I'd been hearing ads on the radio for this show since April. At first I wasn't very interested, but somehow it evolved into something I really wanted to go to. And....It was awesome. Mostly I went for Cheap Trick, but I've liked Poison and Def Leppard casually for a long time.
Cheap Trick were up first, since they were just the 'special guest'. The only thing that sucked is that during the first couple songs they played, I was stuck in line getting a t-shirt. I guess I hadn't expected them to start their set at exactly 7:00. Usually the bands are like 15 minutes late. Still, I saw most of their set. Everybody sounded great, and Rick Nielsen was hilarious. Of course they talked a lot about their newest album "The Latest", bragging that it was the 'number one 8 track in the world'
. Anyway, they were really good and sounded nice and tight. Robin Zander's voice hasn't changed a bit, and even Rick sang a little. They got the shortest set, so it seemed kinda unfulfilling when they got off stage, but it was great fun while it lasted.
Set List as I Remember It:"The House is Rockin"
"I Want You To Want Me"
"Heaven Tonight" (with a badass Tom Peterson bass solo
)
"These Days"
"Dream Police"
“Never Had A Lot To Lose”
"Voices"
"Surrender"
"Goodnight!"
Poison came on shortly after. They started, quite literally, with a bang. A huge flash of green smoke exploded up from the stage, and Bret and CC came running onstage, guitars blazing! I gotta say, I was never a huge fan of Poison, but after seeing them live, my respect for them has gone way up. Bret proved that he really is a great frontman, sounding awesome and even busting out some blues harmonica in a sporadic rendition of "Your Momma Don't Dance", which was weird, but really got the crowd pumped up. CC, although a little sloppy, played his parts well and looked like he was having a great time, and after his solo, the whole crowd got into a manic chant of "C-C! C-C!". He was running all over the stage and doing all kinds of crazy kicks and jumps. Probably the highlight was "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", the big lighter-waving number that got pretty much everybody singing along! Bret talked to the audience a few times, but I can't remember anything he said outside of "Hello, Albuquerque!". They ended the night with "Nothing But a Good Time", which left everybody wanting more. Their sound was crisp and clean, and everybody played great. Certainly the most fun band of the night.
Set list as I remember it:"Look What the Cat Dragged In"
"Ride the Wind"
"Your Mama Don't Dance"
"CC DeVille solo"
"Fallen Angel"
"Something to Believe In"
"Unskinny Bop"
"Every Rose Has Its Thorn"
"I Want Action"
"Nothing But A Good Time"
After a long wait, Def Leppard came on. They started with a huge montage of all their albums and some purple lights, showing the band silhouetted against the back of the stage. Then, to thunderous cheers, they leapt into the spotlight and started into "Rock! Rock! (Til You Drop)!" Joe Elliot sounded fantastic, exactly like he does in the studio. I had really been looking forward to seeing the guitar team of Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen, and they surely showed that they've got mad skills. They both had cameras attached to the headstocks of their guitars so you could see their fingerings! The light show was cool, constantly switching between the Union Jack, random trippiness, and of course, hot chicks dancing around. In the middle of the set, Joe addressed the audience, and told us that if we could sing along to the next few songs, we could say that we were in Def Leppard for 8 or 9 minutes. The songs in question were acoustic renditions of "Two Steps Behind" and "Bringin' on the Heartache", which I knew all the words to, so I was a member of Def Leppard for a while
. At one point, Rick Allen did a drum solo that was downright AMAZING. That guy plays better with one arm than most people do with two. "Love Bites", "Too Late For Love", and "Rocket" were all highlights, but the best part by far were the last four songs. The second Phil played the opening chords to "Photograph", everybody in the audience was cheering. Next up was "Pour Some Sugar on Me", which EVERYBODY knew and sang along to. Closing the show was "Rock of Ages", which is a song I normally hate, but it sounded incredible live! It also started pretty hilariously, with Joe stating that Rick Allen was going to say something, and then Rick shouts the "Gunter glieben glauchen globen" part. Then, just as we thought it was all over, the crowd started shouting for an encore. About a minute later, they came back on and played "Let's Get Rocked!" Although I've never been a huge Def Leppard fan, I think my enjoyment of them has gone up a couple notches.
Set List as I Remember It:“Rock Rock (Till You Drop)”
“Rocket”
“Animal”
“Too Late For Love”
“Nine Lives”
“Love Bites”
“Rock On”
“Two Steps Behind” [acoustic]
“Bringin’ On The Heartbreak”
“Switch 625″
Rick Allen solo
“Hysteria”
“Armageddon It”
“Photograph”
“Pour Some Sugar On Me”
“Rock Of Ages”
“Let’s Get Rocked”
I would say that Cheap Trick were the best musically, Poison was the most entertaining to watch, and Def Leppard were just consistently epic. Overall, this was an awesome show. Definitely one that I would go to again. All the bands were great, and well worth the money. I joined Def Leppard for 9 minutes, and I even scored a sweet "Adrenalize" t-shirt!
Subject: Def Leppard/Poison/Cheap Trick 
Sat Aug 29, 2009 12:39 pm
