It sounded like a good idea and then COVID hit. Like many other touring packages, it’s been side-tracked for over two years. The pent-up excitement and anticipation add it to the craziness of this tour. I was fortunate enough to see three shows. Minneapolis at the US bank stadium, San Antonio TX at the Alamodome and Arlington TX at the stadium where the Texas Rangers play. This review is a combination of those three shows and all the different things that I experienced while I was there.
Let’s start out with the opener, Classless Act. they are a new band from Los Angeles who I have to say are incredible. I was lucky enough to see them the first time opening for Dorothy earlier this year and promised myself that I would always go see them whenever they came to town. They’ve got great upbeat songs and more energy than any band I’ve seen in recent history other than Fever 333. I think they have a very bright future ahead of them and if you’re not familiar with them because you showed up too late, take a few moments and look them up on YouTube. They are straightforward rock’n’roll and love to entertain their audience. I highly recommend you check them out.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts followed with an incredible set. I’ve been a fan of hers since the late 1970s and have seen her more times than I can count. I was excited that she was going to be on this tour, but I felt that she was somewhat ignored when you look at all of the hype that surrounded this tour. It’s easy to understand because I wouldn’t consider Joan Jett in the category of the rest of these bands. Although she’s every bit as talented if not more.
The great thing for me as a fan was to see her play in front of almost a full stadium. People really showed up to support her and sang along with almost every single song. You can’t be an 80s rock fan and not know most of her hits. She has a new album out now that’s an acoustic performance of some of her favorite songs. She did one song acoustically in each one of these shows which is run away, that’s my favorite a song from the performance and one of my favorite songs of hers. Mostly because it’s not a hit and it’s just a great song that appears on her second album, I love rock’n’roll. Joan Jett is another artist that if you’ve never seen her, you owe it to yourself to get out and see her play live. She still sounds fantastic, and she has always an amazing band.
The next band to play was Poison. When you talk to people who attended this tour it seems like there’s overwhelming amount of them that would say that Poison stole the show. I would have to agree with this statement if I had only seen one show. They work their way through a solid set of hits and everybody in the stadium was on their feet. I think what’s surprised people most is how energetic they are and how much they truly were happy to be there. I think as a fan when you spend a lot of money you like to feel that the performers that are entertaining you are glad that you’re there. There was no denying that Poison was happy you were there.
They’ve taken a lot of crap over the years from rock fans who think they are soft in comparison to say, Slayer. Perhaps that’s true to a certain extent when you listen to the sound of the band. Say what you want but these guys know how to write songs and they know how to entertain an audience. I was able to actually spend some time with several of them over dinner. All of them are truly the nicest clothes you would ever want to meet. Why would I tell you this and why does it matter? To me it matters a lot because I want to root for people who are nice. I’m invested in the success of other people who are kind that want to do the best they can do. I think this tour was perfect for them in the respect that it will revitalize the interest in them and allow them to do a tour of larger places and be the headliner. Their songs are catchy and woven into the 1980s music scene. It’s not an easy thing to do when you have so many bands and artists that fall by the wayside after one song. If you’re looking for nothing but a good time, you’ll be able to find it at a Poison concert.
Co-headliner Def Leppard Has been described as a machine. A band that is perfect every time you see them. I’m not suggesting for a moment that a statement like that is not completely true. But if you think about it, it’s a little bit of a backhanded compliment. Almost like oh they just show up get on stage and they’re perfect. There’s so much more work that goes into it than that. All of the vocals that you’re hearing and it Def Leppard show is 100% completely live. They spend a lot of time before each show warming up and singing with one another before they hit the stage. The reason they are so good is because they’re so committed to what they do. I think it’s worth pointing that out, so it doesn’t get lost in all the other things that are said about the band.
They are truly like the fine line of rock and roll. They just keep getting better every single year. The new album that just came out is solid and reminds me so much of many of their past releases. They don’t compromise and they always give it their all. It’s always a pleasure to watch them perform because they are so good. There another one of those bands that have hits you heard a million times that you may not listen too much anymore in your car. But when they’re being played live, they take on a life of their own again. The highlight for me in their set is ”Switch 625”. It’s an instrumental off their early release, High N’ Dry. It took me back to being a teenager again. There’s just something about it. If you like rock’n’roll never give up an opportunity to go and see Def Leppard live. There’s no way you can’t know all the songs.
Rounding out the evening as a co-headliner, Motley Crue. For any of you that may not know this, every other night they would switch with Def Leppard to close the show. Motley Crue has always been one of my favorite bands. I don’t have an issue with them retiring and now coming back again. There’s certainly not the first band nor will they be the last to pull a stunt like this. In fact, I think whoever runs our social media is quite funny. Some fans were complaining that they paid a lot of money to see the very last show five years ago. The answer to those fans was, if you never come see us again it was your last show. I know that may sound abrasive to some, but I found it to be funny.
The first night I saw them in Minneapolis they were the weak link on this tour. It pains me to say that and there will be a lot of people who will continue to argue that point because they can’t seem to stomach Vince Neil. Many people will ask me how did he sound? My answer is he’s improved a lot over the last few years but he’s still Vince Neil. In the same way David Lee Roth is still David Lee Roth. If you look back at some of the most classic Van Halen tours, that were among my favorites. If you listen to them on a tape after you would think to yourself, wow that’s how it sounded? A friend of mine Brian that I mentioned on the Eddie Trunk radio show last week had a very interesting take on all of this. He said he doesn’t really expect Vince Neil to sing like the records in the same way he didn’t think that way about David Lee Roth. He goes for the entire experience of the show and doesn’t sit and nitpick things like people so love to do on YouTube nowadays. There was something more going on though that night. You could argue that point all you want and say that he’s wrong or agree with him. But at the end of the day all that matters is, did you go to the show and enjoy it? Many people walked out of there very happy. Does that make them wrong? I don’t believe so. In fact, I will also say that the last person who should ever have an opinion on any live show is the person who’s watching it on YouTube and didn’t attend. Those are the people I wish would just shut their mouth.
I thought let’s be open minded about this and see how they sound when I make it down to Texas a few weeks later. I can tell you they were good when we were down in Texas. The biggest problem was the sound. And that was the big complaint from a lot of people. They couldn’t hear the songs because they were playing so loud. By the time they got to Texas it seemed like they had brought Mick Mars guitars up higher in the mix and didn’t frontload the bass so much. I think that’s another reason why all the other bands sounded considerably better. They didn’t play at an earsplitting volume which makes all the difference in the world when you’re attending a show like that. Especially in these huge football stadiums where the sound just bounces around and gets lost.
Motley Crue performed the set that I would expect them to. But they did add “Too Fast For Love” and a medley that included “Helter Skelter”, “White Punks On Dope” and “Anarchy in the UK”. That was probably my favorite part of their set. I am personally happy that they are back. Expect to see a lot more of them in the coming years. Rumor has it that this tour will be headed overseas next year because of the success here in the United States. I’m not sure if the lineup will be the same but it will be interesting to see what happens.
I like to attend concerts of all different types of music and in all different types of locations. But I would say that this situation is my least favorite only because the venues are so over the top huge that you lose some of the intimacy. Plus, larger crowds equal, more trouble. Watching the Mötley Crüe set versus the Def Leppard set was an interesting thing. Even though it was the same crowd for both bands, when Def Leppard was on everyone was just paying attention to the music and for the most part not moving around a lot. When Mötley Crüe played it was absolute complete and total chaos. It’s one of the oddest things I’ve ever seen at a concert there’s something about Mötley Crüe that gets everybody really worked up. Perhaps that’s the magic of that band. That’s not taking away anything from any of the other bands. All of them were met with enthusiasm and a lot of cheering. It’s just with Mötley Crüe it kind of turned into caveman day. Would I go see it again? Of course, I would, I’m a sucker for 80s rock.
