Halifax, NS - Fan Reviews
By Blair Linthorne (sent in 2007)
Well, February 12th, what can I say. My first time on a plane and I'm going to meet Joe, Phil, Sav, Rick and Vivian. WOW!! Myself and my mom arrived in Halifax around 11am. We are greeted by friendly service at the Delta Barrigton and we get settled in to stroll around downtown Halifax. Not knowing what else to do we go to see how far away the Metro Center is from the hotel (a 5 minute walk). We spend some time in the mall until it was time to go back to the hotel and get ready to go to the stadium for the first time. I had earlier e-mailed a message to a friend who forwarded it to Malvin (Tour Manager), so that's how the meeting came about.
At 4pm we went to the Metro Center. I told a security guard what was going on and he phoned Malvin, who now didn't have a clue what I was doing there. Lucky for me I brought the e-mail with me to show him. He told us to wait until he came back from getting the band. While we waited Rick came in. I said hello to him, he said hi back. Next to show was Phil and Anita (very nice woman). We went up to Phil because he was signing a guitar for a fan. We talked to Anita for a bit and then I got an autograph from Phil. Vivian was next to come inside, and he seemed very surprised to see us there. Sav then came in with Malvin and he also said hello. We didn't get to see Joe (although I think he came in a van earlier while we were waiting). Finally, Malvin came and brought us to the stage for soundcheck. As we waited I asked Malvin for a picture and he agreed. I also got one with Phil and Vivian. Viv seemed to be under the weather but he was nice enough to agree to the picture. It was at this point that Malvin came out and told us that the soundcheck was cancelled because of a few of the guys being under the weather (Joe and Viv I think) but Malvin had two "after show" passes for us.....the dream was real.
Around 7 we left the hotel and went to the Metro Center. When we got into the building, we had no clue where we were but we found the memorabilia booth. There we bought two T-shirts (both with the Euphoria tour dates on back), the soccer jersey, and the tour book. After we left there we went to find out seats (not knowing that they were on the opposite side of the building). We managed to find the seats and we ready for the show to begin Joan Jett & the Blackhearts Joan Jett (supporting her new hairdo....or lack thereof) & the Blackhearts came on stage at around 8pm. They were a very good opening act for the Leps. They got the crowd involved a little (Joan Jett trying to get the crowd "barking") while doing some new stuff. I was able to look over the crowd and they seemed to be siting down throughout their set, until "I Love Rock N Roll" was played. By then it was a little too late to get into it, as this was her second to last song. But, out of all the opening acts I've seen (4 including JJ and BH), they have been the best.
As Gary Glitter's "Rock N Roll part 2" finished the guys hit the stage with a bang with "Rock Rock". The Pyromania opener is played right into the Euphoria opener "Demolition Man". There is yet to be any talk from Joe as they kick into Adrenalize track "Make Love Like A Man" with Phil singing after the guitar solo (played by Vivian). Next up was Joe's speech ("we are Def Leppard, and this is what we do") into "Women". The song is followed by Vivian's guitar intro to 1983's "Foolin". Up next was a double shot from one of the if not the biggest albums of the 80's (and of all time). "Animal" and "Hysteria" (with the David Bowie "Heroes" outro by Joe) were played. Then came the biggest surprise of the night. Joe told us we had to "go way back to the summer of 1999" for "Day After Day". As Joe said those words I thought they were gonna play 'Paper Sun', but no, to catch me (and the rest of the crowd) off guard they performed the latest single at the time (at least it was suppose to be) off of Euphoria. They followed that up with one of the biggest crowd pleasures of the night, and the title track to an album that got little or no promotion, "Slang". Then first single from Euphoria, "Promises" was then played to a great reaction from audience. The set then slowed as the big hit "Love Bites" is played with the long guitar outro played by Vivian.
Following this was the acoustic section. Joe and Phil came out and jammed on The Who's "Pinball Wizard" and Phil sung a bit of "Miss You In A Heartbeat". After Joe and Phil talked about the crowd being more into the show than the previous night (in Monton, NB where they finished one song early), Joe told us the story on how "Two Steps Behind" came to be a hit (it was basically the same story as was told on the Storytellers). The electric's came back out for the rest of the show as we are introduced to Rick Allen and "Armageddon It". Next came the song that broke the band to the top way back in 1983-"Photograph". This played right into the fun "Rocket". Next, the biggest crowd pleaser of the night "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was played. Following was the only time we will ever hear a tape used during a Lep concert as the intro to "Rock Of Ages" is played. It's time for the first encore as Joe had one question for us......"Do you wanna get rocked?". In case you don't know the first encore was "Let's Get Rocked". After the song, the band left and a lot of the people were as well, but being a part of the internet, I knew there was another song. When the band came back out the crowd (as they did all night) went crazy. The band played one final number, going way back to the High N Dry album with "Let It Go". The band said their final good-byes "Until next time, AND THERE WILL BE A NEXT TIME, don't forget us, and we won't forget you". Well Joe, that was one night I will not forget...........THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Backstage After the show we were told to wait at a certain area for the band to arrive. After about 45 min of waiting we seen Malvin so we went over to him. He then brought us backstage and there stood talking were Joe, Phil, Sav, Rick and Vivian. Malvin brought me up to Joe and introduced me. I shook his hand and got him to sign my tourbook. Then my Mom and Joe got a couple of pictures. Joe then went into a room (which later I found out he was on a computer). We then got pictures with Rick (who remembered me from earlier on in the day), Sav and Phil. Those guys are the nicest people you will ever meet. I told Phil that he was my guitar hero, which he responded with a smile "Thanks". As Rick and Phil left they said goodbye to us. I then noticed that I never got a picture or autograph with Vivian. Malvin then went to find Viv and I got my autograph and picture. After Viv left I was left without a pictures with Joe. After about an hour of waiting and talking to some people that were backstage, Joe came out and I finally got a picture with him.
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