Just got back from the Def Leppard concert. What a great experience.
UPDATED: Added some pictures of the concert.
There were some problems, as any major concert is likely to have. The first of which were the group of guys behind me who talked to their neighbors by yelling, meaning that I was hearing them more than I was hearing the music. It got bad enough that I had to turn and tell them I wasn't there to listen to them... I think I was polite enough, and got my point across, but I wasn't going to be taking much more. They settled down after that though.
The opening act was Styx, and to my surprise, they had Lawrence Gowan with them. So with one concert I got to see THREE great bands that I grew up with. But then the second issue came into play.
It seems that sound technicians just can't figure out how to get it "right" in the Saddle Dome. Styx was TOO loud. I don't mean too loud as in deafening, but too loud as in the sound was crackling. Like they were going for volume over quality, and pushing too much through their speakers. Other than that, Styx did a great job. I never thought I'd get to see "Come Sail Away" done live. Then Gowan did "Criminal Mind" - another song I never expected to see live. Styx did a number of their greatest hits, and there was only one song I didn't know - apparently from the "Equinox" album. Those guys all have a great deal of energy! My only disappointment here is that they didn't play "Mr. Roboto", but that's a little selfish, I know.. :)
Then Def Leppard came on. We all knew there was something not quite right, right away. Joe Elliot's voice (the lead singer) sounded strained and the vocals volume was off, resulting in not being able to hear quite what they were singing/saying properly. The vocals mixing seemed to get better as the night continued, but Joe's voice just wasn't there. At one point he left the stage, and this seemed unexpected rather than planned. Regardless, he came back and continued the show. You could tell he wasn't pushing his voice the way I've seen him do in the past, but he didn't stop either. Other than his voice, he still showed great energy and was bouncing around the stage like the rock star he is, and encouraging the crowd to make some noise. At least we *knew* they were singing / playing live - no lip synching or recorded tracks here.
Def Leppard gave us what I consider a rare treat - the acoustic rendition of "Bringing on the heartbreak". This saw Joe, Phil, and Vivian on acoustic guitars, joined by Rick Savage on the electric guitar, and they did an amazing job. They did a great transition into the electric version of the song about 3/4 the way through it, giving the crowd the best of both worlds. And then had a seamless segue into Switch 625 - one of the songs that makes me want to learn to play the guitar that good.
The sound volume wasn't very loud for Def Leppard. We could carry on a conversation with our neighbors without raising our voices too much, even while the music was going. But this meant we heard the MUSIC, not the VOLUME. And the music was amazing. The guitars and drums were easily as good or better than any of the band's CDs. Most other bands I've seen live don't sound as good in person as their CDs do. So I take this as an example of just how good Def Leppard is. As an added bonus, the crowd was not pumped full of energy due to volume, which means we got to sit through the concert instead of struggling to see over the people who were standing (as in most any other concert I've been too). This doesn't mean the crowd wasn't into the music though, rather it seemed to me to be a more personal type of concert where the focus was the music and band, not the sound production. It also meant that we were not completely deaf when we left the concert. A nice touch there.
Overall, it was a great concert. I've yet to see a concert with Def Leppard (that's number 4 for me) where they were not amazing. I've seen 2 concerts with them where the sound quality just wasn't there, but you could easily tell it was the sound production, not the band. I never saw Styx (or Gowan) in concert before, but consider myself privileged to have been able to tonight. I'm looking forward to Def Leppard's new album (due next year they said), and seeing them in concert again.