Perth, WA - Media Review Quotes

By Jay Hanna

Musically the band were on top of their game as they played a short but sweet set that spanned two decades, reaching back as far as 1981 for Bringin' on the Heartbreak from High 'n' Dry and extending to the present with the Tim McGraw collaboration Nine Lives from their recent album Songs from the Sparkle Lounge.

Mobile phones were raised aloft for the ballad Love Bites, but the change of pace didn't seem to suit the tone of the evening and songs such as Hysteria, Armageddon It and Pour Some Sugar on Me were met with a far more vigorous response from the crowd. The latter in particular had everyone on their feet yelling: "come on fire me up!".

And fire us up they did, putting on a show that outshone those of many younger bands gigging around today. Which just proves that there is no age limit when it comes to rock n roll.

Before exiting the stage Elliott promised the crowd there "would be a next time". "Do us a big favour," he continued. "Don't forget us and we won't forget you."

By Perth Now 2008.

Read the full review at - perthnow.com.au

Def Leppard@ Members Equity, Perth By Leannyn

Somewhere in the middle of the set all five members left the stage and only lead and rythym guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell returned, shortly joined by front man Joe Elliot. To titillate their fans they began an acoustic version of one of their very first hits, Bringing on the Heartbreak. But it was when drummer Rick Allen began his booming drums and the electrics came back to play that the crowd reached fever pitch. Then it was all swaying alcoholic singing and sloshing beer as the punters joined their front man for the chorus and for follow up track Love Bites.

Things to note; each costume change had Campbell matching his shirts to his guitar which can't be said for Collen who couldn't wait to shed his shirt so all the ladies could admire how hard he's worked over the years to keep his muscles despite the excesses of being a rock god.

As a stage band, they have retained their charisma through all the years, and they had the crowd staring at them in awe. Maybe it's the Aussie battler in all of us, but it was the drum solos of one-armed drummer Allen that really had the people cheering the loudest.

There's nothing more annoying than a staged encore but bands of Def Leppard's calibre pretty much require it. So it was no surprise that it began with Elliot posing the question, "Do you wanna get rocked?" An excellent choice for their exiting number as it pumped the crowd up one last time and made it all the more apparent that Elliot had this crowd wrapped around his little finger.

By Fasterlouder 2008.

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