DEF LEPPARD/FOREIGNER/NIGHT RANGER - COLUMBIA, S.C. (10-16-2015)

[RJhog (Admin)]

What you are about to read is my extremely unprofessional review of a concert I attended a few days ago.  The headliner was Def Leppard and supporting the long time rockers were Foreigner and Night Ranger.  I've seen both DL and NR before, although the NR show was way back around 1985.  But this was my first time seeing Foreigner.  

The concert was at Colonial Live Arena in Columbia, South Carolina. Columbia is about an hour away from where I live, so I headed out to the show with a couple of good buddies who double as neighbors (Joey and Mario).  We were running a bit late and, of course, when we got to downtown Columbia, the traffic was monstrous.  We took a little side street, found a parking place and hoofed it around to the facility.  We passed a myriad of bars and restaurants while on foot.  I personally made mental notes (World Of Beer for example) so that if we ever return to this venue we can plan a bit better and actually get a decent meal and a drink before the show.  Unfortunately, because we had to pick up our tickets at will call, we ended up missing the first five songs from Night Ranger.  And that really stinks because their setlist is fantastic.  Luckily, we did get seated in time to hear the band's last three songs.  There was plenty of energy (and I can say that for all three bands) for an act that's been doing this thing for 35 years.  I will mention that there was a really cool break down during Don't Tell Me You Love Me in which the band does a portion of both Hotel Califonia and Highway Star.  Vocals were impeccable and before I knew it, their set was over. There was no encore.

Setlist

1. Touch Of Madness

2. Sing Me Away

3. Four In The Morning

4. High Enough (Damn Yankees Cover)

5. When You Close Your Eyes

6. Don't Tell Me You Love Me (Hotel California/Highway Star)

7. Sister Christian

8. (You Can Still) Rock In America

Fifteen minutes later, Foreigner hit the stage.  Most of you reading this probably know that Mick Jones is the only original band member left.  You'd think that would be a bummer, and it is as far as I'd love to see Lou Gramm, but Kelly Hansen really does an amazing job fronting this band.  His vocals are spot on and he does sound a lot like Lou.  At one point, Mario turned to me and made a comment about how spot on the sound was.  He said, "it's just like listening to the freaking CD". He was correct in his assessment, and it would have been a greatest hits CD for sure.  Like NR, Foreigner's setlist is full of very well known songs, really even more so for the casual fan than the NR songs, but I did notice one little thing.  The NR tunes have no empty space.  They get everything out of their instruments and just leave no dead air.  On the other hand, I noticed that some of the Foreigner songs have a lot of dead space.  You know, there might be drums and bass, but the guitars are not thick and it almost sounds a bit slow.  A good example would be Cold As Ice.  It's a fabulous song and was a huge hit, but it just sounded slow.  That's a long time fan being picky I guess.  Anyway, after two encore tunes, it was time for the headliner.

Setlist

1. Double Vision

2. Head Games

3. Cold As Ice

4. Dirty White Boy

5. Feels Like The First Time

6. Urgent

7. Juke Box Hero

Encore

8. I Want To Know What Love Is

9. Hot Blooded

The photo at the top is of Def Leppard's curtain that they hang while the stage is being set up.  It was pretty blurry, as all I had to shoot pics with was my iPhone, and it doesn't take particularly good photos.  So I did some amateur editing and decided to use it. And that's why the following pics you see (only the DL photos I took were even close to being usable) aren't of the greatest quality.  

The show started with what should have been a bang, but was more like a slight pop.  Yep, you guessed it, they opened with their new single, Let's Go.  You may have heard it, the Pour Some Sugar On Me retread.  I have a feeling that I might have been the only soul in the place who knew it was a new song.  I looked around and most folks had the proverbial "deer in the headlights" look on their face.  But when you follow that up with Rock Rock (Till You Drop) and Animal, it reels the folks right back in.  And the band is still high energy, especially Joe Elliott.  He still gets around the stage like a young lad, though his voice is a bit worn from all the years of screaming and most likely smoking.  That being said, he seems to still enjoy doing what he does.  And of course, Phil Collen is still strutting around without his shirt.  Let's face it though, if I was as ripped as he is, I might consider doing the same (at least while I was mowing my lawn).  The two Ricks, Savage and Allen, still work their asses off.  The only guy that looks like he may have dialed it back a notch was Vivian Campbell.  He just seemed a bit more laid back than he did when I saw the band in 2009.  Of course, he has battled (and may still be battling, I'm not sure) Hodgkin's Lymphoma, so I for one certainly think he should take it easy.  

Look, I'm not crazy about the new song.  But I don't mind it being in the setlist.  After all, I'm a huge proponent of new music, and if nobody wants it in the setlist, why in the world would a band take the time to make it?  But there are at least three songs that I would love to see dropped in favor of some tunes that I like better (you see, it really is all about me).  Rock On, the David Essex cover, really just doesn't belong.  Leppard has way too many outstanding songs to be doing this cover.  And they've been doing it for a while, because I remember it from 2009.  Right after that, they do a little acoustic bit, just Elliott.  The song is Two Steps Behind, and I don't like it at all. Never have, never will.  And finally, even though it's sort of an anthem, I would love to see Let's Get Rocked dumped.  It's just such a generic song to me.  What would I have them substitute?  I'm glad I had you ask me that question.  How 'bout Die Hard The Hunter, Fractured Love and Lady Strange?  I can't imagine any serious Def Leppard fan not wanting to hear these great tunes.

Anyway, we got another obligatory encore, which consisted of the songs Rock Of Ages, counted off in fine fashion by Rick Allen, and Photograph, one of the all-time great Def Leppard tracks.  And then it was over.  Oh, and I almost forgot to say, there is nothing better at getting a bunch of white people to lose their minds than a performance of Pour Some Sugar On Me.  Happens every time.  But it was a terrific night with good friends.  And on top of that, my ears weren't even ringing the next morning (though it was quite loud).  It looks like the next leg of the tour is gonna feature Styx and Tesla as the opening bands.  Too bad they aren't coming back to this neck of the woods, because I would certainly be in attendance if they were.

Setlist

1. Let's Go

2. Rock Rock (Till You Drop)

3. Animal

4. Let It Go 

5. Foolin'

6. Love Bites

7. Armageddon It

8. Rock On (David Essex Cover)

9. Two Steps Behind

10. Rocket

11. Bringin' On The Heartbreak

12. Switch 625

13. Hysteria

14. Let's Get Rocked

15. Pour Some Sugar On Me

Encore

16. Rock Of Ages

17. Photograph

[Niels (Mod)]

Good review!! And the pictures are a good addition, even though they are a bit blurry. I can sense, how it would had been in real live.

Too bad you missed the NR-start. Reminds me, of me missing Neal Morse Bands encore of 3 songs earlier this year. Still NMB played 2 hours without the encore, so it's not exactly the same.

We don't have "3 bands-concerts" around here, as far as I know, but it sounds like fun. I haven't bought albums by any of these bands since 1988 (NR), 1987 (F) and 1995, I think it was (DL), but I could easily had attended just for the fun of it.

I agree about the songs, you mention regarding DL. How did Switch 625 sounds nowadays? It's quite heavy on the album. 

How about a special place for concerts-reviews around here? 

[RJhog (Admin)]

Niels, there is a special place.  It's where I put this one.  If you hover over "forums", you'll see the section marked "all reviews"...

If you actually click on the "forums" tab, it's called  "CD, DVD, Concert and Book Reviews".

[TageRyche]

Nice write up RJhog!

Too bad you missed most of the Night Ranger set.

And yes, Vivian Campbell is still battling cancer, there was an article online a few weeks back that had him saying he expects to be fighting it for the rest of his life.

[RJhog (Admin)]

I certainly hope no one read that as me putting him down.  It wasn't that at all.  Like I said, he just seemed more laid back.  My hat is off to him for even thinking about doing what he does.

[TageRyche]

Nope didn't read it as you putting him down.