Archive for Def Leppard

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Sunday Night Metal!!!

Posted in Music, News with tags , , , , , , on October 18, 2009 by Tickets There

Damn it, HOLY DIVER folks!, Just cant avoid the unholy onslaught of late night metal. Gnash teeth, smash furniture of listen to Ronnie James Dio!! That’s your monster right there. Meant to be a little bastard but you’d still share a beer with the man. SABBATH!!!! Sabbath knows no Diver, Ozzy speaks no rath but Dio, bastard fucking created it.

Anyways, can’t put the Diver on, had it the other day. Lets find something else to wake up that Sunday night dread!!

Ok, got one. It;s not metal, but trust me. This is the good stuff/

Tickets There doesn’t like Anthrax!! So we’re not gonna post any!!!

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Updated: Def Leppard Cancel 3rd Leg of Tour

Posted in Music, News with tags , , , , on October 17, 2009 by Tickets There

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Def Leppard have cancelled the planned 3rd leg of their tour for unknown reasons/ The legendary Sheffield rockers have cancelled 23 dates that were due to start next Thursday in Reno, Nevada.

The reasons haven’t been made clear but a short statement was released on Defleppard.com yesterday,

Due to unforeseen personal matters, the third leg of Def Leppard’s North American Tour, set to begin on October 22nd, has been cancelled. “We know how truly blessed we are to have such committed fans,” said the band in a statement. “That’s why we’ve agonized over this decision. Even if just a single concert, we don’t take cancelling shows lightly, but unfortunately life’s commitments need to be the priority.”

Tickets There will keep you updated and we hope all is well in the Leppard camp.

091017 – Updated:

The latest rumour on the net points to low Tickets Sales as the cause for the groups cancellation. Man Raze haven’t been affected in the UK and no word of a family emergency has been released yet. We’ll keep you updated.

091027 – Updated:

Still no confirmed reason why these dates were cancelled. the low ticket sales rumour is still being speculated along with various reports about the band breaking up, members going into rehab and several other unsupported stories. Tickets There doesn’t promote any of these claims because more than likely, they’re total nonsense.

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KISS – ALIVE III (PART 3 OF 4)

Posted in Album Review, Music with tags , , , , , , , , , on September 30, 2009 by Tickets There

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Well folks, we’re less than a week away from the release of KISS’s new studio album, Sonic Boom. Ya all excited? By the sounds of the album’s first single, Modern Day Delilah, it’s gonna be some monster of a record. To continue celebrating the release, Tickets There is reviewing four of the bands Alive records (well, the last one isn’t technically an Alive! Release but who cares). After all four have been published, we’ll start to discuss promotion methods the band have been pursuing for the release of Sonic Boom and there’ll be a few more things aswell. Once the album is out, you can expect an overly enthusiastic review  to finish things off.

So today we’re looking at Alive III, released in 1993 and recorded during the bands Revenge Tour. Like Alive II, the band worked as hard as possible not to repeat songs from the first two and it worked pretty well. Even the duplicate songs appearing here have a different overall sound to the originals and they are more than worth a listen.

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Foregoing the traditional ‘You Wanted the Best’ intro, the band launch straight into Creatures of the Night, a belting little number that shouldn’t ever be forgotten by KISS-Maniacs. The sound of pyro’s exploding in the back ground is gonna set you up nicely for this one. Paul’s rough n raw voice has more in common with Gene’s than his old style. What a savage track and it’s followed by another classic in the form of Deuce. More explosions and more energy. What a fucking great tune. Every time you hear those opening bars you want to leap onto the nearest stage, kick whatever whiney singer songwriter bitch is pouring their hearts out off and start hammering into this monster. Baby if you’re feeling good!!

Next it’s time for some eighties styled pop/rock/pop KISS, I Just Wanna. Slick guitars, slick vocals, slick stick in your face. Catchy, hooky and deadly. Forget every other pop rock band out there, KISS has em licked in every way possible (including the dirty, naughty ways)…despite the silly little melody bit in the middle. Unholy is one of Gene’s more demonic numbers but still retains some of those pop characteristics we’ll see more of later on. It may be very important to point out that Alive III was recorded almost ten years after the band took the make-up and costumes off. The band decided it was time for the next level and when that came off, everything else changed. They went on to release a massive amount of hit singles that’s style was closer to Def Leppard and Bon Jovi rather than their original material. When they released Revenge in 1992, it brought a darker edge back to the old war horses, Unholy is the perfect example of this and it’s a savage wee number to boot.

Now, let’s discuss some of those puppyish numbers. Heavens on Fire is as poppy as this band get (no it’s not – Ed) and it’s also the closest thing they have to a Spinal Tap track (Livin’ In A Hell Hole anyone?). Despite all that, Heavens on Fire is one of Tickets There’s personal favorites. This is pure, good times pop rock. There’s no poverty, no preaching and not one hint of recycling, carbon footprints or depressed souls laying dormant in the unused attic, or any of that other shit bands preach about these days. Watchin’ You is next and it’s more like a blues rock classic with some good auld fashioned pop sensibilities thrown in for good measure. Gene sings and like I always say, if Gene sings, shut up and listen. Same applies for the next track, Domino. Once again Gene takes control and it’s another of those Revenge songs that shows KISS heading back in a more hard rock direction from their eighties output. Make-up or no make-up, those boys could f**king write some classics.

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Another of those classics is I Was made for Loving’ You. Yes KISS did Disco in the late seventies and yes this is one of the better ones. Like I said before, if KISS do it, it’s fine. I Still Love You on the other hand is a very respectable, more serious number. Blues kind of Alt-ish-big stadium kind of rock. That make sense? Ah well, Rock N Roll All Night is next and let’s be honest, an Alive album wouldn’t be an Alive album without this track. Strange they’re playing it so soon in the set but not a bad thing. KISS mixes things up ya see 😉

Back to those lovely eighties classics. Everyone knows Lick It Up and everyone loves it. Anyone who doesn’t love it has something wrong so avoid those people. How could you not love Lick it Up? It’s so damn good it hurts!. I can understand people not liking the next track, Forever. Real stadium anthem styled ballad but a good one.  How many of you guys like to look at naked women? How many of you girls like to go home with somebody….and get naked! Take it Off , it does exactly what it says on the tin!

Now…now, now, now. Alright!….you know this one, sing it! I Love it Loud, possibly the best song Gene has ever sang on. Possibly the best song KISS ever wrote. Ok, so it’s not the best but it’s so fucking good you will happily sacrifice eighteen weeks of your life so you can continuously listen to this baby on repeat. Amazing sing along stuff. I remember I first heard this on a KISS dvd and I must have rewound it about twenty times and just listened to it all night. The live version on AIII is incredible, Hard, slow, beating and LOUD!! This brings us near to the close of the show and Detroit Rock City pops its head up to give us a smile. Great bass line over this version that’s far more prominent than the versions on the previous Alive and the Destroyer. Quite different and the band have updated it a wee bit so it sounds a little closer to their eighties style but still damn, damn good.

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Second last track, God Gave You Rock N Roll II is an anthem if ever there was one. Great way to end a show as Gene and Paul swap vocals the whole through. May not be for everyone but it’s fun. Then everything closes on an the Star Spangled Banner!

So, that’s the original Alive I – III albums reviewed. Next, Tickets There is going to lie a little by doing a review of what should have been Alive IV but in fact, it ended up being released as the ‘Millennium concert’ and the Alive IV title went to the KISS symphony album. Who cares, it TT@s book, it’s the real Alive Iv ;)….and also, I never got the symphony album. Maybe I could just review the DVD, same songs. Hmmm.

Oh, and just to confirm, KISS still kept the theatrics,, despite not having the makeup.

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Tickets There Likes: Def Leppard – Hysteria

Posted in Album Review, Music, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , , , , , , on September 1, 2009 by Tickets There

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OK, ok I have to stop putting this one of and get it out of the way finally. You all knew this was coming and I can’t count how many drafts I’ve written in an attempt to get it done. Def Leppard’s mightiest of mighty accomplishments, the golden goose, the Holy Grail of their collection and one of the highest selling records of all time, Hysteria! It was the second album I ever owned and heard in full and was introduced to me just a few weeks after Adrenalize and made me a solid Leppard fan for life. Like my live review of Springsteen, I find it very difficult to write something about this record that thousands of others haven’t said before.

Let’s start by stating it’s very rare to find an album with so few album tracks like this. Almost every single song is a single or classic with almost no exceptions. On Hysteria, the bands efforts to write perfect pop rock and heavy ballads finally paid off without a hitch. Despite Rick Allen losing his arm, Steve’s continued problems with alcohol and the bands problems in their home country, producers and initial demo’s, Hysteria proved to be a feat very few critics, fans and interested parties thought they could pull off, especially considering the new levels of quality Pyromania set for them. Even 22 years on from its release the quality of the songs and production is infallible. This is the album that artists like Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Skid Row, Europe, Aerosmith and all the other 80’s Hard rock heavyweights wished they could come up with. Although Hard Rock took a different turn when Guns N Roses released Appetite for Destruction, Leppards Hysteria was the peak of the previous sounds perfection.

No song was written or produced on this with anything less than a grand, world changing effort. While some of the song’s lyrics may sound slightly cheesy in hindsight such as Women and Pour Some Sugar on Me, only a total knob end could flaw their energy and perfection. Pop rock rears its head on several of the albums singles  and continue the job Photograph and Foolin’ had started previously. Animal, PSSOM, Armageddon it, Love and Affection and Women set a high bar for any band to reach and deck out the album with its foundations. The easily accessible, fist raising, mass sing along anthems that sealed the deal for Leppard and made them the biggest band on the plant for a couple of years. While more intimate numbers such as Love Bites and Hysteria ensured Leppard secured hordes of young females as lifelong fans.

Not to be overlooked, the guys still got the edge from the likes of Don’t Shoot Shotgun, Gods of War (Leppards one and only foray into the political world), Rocket, the heavier than heavy Run Riot (at least by Leppards standards) and the awesome Excitable. These provided the final master stroke to provide this album with everything it needed to entertain millions of fans around the work for the next two decades. Then again, no matter how serious the songs are, no matter how heavy or light the sound is and no matter what their theme, every song on Hysteria is a catchy rock classic that deserves respect from every rock fan. This is how pop rock is done folks, you won’t find any other album to equal Hysteria’s arsenal.

Nah Sayers will always be nay Sayers and the unfortunate rise of grunge music and its trend setting ideals about fashion, politics, depression, bullying meant bands like Leppard and their back catalogues were severely undermined all throughout the 90’s and early millennium. Fortunately the world is starting its traditional two decade revitalization and The Mighty Lepp are reaping the benefits. A few years ago the band were playing small theatres and state fairs but currently, they’re back in 10,000 + arenas reminding fans why they are a band that should never be forgotten. The years may have been cruel to their legacy but Joe Elliot, Rick Savage, Rick Allen, Phil and Viv are a major force to be reckoned with. They have proven they can take anything and everything the music and personal world can lash on them and still emerge unscathed and ready for the next challenge. From the moment Joe Elliot wrote the band’s name on Sheffield’s town hall’s notice board in the late seventies, the band were destined to become legends and Hysteria is the pinnacle of that legacy.

Here’s a picture of the UK 12″ Vinyl sigles from Hysteria all together.

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Tickets There Likes: Def Leppard – Adrenalize

Posted in Album Review, Music, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , , , on August 9, 2009 by Tickets There

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What? You were expecting the third Def Leppard Likes to be about Hysteria? Sorry, one more to cover first. Adrenalize gets a very special place in my heart as it’s the very first album I ever owned. This is the mother of all my music tastes and the big bang that caused the chain of events that have shaped the way I live my life ever since. Although the album isn’t generally regarded by fans as one of the bands best, it is. Think I’m a little biased saying that? Well I quite obviously am but I also truly believe it.

I was being driven back to boarding school by my mum one day in March 1992, just after my eighth birthday. It was a dark, wintery Sunday night and out of no where my mum produced this cassette and asked me what I thought of it. She put it on the stereo and we listened to it the whole way up to Dublin. The cassette was (quite obviously) Adrenalize and I loved every bit of it. Let’s Get Rocked what so full of attitude and so cool how could you not love it at eight years old. Leppard were also an interesting choice for first band. They had a drummer with one arm and that seemed very normal for some reason. At the time I imagined that metal bands were so hard most of them probably had missing limbs and it didn’t bother them (eight people, don’t judge). They had a legendary guitarist that had just died the year before and a back catalogue so juicy it was unrealistic. Over the next three months, my mum bought copies of Hysteria and Pyromania and every week we’d listen to Leppard solidly for the three and a half hour drive to Dublin and home on Fridays. I also managed to get a walk man and a copy of all three albums to keep a school where I quickly became the coolest kid in class for about a month because I had a tiny little leather jacket (which I still have) and listened to rock bands.

After three months of almost solid Leppard devotion (Meatloaf had managed to slip in aswell, not to mention the awesome Guns N Roses), I was brought to the Point Depot to see my very first rock concert. Def Leppard’s 7-Day-Weekend tour came to the Ireland and it saw the band play completely in the round. You can read more about that here – Click Here

Anyways, Adrenalize. If you didn’t like it or haven’t heard it, I suggest sitting down and listening to the mighty Personal Property (that guitar solo ugh!!), Stand Up, Tear It Down, Heaven is or I Wanna Touch You and experience pop rock at it’s very finest. Hard n loud guitars, monster riffs and anthems enough to win a war.

Then there’s White Lightening, the bands tribute to the late Steamin’ Steve Clark. Steve died in January 1991 and his death marked a major shift in Leppards sound and song writing. Adrenalize is the last Leppard record of it’s kind and White Lightening is a great tribute to the man who made their early albums so special.

I stick Adrenalize on now knowing it’s not as great as I praise it to be, but listening to those songs brings back memories of the early days of discovering music and discovering a new band you can still love as much as ever seventeen years later is a very special thing for everyone.

What’s yours?

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Tickets There Likes: Def Leppard – High ‘N’ Dry

Posted in Album Review, Music, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , , , on July 30, 2009 by Tickets There

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Hopefully you’ve gone out and bought Pyromania, if not…..like I said, you’re a sap. Or, maybe it’s because you haven’t read the review so go do it now https://ticketsthere.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/tickets-there-likes-def-leppard-pyromania 

Good, now you’re back. So The Mighty Leppard exploded in the states with that album, made them the biggest band in the world…etc. Now it’s time to find out what they were like before all the mega stardom. Well, to start with they always had the harmonies and relied upon catchy vocal hooks to sell their songs to the general public, but before Pyromania, they used a lot more guitars to back everything up. High N Dry was the bands second album and an unbelievable leap forward from their first. While On Through The Night has some fearsome tracks on it, it’s nothing compared to HND.

Any listener will be convinced of this when they hear the opening notes of Let It Go, the albums first track. The song has a killer duel guitar riff and tonnes of sporadic/bluesy solo’s that would put any musician in their h’penny place. Not because they’re extremely difficult, but because they are so perfectly placed its mind bending. Enough shite, it’s just a savage track. This is followed by the shredding, although slower at first, Another Hit and Run which is as foot stomping, head banging friendly and face melting as anything else out there…..except Heavy Metal :p. Unfortunately I refuse to discuss the albums title track because I used it as my alarm for over a year and now I cant stand to listen to it, but I should mention it was on the infamous PRMC’s Filthy Fifteen list in 1985. This was a list made up by that Tipper Gore bitch and her cronies of the fifteen songs they found most offensive in the world. HND gets a mention due to ‘excessive drinking references in the lyrics.

Things turn around completely with Leppard’s first proper ballad, Bringin’ on the Heartbreak. The video may be as cheesy as KISS in the eighties but it’s fun people, relax. Not everything can be the White album. Steve Clarks legendary Switch 625 follows and shows Leppard’s raw, danger afloat guitars with some fierce drumming to boot. That riff is just incredible and well worth seeing live if you can. You Got Me Runnin’ is more of a filler song, but on this album that means it kicks ass. It’s just pure, down to earth rock n rollll!!! Love it! Classic stomping song with a good dose of Joe’s swagger. Same thing again for Lady Strange. These are songs you grow to love after the hits. On through the Night is faster, more full on balls while second last song Mirror, Mirror has one of the bands definitive chorus’s. No, No, No, finishes things off and without the excessive repeats of the word No at the end it’s just great 😀

Well that’s it in a very hastily written nut shell. Now, what album to do next? This Tickets There Likes series wont last forever so I’ll be choosy but you can damn well bet Guns N Roses – Use Your Illusion I, Weezer – The Blue Album, Metallica – …and Justice For All and the big one of them all, Def Leppard’s Hysteria will all feature over the coming weeks.

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Tickets There Likes: Def Leppard – Pyromania

Posted in Album Review, Music, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , , , , , , on July 27, 2009 by Tickets There

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If there is one band on God’s green earth that has meant more to Tickets there, and the man behind Tickets There (no, not the guys in Eyebrowy, me ya knob!), it has to be Def Leppard. Despite Guns N Roses, Marilyn Manson, Elvis Presley, Turn, Metallica and many, many, many others over the years coming close, Leppard are and always have been the clear frontrunners of my personal favorite artists. They are the band that thought me the key core values of good music, Talent, Entertainment and Performance. Leppard may have become the arse end of most music related jokes in the nineties but they are finally clawing their way back to their former heights and slowly rebuilding their credibility around the world. For those of us who stood by them after their career nosedived after Adrenalize, this is like the second coming because if there is one band in the world who deserves to have an album in everyone’s collection, it’s Leppard, and if you’re going to start anywhere, it might as well be Pyromania.

In 1983, Leppard could barley fill a town hall in England as headliner, but in the US, people were flocking to their support shows to catch a glimpse of England’s hottest new act. After successful introductions with their debut On through The Night and it’s follow up, High N Dry, the band finally had a ready and willing fan base to unleash their full potential onto. Pyromania became one of the biggest selling albums of the eighties and the only thing that stopped it reaching number one was the biggest selling album of all time, Thriller. The combination of Leppard and renowned AC/DC producer Mutt Lange producing the album together paid off in bucket loads as the band became mega stars in the States almost overnight. The mix of catchy, riff driven anthems and Joe’s raw yet piercing voice painted a new coat on the aging rock machine and gave the whole genre a new lease of life.

Opening with the first of many anthems Pyromania has to offer, Rock Rock Till You Drop, the album is immediately given an upbeat, captivating feel as the band deliver what are essentially pop songs with much, much more of an edge……. and a lot more guitars. The massively successful Photograph follows and up’s the bands’ sound several notches which seems to be the trend of Pyromania, make each song bigger, better and more enthralling than the last one. Stagefright gives the band one of its most iconic opening live songs before the haunting Too Late For Love offers a new kind of Love songs with more attitude than Bon Jovi could ever offer.

Die Hard The Hunter brings the rock swagger back to the album before the mighty Foolin’ stampedes across everything and gives the album one of its greatest building, atmospheric compositions. Where the hell can you go from there? Well, they have an answer. It’s called Rock of Ages. One of the Rock N Metal’s greatest assets and one that even non-Leppard fans will admit to loving. Does it draw the line between cheese and music? No it certainly does not because most people these days think anything Tom Yorke, Frank Black or Chris Martin didn’t write isn’t music. Unfortunately for you lot, while you are watching the blandest, most self-indulgent, over hyped musical farces on the planet crying and preaching at you, us folk who appreciate the fun, the attitude and the full on rock n roll spirit of ‘real bands’ will be having a blast and won’t be reminded about starving kids in Africa or today’s popular disease.

Back from my rant, Comin’ Under Fire and Action Not Words bring the album near it’s close with another few bursts of catchy riffs that constantly change and include small guitar spirals and heavy bass that constantly compete with each other for melodies, harmonies and cutting edge vocals and solos. The fearsome Billy’s Got a Gun gives the album one of its most unappreciated moments and unfortunately, ends the Pyromania.

More than any album I can think off, Tickets There Suggests you go and buy this one immediately and if you don’t like it well, you’re really thick and it’s more than likely you don’t have a soul. If you do, come back and see my review of High N Dry (Which I’ll do when I’m damn well ready). Don’t jump straight into Hysteria, it’s too soon 😉

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Friday June 19th 1992/2009 – THE MIGHTY LEPP (Seventeen Years Later)

Posted in General Tickets There Blog, Gig Review with tags , , on June 19, 2009 by Tickets There

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Today (Friday the 19th June) is the 17th anniversary of the first time I saw Def Leppard in concert. I don’t remember massive amounts from it since I was eight years old, but I clearly remember walking into the Point Depot and being more excited than I’d ever been before. I also remember being very surprised at the fact that a band as big as them would actually be playing a show in Ireland. I don’t recall (starting to sound like Forest Gump now :D) as much about the show as I’d like and much of what I remember is just based on fact checking rather than real memory. One thing I will never forget is sitting on the balcony facing that stage with my little leather jacket on that I got in Birmingham (Leppard and Guns N Roses influence). The walls were dark and the arena felt more like a massive theatre rather than a cold empty hall. The red velvet curtains, yellow railings and trimmings and carpet added such class to the character filled Depot.

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I’ll also never forget the moment when the house lights went black, surrounding the crowd in darkness. A voice shot out from the PA as the classic Dirty Harry intro boomed out while the massive black curtains surrounding the stage lit up as strobe and laser lights exploded behind them. The stage was in the round and the curtains remained hanging even when the guitars burst out playing the opening notes of Stagefright. With the anticipation building and the curtains still hanging, things hit fever pitch when they eventually dropped to reveal the mighty Leppard just as the bridge kicked in. Classic!!

After that I don’t remember a whole pile. Same with the second show I saw them play in 1996, also in the Point. Over the years, I’ve managed to see them a total of ten times and every time they play I try to absorb everything I can so in seventeen years time I don’t have to base my memories on facts from the web.

Here’s to another seveteen lads, I’ll have a pint tonight!!

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Live Review: Man Raze, The Academy 2, Dublin

Posted in Gig Review with tags , , , , on June 18, 2009 by Tickets There

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On a quiet Wednesday night in these recession times, surprises are welcome treats to break our attention from the constant news update about how screwed we all are. Tonight there’s more than one in store as The Academy fills up with members of Whitesnake, Def Leppard and their entourages to watch Man Raze in action.

Formed in 2004 by Phil Collen (Def Leppard), Paul Cook (The Sex Pistols) and Simon Laffy (Girl), Man Raze have been working on and off ever since. Because of the members touring and recording commitments with their other bands, they have only recently managed to release their debut album, Surreal and play a hand full of shows around the U.K. Tonight see’s them in Dublin for their first ever Irish gig which they’re using as a warm up performance for their set at this years Download festival.

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Live Review: Def leppard / Whitesnake / Journey – O2 Arena, Dublin

Posted in Gig Review with tags , , , on June 17, 2009 by Tickets There

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With the arena world filling up with reformed pop bands and mediocre indie acts like Coldplay, Snow Patrol and the Kings of Leon, it’s about time the people who do it best return and show the kids what a live performance is all about. When you take two bands like Def Leppard and Whitesnake and put them in a venue like The Ambassador or The Olympia, they’ll give you an incredible show, but when you throw them into an arena, they’ll put on a concert worthy of the gods.

These aren’t guys used to playing a corner stage in a tiny venue with an acoustic guitar, they’re road trained, crowd pleasing beasts who’s command of the crowd and stage only grows with a bigger space to fill. The last time Leppard played a big show in Ireland was 1996 at the Point Depot, tonight they return to the new O2 Arena to reclaim their crowns as kings of arena rock….

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