Sedalia, MO - Fan Reviews

Fan Review - Curt Taft

Following the Kansas City show on August 11, my girlfriend and I stayed in the city to relax, eat some good BBQ, and attend our first ever non-St. Louis Cardinals game as we attended the Kansas City Royals vs. Los Angeles Angels game at Kauffman Stadium on August 13.

It turned out that one Vivian Campbell also attended that game.

I was disappointed that our paths didn't cross, but we all made our way to Sedalia, MO on August 14 for another Def Leppard concert. It would be my first Def Leppard concert at a state fair since August 19, 2000 at the Illinois State Fair in my hometown of Springfield, IL. That was just my sixth Def Leppard show. Tonight would be number 38.

We had plenty of time to kill at the fair, and we tried to do just that. But the Missouri State Fair is quite a bit smaller than the Illinois State Fair, so it was hard to do. We picked up our tickets from will call and patiently waited for the gates to open.

Once they opened at 6:00, we made our way to our seats in the fourth row on Phil's side.

As the crowd was filing in, I spotted Wolfie at the side of the stage, as he's been assisting Tesla on this tour. He and another crew member got into a contest of throwing guitar picks into the crowd. He noticed that I noticed, so he threw one to me. It came straight to me, which was quite impressive considering he was on the complete opposite side of the stage. It was a Vivian Campbell pick.

I motioned to him to say 'thanks' and happily put the pick in my pocket to add to my collection later. So far, the night was off to a good start.

Once again, Tesla took the stage shortly before 7:00 and played the same set they played in Kansas City. I was hoping for even a slight set change, specifically "Song & Emotion," but it wasn't to be. I had told my girlfriend how great they are live when the tour was announced, and she's completely sold after two shows.

Styx came on right at 8:00 and also played the exact same setlist as Kansas City. I shouldn't be surprised, the set that gets taped on stage is laminated, suggesting change is rare.

I once again did my best to get into the show, but I quickly realized that watching Styx is quite similar to watching KISS, minus the costumes, pyro, and moving set pieces. In fact, the size of the stage limited Styx's stage setup at this show. But the rest of the show was damn near identical to Tuesday night's show in KC. The banter, the stage moves... My mind was going back and forth on them throughout their entire hour.

On one hand, I will give them credit for some legitimate 'classic' rock songs. Namely "Too Much Time On My Hands," "Blue Collar Man," and "Renegade." But each time I tried to enjoy them for what they were, I despised them for what they were. The synchronized guitar bobbing, the choreographed high fives, the same joking of slapping each other's asses and then pretending to be shocked at how "hard" the slap was... It was distracting.

Styx fans and casual fans surely don't notice all that or simply look beyond it, but as a non-fan struggling to get into them, it was almost a deal breaker for me. Still, I did my best to enjoy them. "Miss America" is a surprisingly heavy song live, despite being sung by the Jack Nicholson Joker.

And what is the deal with being given an astronomy lesson at these shows? Don't get me wrong, I loved astronomy in college, but I could really care less that the non-planet Pluto's FIFTH moon (so not even one of the first four) is named 'Styx.' But hey, the crowd cheered when that was announced, so either there are a lot of astronomy buffs in the crowd or they were just drunk enough at that point to cheer whenever the band name was mentioned.

What is a deal breaker for me enjoying Styx is the beyond cheesy outro song and "let's all take a bow when the song hits its peak" moment that closes each show. I can't believe I have to see this three more times this year.

Anyway, onto the main event: Def Leppard!

Since the show was being played at a state fair, the band was using the venue's lighting rig and therefore did not use the curtain for the intro. Instead, "Disintegrate" played and the lights blinded us until the band walked on stage and kicked things off with "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)." It was fitting, as many things about this show took me back to seeing the band at state fairs on the Euphoria tour.

Once "Animal" started, I got the camera out to snap some photos as I usually do during the big hits (I reserve any deep cuts for going crazy). I quickly realized the camera was just not going to cooperate as most of the photos weren't turning out. I think my proximity to the stage and the weird angle of the lightning was destroying the camera's ability to focus, but that in turn improved my own ability to focus. I gave up on taking photos and just watched the entire rest of the show.

Speaking of technical problems, the concert sound dropped out twice during "Animal," leaving only the on stage monitors to blast out the music. It was a very short occurance and never happened again, but it did cause Joe and Phil to smile at each other at the thought of the sound going out.

A moment of sheer panic followed "Animal" as I watched Joe and Phil make their way to the end of the catwalk. That meant "Let It Go" was being played, when the standard tour rotation of songs suggested that it shouldn't have been included on this night. I started to freak out, thinking my old bad luck with setlists was rearing its ugly head.

Since I (very shakily) filmed "Let It Go" in Kansas City, I took my chance to enjoy every minute of it tonight. That enjoyment took a backseat to anxiety during "Foolin'," as I was terrified of what would come next...

After "Foolin'," the stage went dark, and no one walked onto the catwalk. I gave my girlfriend my phone to film (once again with the instructions of "Don't fuck it up and don't film me rocking out like an idiot") in the even that "Paper Sun" was played. I kept a close eye on Phil's hands, as I knew if he was preparing to pluck the strings that he would be playing the intro to "Paper Sun."

Sure enough, that's exactly what I saw, and a huge smile came over my face. The very first time I saw "Paper Sun" live was at the Illinois State Fair on August 17, 1999 at just my second Def Leppard show. It was brand new at the time, all over rock radio, and I had no internet to spoil setlists for me so I was thrilled when they played it as I had hoped they would.

The very last time I saw "Paper Sun" live was just under a year later, on August 6, 2000 in St. Louis, MO at the Riverport Amphitheater. That was my fifth Leppard show, and I was 13 years old.

That means it was a break of 15 years and eight days, which covered a span of 33 shows. That is by far the longest gap between seeing any song performed live by Def Leppard (beating the previous record held by "Too Late For Love," which spanned from December 21, 2002 through April 6, 2013 - 24 shows).

It's a miracle that "Paper Sun" has been revived. I sang every word as loud as I could and the smile never left my face. It's rare that any of my top five favorite Leppard songs make into a setlist, so this was a huge moment for me.

Not surprisingly, the crowd response to it wasn't as good as it is to the big hits. Which is a shame, but I hope the band has the same attitude as me towards it: "Who cares?" While the crowd may not know the song, they still enjoyed it and I'm sure if you asked any casual fan in the crowd what song they want to hear instead of it, 99% of them couldn't give you the name of a song that isn't already in the setlist. So the band might as well throw us die-hards a bone.

From there, the show flew by. "Love Bites," "Armageddon It," and "Rock On" sounded as good as ever. I would kick "Rock On" out of the setlist in a heartbeat, but who am I to complain when I just got to see "Paper Sun" live? Besides, all things considered, I enjoy every show as much as I can these days. And that includes enjoying and singing along to "Rock On" if it must be played.

Joe made his way out to the end of the catwalk, which was full length tonight (unlike Kansas City), and played his solo version of "Two Steps Behind." That actually had a few couples slow dancing in the crowd.

"Rocket" picked up the pace before "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" and "Switch 625" added some heaviness to the show. I've seen several complaints about the sound quality for Leppard on social media. While I don't agree that it's as bad as they say, I will agree that the low end/bass may be a tad bit on the heavy side.

The crowd ate up "Hysteria" and "Let's Get Rocked," which continues to be a popular song with yours truly following my inner child's rediscovery of the song at last year's St. Louis show. It's amazing how something that was once stale is now a highlight for me...

"Pour Some Sugar On Me" closed out the main set, with Joe noticing my Down 'N' Outz shirt during the final chorus. He yelled "nice shirt!" at me before finishing the song.

After a short encore, the band returned, and Joe quickly came to my side of the stage to once again excitedly point out my shirt. He showed Phil, then headed down the catwalk to introduce Rick Allen for the start of "Rock Of Ages."

"Photograph" closed out the show and my 38th show was in the books. My countdown to number 40 will continue with my 39th show in Indianapolis in a couple of weeks before seeing number 40 where it all began...

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