Def Leppard has fans rockin’ till they drop

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This article was published 25/07/2019 (2575 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been 40 years since the release of their first EP and just four years since their last visit, but Def Leppard can still draw a sell-out crowd on a weeknight in Winnipeg.

The five-piece from Sheffield, England came out Union Jacks and classic hits a-blazing at Bell MTS Place on Thursday night — and the audience loved every minute of it.

The rowdy crowd of approximately 12,500 was a mix of original Def Leppard fans and a younger cohort of second-wave admirers. The band, made up of lead singer Joe Elliott, guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell, bassist Rick Savage and drummer Rick Allen, is credited for ushering in a new era of British heavy metal that helped define the sound of the 80s.

A large showtime countdown display had most of the audience standing in anticipation before the band even took the stage on Thursday. And, most of them stayed standing for the rest of the 90 minute show.

Def Leppard has sold more than 100 million records worldwide in the last four decades. Their contributions to the music industry were recognized in March of this year with an induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside the likes of The Cure, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, Roxy Music and The Zombies.

The recognition doesn’t seem to have gone to their heads though. The group spent a lot of time on a stage that jutted out into the middle of the floor and Elliott chatted in between songs, at one point reminiscing about Def Leppard’s first trip to Winnipeg in 1983.

The quintet kicked things off with Rocket and Animal, two hits from their best-selling 1987 record Hysteria. They revisited the album multiple times throughout the show with songs like Love Bites, Hysteria and Pour Some Sugar on Me — the latter mega-hit triggered an expected singalong that unfortunately turned into the crowd carrying the tune for the band.

The show included an acoustic version of Two Steps Behind that also led to an enthusiastic singalong. It was a rare moment of calm in an otherwise raucous performance filled with intense guitar riffs.

Collectively Def Leppard sounded tight, but Elliott’s voice was often overpowered by the backing vocalists.

Each of the musicians got a chance to lean into a solo and Allen, who lost his left arm in a car crash in 1985 and taught himself how to play the drums one-handed, drew a wave of cheers during his.

Aside from a giant video screen and some colourful lasers, the stage set-up was simple and unassuming, making it so the band was front and centre.

Throughout the concert, fans alternated between waving lighters and glowing smartphones in the air — perhaps the perfect metaphor for Def Leppard’s cross-generational reach and apparent staying power.

The group wrapped up with an encore performance of Rock of Ages and Photograph. The show finished with a heartfelt thank you from Elliott and members of the band lingered onstage and waved to the crowd as the lights came up.

Tesla, a rock group from Sacramento, Calif., set the tone for the night with an hour-long set that included an energetic light show, some youthful headbanging and hard shredding courtesy of guitarists Frank Hannon and Dave Rude. Wearing a silver jacket and slinking around stage, 61-year-old vocalist Jeff Keith hit high notes that would be difficult even for a much younger artist to manage.

Tesla got its start in the mid-80s and is probably best known for its second album The Great Radio Controversy, which went double platinum and included the hit single Love Song. The band let the heartfelt power ballad breathe on Thursday with an acoustic-electric mash-up that was met with a round of cheers.

The Winnipeg show was part of the 11-stop Def Leppard Hits Canada Tour, which began in Halifax and wraps up in Calgary on July 31. The band, which is known for its heavy touring schedule, is settling into a Las Vegas residency at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino next month.

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @evawasney