Toronto, ON - Media Review Quotes
The show continued after a half-hour break, and the stripped-down stage for Heart gave way to giant screens and monolithic sets of lights. Def Leppard came on to a sold out crowd and delivered a rousing rendition of 'Undefeated', one of the new tracks off 'Mirrorball'. The band kept the momentum going with high-energy performances of 'Let's Get Rocked', 'Animal', and 'Foolin'', Joe Elliott and the boys then treating the Molson Amphitheatre faithful to fan favourites such as 'Bringin' On The Heartbreak', 'Love Bites' and 'Rock On'. The band looked much like they did 20 years ago and in a nice tribute to their late band mate Steve Clark, current guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell wowed the crowd with their version of 'Switch 625', an instrumental piece that Clark wrote. Lead singer Elliott engaged the audience throughout the show thanking the fans for coming out on what would be the group's lone Canadian stop on their current 'Mirrorball' tour, at one point telling the fans in attendance that they were the best crowd on the tour to date and they should "tweet that". He also invited the audience members to become the sixth member of the group just before the band launched into an acoustic performance of 'Two Steps Behind'. Up next was the mesmerising title track from 'Hysteria' was swiftly followed by the US mega hit 'Armageddon It' before my personal favourite, the outstanding 'Photograph' had the crowd singing along before 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' brought this rousing set to a close. The band briefly leaves the stage before returning with the only encore of the night, the Def Leppard anthem 'Rock Of Ages'.
ByRocktopia 2011.
By Jason Macneil
However looking and sounding are two different things, and Elliott at times was stretching himself a bit thin on the power ballad Love Bites or Rocket, the latter oddly enough featuring images of rockets. When he didn't push himself on the softer material, particularly the two-song acoustic portion in Two Steps Behind and Bringin' On The Heartbreak, he sounded quite solid.
Thanking the fans for coming out on what would be the group's lone Canadian stop on their current Mirrorball tour, Elliott occasionally became conductor when not drowned out on Photograph and Let's Get Rocked. Meanwhile guitarists Vivian Campbell - the new guy with nearly two decades of service - and Phil Collen shone on several numbers, including a brief duelling section as Rocket concluded.
And while Rock On wasn't exactly spot on, the group redeemed themselves on Armageddon It and especially Pour Some Sugar On Me, proving you don't really need newbies when you have this many oldies.
By The Toronto Sun 2011.
Read the full review at - torontosun.com
By Anthony Sin
The show continued after a half-hour break, and the stripped-down stage for Heart gave way to giant screens and monolithic sets of lights. Def Leppard came on and delivered a rousing rendition of "Undefeated", one of the new tracks off Mirrorball.
The band kept the momentum going with high-energy performances of "Let's Get Rocked", "Animal", and "Foolin'". In keeping with the era represented by these three songs, Joe Elliott and the gang treated the Molson Amphitheatre faithful to fan favourites such as "Bringin' on the Heartbreak", "Photograph", "Rock of Ages", and five songs from Hysteria apart from the aforementioned "Animal".
Remembering a Friend
In a nice tribute to their late band mate Steve Clark, current guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell wowed the crowd with their version of "Switch 625", an instrumental piece that Clark wrote. Another nod to the band's fallen comrade was the series of photos that appeared on the giant screens as the band played "Photograph". Rather than show only current pictures, the montage featured several photos from Def Leppard's early years, a few of which included Clark.
Scoring With the Audience
Lead singer Elliott engaged the audience throughout the show—at one point, he told the fans in attendance that they were the best crowd on the tour to date, and they should "tweet that". He also invited the audience members to become the sixth member of the group just before the band launched into an acoustic performance of "Two Steps Behind".
By Suite 101 2011.
By T-MAK World
Tonight, the crowds gathered en masse to see two major acts of the stadium rock era. I was excited about this one. Heart with 30 million record sales and Def Leppard with 65 million were on the bill tonight. Unlike last week's Foreigner/Journey show, tonight's gig featured the original line-up of both bands from their glory days. The Molson Amphitheater was sold out once again (price reductions sure go a long way - thanks Live Nation) and the weather was absolutely perfect for an outdoor concert.
Like Heart, Def Leppard has had an illustrious career but on a larger scale. From 1983-1992 Leppard had three massive albums - Pyromania, Hysteria and Adrenalize with a string of ten top 40 singles. Leppard's last visit in Toronto was a couple of years ago with Poison as their opener. Def Leppard came on with a bang (literally) - they kicked off the show with a new song called "Undefeated". The audience responded as well as could be expected, but then Def Lep started a relentless six song machine gun attack with mega hits like "Foolin", "Love Bites" and "Rocket". Joe Elliott and gang slowed things down a bit in the middle with a two song acoustic set (including an awesome rendition of "Bringin' On the Heartbreak") which ignited a massive sing-along from everyone in the audience. Another five songs immediately followed ("Photograph" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me" were highlights) and the show concluded with "Rock of Ages" which clearly evidenced the longevity of classic stadium rock - almost 30 years later. When Joe Elliott introduced the final song, you can hear the joy in his voice at being able to sing the music he loves for so many years, and he vowed to continue for the next 20 years (which would make him 72 before he retired). His voice showed a bit of strain through the night and lacked the range of his earlier years but that did not bother anyone. The dual guitarists (Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell) nailed all the notes and had fun with alternating solos. Bassist Rick Savage, a founding member of Def Leppard along with Elliott, played his role perfectly and along with the one handed drummer Rick Allen kept the rhythm section rocking.
By T-MAK World 2011.
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