Live Reviews : Def Leppard, Live & Electric Mary @ Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne 18/11/2015

Images: Matt Allan
Words: Anwar Rizk

Click here for full gallery.

After going through a rather horrendous week, it was great to relax and embrace some Def Leppard at Rod Laver Arena. The eagerness and excitement for this event was literally plastered on everyone’s face. Smiles and overly anxious crowds varying in age were ready to rock with the band that not only defined the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, but also crafted a formula for never-ending and highly addictive hit singles, platinum selling albums, and became known as “that band” who have a one armed drummer, but more on that later.

It’s always interesting to see how early people show up to shows of this magnitude. After entering the amphitheatre it was obvious this was going to be a sold out show with the amount of people walking around with the venue’s ludicrously priced drinks in hand. $6 for a bottle of water! u wot m8?

When I found my seat I noticed the venue wasn’t entirely full: to be honest, it was pretty empty. I guess everyone was taking out their second mortgage to buy drinks for the night, but I digress. You’d think a half empty venue would put off local rock heroes Electric Mary opening the nights proceedings, but nothing seemed to affect the band and their classic rock fuelled set.

Their music would be best described as a collective mix of Black Sabbath, Captain Beyond, and with hints of Whitesnake for good measure. What you get is high energy, fast attacking riffs and a melody driven showcase. I really enjoyed their set; moreso with their amazing sound mix. Whoever mixed Electric Mary’s sound is a champion. The guys have an amazing stage presence, commanding the stage no matter how big or small it may be. I was mesmerised from start to finish. I just wish their set was a little longer. People always say Melbourne is the music capital of Australia with some of the best bands and seeing Electric Mary is a perfect example of that observation.

Up next were US rock group Live. I’ll be honest, I lost interest in this band after the album “V”. I was nearing the end of my high school years and I didn’t like the direction the band were heading. Don’t get me wrong, I know the album was just left over material and it did have some ok songs, but with many rock bands at the time, at the top of their game, slowly started to shift into strange territories once the year 2000 hit. I blame Nickelback.

I didn’t go to into Live’s set with any opposition, because let’s face it, the people who were there wanted to hear the band’s classic material, and that’s what they got. Everything from Lakini’s Juice, I Alone, Lightning Crashes, All Over You and Dolphin’s Cry, among others. I was literally reliving my adolescence without persecution from bone jocks, but I’m sure some were lurking in my midst. By their fourth song in the venue was filling up rather quickly. I guess a lot of people had success taking out that second mortgage you needed to score some drinks at the venue. 

While listening to Live’s set I thought back to a much simpler time, a time when a lot band’s wrote sincere and rather revealing music: not only about themselves but the world around them. Live were one such band and did it with such finesse and utter grace. I know a lot of people would point out the fact that new vocalist Chris Shinn has nothing on original vocalist Ed Kowalczyk, and that the band is now essentially just a Live cover band with a rather convincing vocalist. This is something one of my friend’s pointed out at the show and I replied, “If you close your eyes you won’t know the difference”. It’s like drinking Coke or Pepsi. If you’re thirsty on a hot day, you’ll drink either because both do exactly the same thing and many won’t even register what they’re throwing down their gob. But both taste delicious regardless of their obvious side effects, but I digress once again.

As Live’s set came drawing to an end, the crowd really lifted their spirits; cheering louder and amping the band to new highs as they dominated the rather spacious Rod Laver stage. When Live finished up their set the venue was filling up rather quickly. The bland green and white chairs scattered across the venue, which I’m sure made everyone’s arse fall asleep throughout the show were now replaced with a sea of black t-shirts and worn denim jackets. Looking out it was obvious the crowd was edging more towards the older generation, yet the younger generation were there in strength. It’s always great to see a mix of generations at any show, and along with bands like Iron Maiden, Nightwish and Metallica, you’ll always get a great mix of generations in the crowd.

After the crew put together the finishing touches on stage for Def Leppard, all we had to do is wait, but not wait in silence with AC/DC‘s “Shoot to Thrill” blasting out the venues sound system. The light’s dimmed, everyone went ballistic and we were treated to the band’s first single, “Let’s Go”, taken from their new self-tilted album, which I assure you is awesome. It’s classic Def Leppard, redefined. This was also the first time I got to experience material from the ‘Mirror Ball’ album with the track “Defeated” thrown into the mix.

One thing which was obvious was the lack of motivation on the side of the venue where I was sitting. Joe asked everyone to get up on their feet. While many followed this simple request, many just chose to sit rather than get up and show their support. I guess I was sitting on the side with a heavy deposit of old, boring people. While the other side was littered with people young and old who got up and followed Joe’s every command. I actually heard a lot of complaints from people about the number of punters who stood in front of them for literally the entire show. I honestly didn’t see a problem with this. I mean people are paying A LOT of money, so you’d expect them to go a little crazy. I actually had some alcohol fuelled cave man in front of me, dancing with literally no rhythm at all, but did I complain? Of course not, I was sitting in the nose bleed section (i.e the roof) and could literally see everything.  You go to concerts to have a good time, not sit and complain.

“Sit down, sit down! You’re ruining it for everybody!”

The majority of the band’s set was taken up with classics from ‘Hysteria’, ‘Pyromania’ and selected hits from ‘High ‘N’ Dry’, ‘Adrenalize’ and the David Essex classic, Rock On. Def Leppard’s set was littered with amazing lighting, choreography and endless eye candy for the ladies (this was mostly due to Phil Collen taking advantage of any situation to take his shirt off, and keep it off), plus the bass from Rick Allan’s kick drum was collectively kicking everyone in the tits, in a good way. However, there was one slight issue which bothered me about the set. The sound. Throughout the set the volume levels reached a point where it felt my ears were about to bleed. Joe’s vocals went through a few transitions before it found its sweet spot. There were times when reverb was added to his mic for some songs, and it didn’t work. It just sounded muddy and completely out of place. But regardless of this minor issue, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire set.

It was great to see Vivian Campbell back on stage too. His energetic spirit lit up the crowd with vigorous cheer. I’m glad Vivian is back in action. It would be dreadful to think what would happen to Def Leppard, and the man who inspired many Dio classics and Hear ‘n Aid, if Hodgkin’s lymphoma took a hold of him. 

The set was littered with an amazing selection of songs and was a great retrospect. Def Leppard were at the top of their game as always, just amazing from start to finish. I did feel a little jealous for those who had the opportunity to sit/stand on the ground level and experience everything first hand, but I had that opportunity back in 2008 when Def Leppard toured Australia with Cheap Trick, and will obviously never forget that.

Joe Elliot made a comment throughout the show relating to the band’s future. I’m just paraphrasing here. “Thanks for continually supporting our new music because the more you support us, the more opportunities we have to continue to come back to Australia and play new, old and everything in between for you guys”. It’s obvious the band will be back, it’s just a matter of when.

Def Leppard Setlist:

Let’s Go
Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)
Animal
Undefeated
Dangerous
Love Bites
Armageddon It
Rock On (David Essex cover)
Two Steps Behind
Rocket
When Love and Hate Collide
Switch 625
Hysteria
Let’s Get Rocked
Pour Some Sugar on Me

Encore:
Rock of Ages
Photograph

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