Concert Review, Def Leppard live in Ottawa, Ontario

Def Leppard performing at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario.

Ottawa, Ontario and a sold out capacity crowd at Scotiabank Place was the scene for this stop on Def Leppard’s current tour. A crowd of a reported 13 000 eagerly awaited for the lads as the crew put the final touches on Def Leappard’s stage after supporter Billy Idol finished his set. The stage had a catwalk on the front that extended through the first several rows and a large catwalk elevated behind with Rick Allen’s drums in the center. There were several mics placed around the set allowing the band to move all over the large stage, which they did energetically throughout the night.

The house lights faded and a large screen, which stretched the entire length of the set from behind the stage, worked through an impressive visual display of images from the band’s early career up to the current Songs from the Sparkle Lounge release. All the while a guitar solo played through until the images ceased, and after brief moment of silence, a spotlight fell on vocalist Joe Elliot, and he simply proclaimed - “guitars”. At that point a power chord from Phil Collin was struck and it was back to Joe to declare - “drums”. That cued Rick Allen and within moments the band were belting out the first number of the night, Rocket, from the Hysteria album. The large screen continued to flash between various visually appeasing images, as well as the boys themselves as they energetically moved around the stage. An extensive light show also ensued and continued throughout the night. The tone was pretty much set for the evening.

The band, as expected, gave the crowd what they wanted. All the well known numbers from Hysteria and Pyromania, their two most successful albums, were there. The band has been known for being steady on performing these songs over the years and continuingly giving the people what they want. However, I was hoping to also hear some tracks from their latest release, their best effort in years in my opinion. And they did not disappoint in this department either giving three tracks in total from the new album. First up was the current single from the new album, C’mon C’cmon. It was met with a decent response as Joe did manage to get the crowd singing along in parts of the chorus. Shortly after the band played the lead off track from the new disc, Go, which did not get a great response from the crowd. Perhaps the best received new song of the night was Bad Actress, their first encore number. It went over well and sounded great performed live. Notably missing was the first single from the new album, Nine Lives.

One of the highlights occured midway through the night when the band performed a brief acoustic set performing Two Steps Behind and Brining on the Heart Break. Another highlight for me was the performance of Switch 625. For those unfamiliar, this is a great rockin’ instrumental number from their second release, High and Dry. I always loved this track and it was awesome to hear it live.

The show did not disappoint, the band once again looked like they were having a great time on stage and they sounded fantastic. Joe’s vocals held up through the show. He did appear to have some trouble with the highs on some songs, but he sounded just fine on more. The most impressive of the night were guitarists Phil Collin and Vivian Campbell. Their playing was tight and they looked as cool as ever on stage.

My only two slight criticisms of the show were as follows. At times I felt the sound was a bit too heavy on the base. However, it was only slight, and did not take away from the performance for me. Secondly, although Joe Elliot displayed about as much energy as he had 20 years ago and was as impressive as ever on stage, he did not interact with crowd much in between numbers. Like my first Def Leppard concert in ’92, for the most it was one song after another. I always enjoy a story or two from the band in between the music. It creates a kind of personal connection with the artists that you cannot get from a recording.

The band has been known for the live performance over the years and on this night it was easy to why. A 30 to 40’ish year old crowd sang along, danced and cheered loudly through the night. It was a great performance and fantastic night all round.

Here was the setlist in order: Rocket, Animal, C’mon, C’mon, Foolin’, Make Love Like a Man, Go, Love Bites, Rock On, Two Steps Behind, Brining on the Heartbreak, Switch 625, Hysteria Armageddon It, Pour Some Sugar on Me, Rock of Ages. Two encore numbers were Bad Actress and Let’s Get Rocked.