Def Leppard at Vet's in Des Moines, IA 6/7/03

Part 7 in my review series really has two concert reviews, but it's mostly about the mighty Lep!

"This is going to be an awesome month of concerts for me. June 1st I got to see Styx, REO Speedwagon, and Journey in Ames, IA. All 3 bands tore the roof off the place. Styx did three new tunes from Cyclorama (the weirdest CD cover I have seen from them). The songs fit right in with the classics of old. REO did all their hits, such as Ridin' The Storm Out, Roll With The Changes, and the obligatory Can't Fight This Feeling. Styx had more energy, but I think the crowd knew more of REO's tunes. Journey came out and had a set that rocked a bit more than when I saw them two years ago with John Waite and Peter Frampton opening. They concentrated on the rockier side of Journey, which I am totally grateful for. The tune Stone In Love is still a favorite of mine and the newer tune Higher Place totally rocks! They did one other new tune off of Red 13, which I don't know the name of, yet. Awesome show and each got to use the full stage and the huge screen in back of them. Very professional!

Just last night, I got to see Ricky Warwick and Def Leppard shake up Des Moines. Ricky did about 5 tunes from his CD with one that Vivian Campbell joined him on. It would be cool to hear Ricky with a full band. The songs are great, but the constant acoustic rhythm guitar can be a bit much. He did try to vary it up a bit with some great dynamics. It did sound better than a few months ago in Council Bluffs where Ricky's guitar was just mixed too "brightly". He didn't tell any stories this time around, either, but the songs pretty much did it for themselves.

Def Leppard came out to their own Disintegrate and ripped through the first half of the High N Dry album. (Yes, I'm old enough to remember LP's.) For those of you too young to remember, that would be the tunes Let It Go, Another Hit And Run, High N Dry (Saturday Night), Bringin' On The Heartbreak (Yes, Def Leppard wrote it and Mariah Carey covered it.) and the instrumental Switch 625. The crowd seemed a tad lost on a couple of these tunes, but it was totally rocked out and enthusiastic by the guys in Def Lep. It's great to see them including a couple of instrumental things with Disintegrate and Switch 625. I like that idea instead of having breaks for drum solos and such. It shows a very unified band who let the songs do the showing off and they each get a chance at wanking off within the songs themselves. I don't mean wanking off in a bad way. Def Lep are very accomplished musicians and the guitar solos, rumbling bass lines, and awesome rhythms give them the chance to showcase within the context of a song without making it an "out of place" moment. Once they finished half of High N Dry, they cut right into a bunch of other great hits. Foolin' was up next, followed swiftly by Make Love Like A Man. This was the second time in the last four times I have seen them live that they included Make Love. Very catchy tune and the Iowa crowd sang along with every word. Hysteria marked a representation of the same titled CD and then it was time for a few things that the crowd wasn't so familiar with (due to radio, not Def Leppard). Long Long Way To Go, which is a killer slow tune off the new CD was wonderfully performed (It's one of my girlfriend's faves!) and the crowd got into it despite not hearing it much on radio. Slang totally rocked my socks off once again. I love hearing this song and wish more people knew about it and the CD of the same name. I used to do the Tom Cruise thing rocking out to this song. Four Letter Word was up next and this song should be a bigger radio hit, too. "Lust can kinda be nice..." It's one of the more upbeat tunes on their new CD. Have you got "X", yet? Promises was the only song to represent Euphoria, too. I'm not sure why some tunes just aren't played much, such as Demolition Man and my kids' favorite, Back In Your Face, but I'm glad they are doing songs off of just about everything they have done. It was great to see an acoustical break for Two Steps Behind. That's such a great song and a wonderful lead-in to Now, from the new CD. Have you got "X", yet? The majority of the rest of the show was dedicated to the Hysteria CD. Women and Rocket were crowd cheering anthems, and a few of us knew the song in the breakdown of Rocket. Anyone ever heard of a little band called The Who? It was cool to hear a verse of My Generation. I've seen this once before and since this song is a dedication to the bands who inspired them, it was great to hear them do this. My favorite Def Leppard tune, Photograph, probably got the biggest response at this point in the night when they ripped into it. The Vet's Auditorium was by no means packed, but the crowd sure made it seem that way. Animal and Armageddon It came after and then the biggest crowd pleaser of all came roaring out of the speakers. Pour Some Sugar On Me had everyone, and there was a guy my dad's age sitting next to me so I mean everyone, on their feet and singing along. I'm 34 so imagine someone being 20 years older than me going nuts for that song. Thankfully, there was plenty of youthful eye-candy such as my 19 year old girlfriend. (Yea, just think about that one for a while. I haven't even hit mid-life, yet!) There were several g-strings and bras flowing up to the stage throughout the night and this song pretty much did it for everyone. Hey, I like the song, but the crowd wents nuts over it. I knew the song was going to make Hysteria huge the first day that CD was released and I heard it coming from a Christian college dorm room. I went out and bought it that day myself! But Photograph is still the one that does it for me. Anyway, just when you thought 21 tunes (counting the two instrumentals) was going to be it, they once again tore the roof off the place with Rock Of Ages. I figured after a set this great and this long, what could they possibly encore with? The crowd was still going berserk and still hadn't say down since the opening strains of Disintegrate. There is a floor section and then a balcony style section all the way around this building. The stomping in the half full balcony made it sound like this old building was going to come down. Def Leppard returned to put the stomping to an end with Love Bites and brought it right back with Let's Get Rocked. Now Des Moines is pretty conservative. Shoot, Iowa as a whole is pretty conservative, but they were still going nuts after Let's Get Rocked finished. The Def Leppard guys thanked Des Moines again and just had to stay out and blow kisses to the girls, high five the front row, and acknowledge every section in the house, or else they would be asked to encore again. This crowd did not want to leave! The house lights finally came up so that everyone knew for sure the show was over. I thought CC Deville was bad in having to be carried off the stage at the end of Poison's show, but this crowd certainly seemed like they had to be told when the show was officially over. Very few people went rushing out to the parking lot. Granted, it was quite congested with all the construction going on in the downtown area and there were a ton of people there, but it didn't seem like everyone was in a hurry to go.

What a way to start and end a week. Styx, REO, and Journey on Sunday and Ricky Warwick and Def Leppard on Saturday. Now I have two more shows to go to before the month is over. Poison, Vince Neil, and Skid Row are going to bring Nothin' But A Good Time to KC, while Faster Pussycat, Enuff Z'Nuff, and Pretty Boy Floyd are going to bring the whip to Clear Lake, IA. I may even take this coming Thursday to go see a free concert by Cheap Trick. Next month, Alice Cooper is nearby and Queensryche, Dream Theater, and Fates Warning are going to show KC what rock musicians are capable of.

I know this is a long winded review and if I had the set lists of Styx, REO, and Journey, it would be longer. It would be great if each of you could post set lists of the shows you go to and point out the things that would make the rest of us wish we were there. I don't care if you have to write it in book form, it's that kind of e-mail that I save. If all you talk about is who you met at the show in your circle of friends and comment how the band rocked, it's not worth the effort to read it. Give me all the great details! Have fun at the concerts you attend this summer and tell us all about them. Support your favorite bands so they will give us more opportunities to hear our favorite songs live.

Set List:

Disintegrate Intro
Let It Go
Another Hit And Run
High N Dry (Saturday Night)
Bringin' On The Heartbreak
Switch 625
Foolin'
Make Love Like A Man
Hysteria
Long Long Way To Go
Slang
Four Letter Word
Promises
Two Steps Behind (acoustic)
Now
Women
Rocket (extended with My Generation)
Photograph
Animal
Armageddon It
Pour Some Sugar On Me
Rock Of Ages

Encore:

Love Bites
Let's Get Rocked