amigos, buenas noches! We wanna see some hands in the air"

That was the first line Joe told the audience during the show, while the powerful Let it Go was played. And he said very little during the rest of the night, since the schedule was very tight. In Mty there's a curfew to end massive events at 2 a.m. tops, and it was exactly that hour when it finished. So they let the music do the talking, as we all know.

Too late for the schedule

It was song after song. There was no time for more. BUT, there's something here to emphasize: right before "Too Late For Love", the cheer mentioned at the beginning surfaced AGAIN. And it surprised the band. We know the leppards love to hear this kind of reaction. This time it came to the point Joe delayed the start of the song to listen to the audience. They had to continue, due to the schedule reasons, but for a moment, 10 or 15 seconds, it was fantastic being part of this cheer and see the band listen to it... Front row, by the way.

Not too late for love

It was not the best Def show I've witnessed, not even in Mexico, nor the longest, nor the best sound or execution. But for me, this one had a lot of meaning, believe me. Love meaning... In some song, which will remain unnamed, there was an intense love experience because it's the first time I had female company at a DL show and that's all I will say about that. Intense indeed...

About the show as it is: I noticed Joe's mic a little low in the two first songs. It got much better during Animal. I don't know if it's just me, but in my opinion the PA volume was a little low in general. Not bad equalized, but not as high volume as in other shows/venues. This could be due to the fest layout, the PA used, etc. The other die hard fans didn't notice so it could be I'm wrong.

Vivian's guitar during "Too Late for Love" riff sounded a little weird. It was very clear some soundboard adjustments had to be made. Remember this was a fest and there wasn't any sound check. Loved that a lot of video backgrounds used in "Viva! Hysteria" shows were presented here, so fans that couldn't make it to Vegas could live the experience. I love the "Rocket" video background. It was great to see again that wall with all this vintage TV's. Animal video background is great too, with this neon casino and bar lights. It was great hearing Joe's solo voice during the end of "Make love like a man".

People's major response were for Two Steps Behind, Hysteria and Pour Some Sugar on Me. During Two Steps the video background used was the one for "Love and Affection" from Viva Hysteria. The musical highlight for me was this "Bringing on the heartbreak" version, half acoustic, half electric. That was new on my Def history. At the end, it was a classic hits setlist blended with a touch of Viva Hysteria.

Untaken photos and trades

As usual in my DL reviews, I have some exclusives/anecdotes... Eduardo, Pepe, Socrates, me and my wife went to receive the band at the Mty airport (as it can be seen in the video about this). The legendary guitar from 2 years ago, called "Ginger" (the one Joe refused to sign), was there too. We took pictures with it. But this time we had our own stories. And they are like this:

Malvin accepted the night before was tequila night in Mexico City. Eduardo made this special t-shirt for Vivian. It was purple, with the DL logo and the words "Fuck Cancer" (due to Vivian’s cancer, obviously). During the airport scene, Eduardo told Viv to look at it and he smiled. At the hotel's bar, were seated Vivian, his wife, his guitar tech, Savage, Malvin and some other crew members.

Since Dave Wolf, Viv's tech, saw Eduardo's t-shirt he wanted it. Eduardo said "I can give it you, but what the hell I'm gonna wear?" At the end they made a trade. Dave gave Eduardo a Crew Member t-shirt in exchange. There's photo of all of us with Dave and Eduardo wearing the t-shirts. I suppose Dave wanted it to support Vivian. After the trade, Dave revealed the new album really rocks and has 7 songs finished now. Interestingly enough, he even commented he restores Joe's 1957 Chevy during his free time. "There's bills to pay, you know", he said.

Rick was at the bar just a few moments and went to his room. We couldn't talk to him. But Vivian was the star there. After he finished his drinks, he approaches to us and said if we wanted to take some photos (!!!) Hell, yeah!, and took pictures with everyone.

But, in life, as in Def Leppard, shit happens! I supposedly took a picture of my friend Socrates and Vivian, and when he wanted to check it out on his cell phone, there was no picture at all. I can't describe how I sorry I was. But later we had the chance to take it again, this time with my Nikon camera and not with a fn' cell phone.

Vivian also signed any memorabilia we had and at the end he gave us guitar picks for everyone... That's a classy guy or what? As I told my comrades, the whole experience was a road movie, where we knew the end from the beginning (the DL show), but the road before it, was... something to remember.

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