Wilkes-Barre, PA - Media Review Quotes
By Alexander Choman
"Have you Ever Needed Someone So Bad?", "Photograph", "Bringin' On The Heartbreak", and, of course, "Pour Some Sugar On Me", each had a supportive chorus of thousands at Wachovia Arena singing along on every word.
Emerging as the frontrunners of the new wave of heavy metal bands from England in the late 1970s, Def Leppard put the emphasis on melody and arrived at the doorstep of MTV when each needed the other. In evidence at Casey Plaza were the cleverly crafted grooves that they tweaked just enough to capture a much wider audience base than some of their heavy metal predecessors.
Def Leppard rides a smooth metallic groove that is just short of anything too hardcore but rocks enough to rouse the savage beast in most that partake in that genre. Elliott led the band slowly but surely through songs Mutt Lange produced to perfection in the studio like High & Dry's "Let It Go" and Hysteria's "Women".
By Citzens Voice 2005
Read the full review at - citizensvoice.com
By Alan K. Stout
Musically, Leppard's members have always been great players, and guitarists Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen stepped up for notice on several occasions. The group also offered some clever use of video, as some of the live shots appeared semi-animated on a large video screen behind the stage.
Lep closed the show with a string of favorites, including "Photograph," "Animal," "Bringing on the Heartbreak" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me." Appropriately, one of the biggest songs of the night was "Rock of Ages," a true rock classic that championed the phrase "It's better to burn out than fade away." Def Leppard, 22 years after "Pyromania" sold 10 million units, has apparently done neither.
By Times Leader 2005.
Read the full review at - timesleader.com
The band also touched on music from their mega 1983 album Pyromania with Foolin' and Photograph - the band's first big US hit. Before launching into Pyromania's Rock of Ages, Joe Elliott jokingly pointed out that he can now say the 22-year old song is "the title track of our new album." The band is touring in support of a new 2 disc greatest hits collection entitled Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection.
The audience's biggest reactions came from the band's biggest rockers - Animal, Let's Get Rocked, and the more recent Promises. Def Leppard knows how to rock an arena sized crowd, even if this particular crowd was a bit sparse for an arena crowd. Estimates were placed on the attendance at 3500, but visually it seemed less than that - hard to explain for a Friday night in what's considered a strong rock market. However, the fans that did come were loud, and they made Def Leppard feel like they were playing to a packed house.
Def Leppard finished their night with an encore that featured Bringin On the Hearbreak, a song that exposed early MTV audiences to the band, and perhaps Leppard's best known song - Pour Some Sugar On Me. By the time the band brought out this song, all cylinders were firing, and the crowd was lost in melodic rock heaven. The crowd's decibel level had reached it's pinnacle and it was clear Def Leppard is welcome back in Wilkes-Barre anytime.
Overall, a more solid rock show can't be found. Def Leppard is a slick, polished machine at this point in their career. They are total crowd pleasers, and judging by the setlist, they want it that way. The band is moving on to a co-headlining tour with Bryan Adams this summer, but it's Def Leppard who will likely continue to win the audience's hearts.
By nepatoday 2005.
share this page:
explore def leppard tour history
