Philadelphia, PA - Media Review Quotes
By Ethan Prater
And while yes, the new album X is a dog (or cow - which is the bad quadrant in the BCG matrix?), and the first half of the show comprised a fair amount of undistinguished and indistinguishable material from that issue, the band did play all of their hits in generally recognizable forms.
Although X is technically the band's ninth release, for all practical purposes this is a three-album band: the defining 1980s titles Pyromania and Hysteria, trailed by 1999's Euphoria, a surprisingly listenable return to form.
All of us in the rather sparse audience - the Sixers sold out the adjacent First Union Center, while we had the freedom to sprawl across multiple seats - were of course waiting for the defining arena rock anthem, "Pour Some Sugar on Me." Unfortunately guitarist Phil Collen, who has performed this song thousands of time, started off in the wrong key, perhaps a tuning problem with his instrument, and never got it together.
By The Wharton Journal 2003.
Read the full review at - wharton.upenn.edu
By Scott Hamilton
But that did not happen as the band walked onto stage to and proceeded to rip through the first five songs (in order) of 198's High 'N' Dry - opening with Let It Go.
One of the nights finest moments occurred as Joe Elliott (singer) started to say that the next song, current single Long Long Way To Go, was dedication to the British and American troops fighting in Iraq. Almost on cue, someone threw a small American flag onto stage which Elliott hung from his microphone stand, Steven Tyler style The biggest surprise was the reception the band got when it launched into the song that helped bring Def Leppard back to the mainstream, Promises, off of 1999's Euphoria.
With a furry, the band ripped through Rocket, Photograph, Animal, Armageddon It, Pour Some Sugar On Me and Rock of Ages before exiting the stage. As if the hits couldn't get any better, the band came back on the stage for a two song encore of Love Bites, and Let's Get Rocked.
With over 20 years in music, Def Leppard has not lost a thing live. The band sounded tight as ever and Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell broke off some killer guitar solos.
Scott Hamilton 2003.
By Patrick Berkery
Unlike most hits of that vintage, which have aged like rotting Swiss cheese, Def Lep's Reagan-era anthems went down like a finely aged wine. "Photograph" and "Animal" were majestic, all soaring hooks and scrappy riffs. The big-bottomed "Women" still sounded like a futuristic Led Zeppelin song. And the jaunty shuffle "Rocket" and the foursquare boogie of "Armageddon It" displayed the band's glam-rock roots in fine fashion.
The early part of the set didn't lack firepower either, as drummer Rick Allen, who lost his left arm in a 1984 car wreck, played an acoustic kit hot-rodded with electronic triggering devices, and the twin-guitar burn of Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell ignited the opening salvo of "Another Hit and Run" and "High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night)."
By The Inquirer 2003.
Read the full review at - inquirer.com
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