So, last night, my friend Keeley and I went to see Def
Leppard in concert at Rod Laver Arena.
For those of you who don’t know who Def Leppard is; for
shame. Do yourself a favour, and Google
them.
This is the third time now that I’ve seen them in concert,
and again, I was sharply reminded of how awesome they are live.
I’m telling you; they’re the most underrated band on the
planet. Musically, they’re very gifted
and talented. Its interesting to sit in
an arena with 15000 other people, and feel a united hush fall over the crowd as
the guitarists (Viv, Phil or Sav) perform their transfixing solos. Listening to Joe Elliot scream at me to
‘Let’s Get Rocked’ with the same strength and passion as he had 20 years ago
was awesome, and let’s not forget their famous drummer with one arm. Yes, you read right. One arm.
Def Leppard were once tagged ‘the unluckiest band in the
world’, because firstly, Rick Allen, their drummer, lost his arm in an accident
(which you would be right in assuming was career ending), and then they lost
one of their guitarists, Steve Clark to an overdose.
You would be right in thinking that was the end of the
Deffies; far from it. Rick Allen
constructed a completely different drum kit that utilised foot pedals, so he
could still keep playing with one arm and two feet. It’s incredible to watch him play, and I
think out of all of the members of the Deffies, he would be everyone’s
sentimental favourite. He is just a
freak.
Steve Clarke was replaced by an Irishman called Vivian Campbell. I remember first seeing him on their tour in
1993, and thought he was all right. 20
years later, they apparently still refer to him as ‘the new boy’. He’s just an awesome guitarist.
So, 20-30 years on, and these boys are still rockin’
hard. They are just fantastic live. Very interactive with the crowd, and very,
very talented.
However, last night I felt like I had seen it all before. I believe it was the same stage and same
video set up as their 2008 concerts. They
still had an acoustic break in the middle of the concert, and still did Rock of Ages as their encore. Same same, but different.
However, pushing that aside, it was still an awesome
performance. You’re guaranteed a good
time with the Deffies.
The one thing I was disappointed with, however, was their
support act: Heart.
Anne and Nancy Wilson; two very talented ladies. Nancy
They pumped through a few of their hits, but
disappointingly, didn’t sing their most famous one: ‘All I Wanna Do Is Make
Love To You’. I couldn’t believe it! It was like their hugest hit, and I really,
really wanted to hear them performed it live.
Devo.
Choirboys also supported, and they were fantastic. Good to see some old rockin’ Aussie’s still
pumpin’ it out. I was surprised at how
much of their music I knew.
You know what I love most about live concerts though? The crowd.
Man, it takes all kinds, I tell ya.
I’ve never seen so many middle aged skinny women, with too much make up
on, over done hair, mini skirts and high heel CFM boots on in my entire life.
Then of course, there were the flannelette shirts, wife beaters, acid wash jeans, long hair and mullets. Yes, mullets. Not funky, modern mullets, but old-skool 80’s style mullets. Dear God…
There were actually about four guys a few rows down from
us, that had mullet wigs on in different colours; hilarious!
I also love the loud ‘I-don’t-get-out-of-my-house-much-so-I’m-letting-loose’
whoooo-girls, that insist on standing up and dancing wildly during a ballad,
taking 47 photo’s of themselves and their friends for Facebook, all whilst
clutching desperately to a half-empty plastic cup of vodka. Clarsy.
There were these two chicks in front of us, right, that I seriously
thought Keeley was going to punch in the head.
They were dancing in the isle, which I don’t have a problem with, but it
was what they were doing that was a
freak out.
Let’s just say, that if I had given them a pole to dance
on, they would have been right at home.
Yeah. Mmmm… clarsy.
I bet they were from Frankston.
Behind us, were some blokes that were hard core Deffie
fans, and sang every word of every song, loud and proud. They had a good time.
My friend Carla and her mates were down on the floor, in
the crush of people in front of the stage.
The thought of that made me claustrophobic and start to sweat nervously.
Amazingly, she picked my big arse out of
the crowd, and we texted each other through the concert. Particularly when she was like two meters
away from a half-naked Phil Collen.
Jealous. Totes.
I suggested she throw her bra at them, like some other
chicks were doing, but she didn’t. Devo.
It was a great night out, which saw me crash into bed at
like 3am. I’m too old for late nights
and early mornings, let me tell you.
However, it’s been a long time between drinks for me, and I drank it in
for all it was worth.
Maybe I’m like the Deffies; I’ll keep rocking until I
crash, because it’s better to burn out, than fade away.
Peace out.
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