If you're a music fan, one of the greatest joys of summertime is the opportunity to enjoy your favorite bands outside, in the fresh summer air (or the not-so-fresh air, if you live in LA right now).
This weekend, I was fortunate enough to get a VIP pass (ok, so they were lawn seats. So I'm cheap. So what?) to one of the most talked-about concerts of the Rock Summer -the much touted Poison/ Def Leppard summer tour. This show was at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine.
THE VENUE - THE GOOD
As a venue, the Verizon Ampitheatre holds its own with the best of them. The stage itself is a good size, although the seating is on a very steep hill - which is actually good if you want to see the show but you can't afford to shell out $150 for stageside seating. Even those right up on the lawn at the top get a fairly decent, unobstructed view of the stage, and the two Jumbotron screens provide close-ups of the action.
THE VENUE - THE BAD
If you're a fan of the traditional pre-show tailgate parties, be aware that the venue practices a zero-tolerance policy against Outside Alcohol - even in the parking lot. Be warned that dozens of uniformed officers on segways (licence plate: PRTYPOOPER) patrol every inch of the parking lot hours before the show. If you are caught with alcohol (even unopened bottles or jello-shots in a cooler) you will be asked to pour it all out or leave - and no, drinking it all in one go if caught is not an option. (We tried). Just a little heads up!
Drinks inside the venue are (typically) over-priced, starting at $8 for a Red Bull, $10 for a beer, $18 for a frozen margarita and $22 for a bottle of white wine.
THE SHOW
The show itself was a mixed bag. The two rock dinosaurs Leppard and Poison were supported by Cheap Trick, who gave a solid if short performance with 4 old songs and one new song. After 35 years together, their sound was tight and lead singer Robin Zander proved he's still got what it takes to get 16,000 people on their feet and cheering for more... despite the odd onstage temper tantrum.
POISON
For me, Poison was the highlight of this lineup. One might make fun of lead singer Brett Michaels for his high-publicity reality-show appearances, but as a frontman he's still got the looks and the moves that leave others in his genre far behind.
Although initially Michaels sounded very hoarse on a number of songs (payback perhaps for a summer schedule chock-full of gigs), he was able to guide the band with enviable energy through a scorching back-catalog of hits such as 'Nothing But A Good Time' and 'Every Rose Has It's Thorn.' Every song was greeted with a rousing chorus of cheers and a forest of flickering cigarette lighters. The fact that the vast majority of the audience was in its early 20's and dressed to the nines with eyeliner and Big Hair gives fans hope that glam rock is not yet dead!
Guitarist C.C. Deville stole the show as always with a blistering solo matched with a truly impressive light display synched to his playing. Bassist Bobby Dall was absent for this performance.
C.C Devillie up to his usual tricks!
DEF LEPPARD
Def Leppard headlined the set, but despite their far more elaborate set and infinitely superior sound mix, fans knew it was more of a co-headline. 'The Lep' may have some of the most loyal fans in rock today, but even though I count myself as one of them, I felt that they were outdone by Poison on this particular performance in terms of energy and performance.
Don't get me wrong. I've been a Def Leppard fan since I was a kid, but seeing them paired with Poison draws attention to some of their music shortcomings.
Yes, this summer's tour provides a stunning show. Yes, if this is your first show it will blow you away. You certainly get your money's worth. But for me, Def Leppard's set felt very over-produced compared to the rougher, rawer energy of Poison.
Whereas Poison had real pyro and lots of it, Leppard had banks and banks (and more banks) of 50-foot high video-screens showing - you've guessed it - videos of pyro. And therein lay the problem. I watched the pretty backdrop videos with rapt attention throughout the first two songs before I even noticed the band was on the stage too.
The theatrics should've been turned off after the first song, or at the very least used sparingly rather than run at full two-million megawattage blast through EVERY SINGLE SONG. The colors were bright, the images house-sized and ever-changing. The flames morphed into beautiful women and stormy cloudscapes and moody clocks swirling over purple alien landscapes, prompting the questions a) who made this beautiful monster, and b) why won't it let go of my eyes?
Where's Waldo? Spot the band on this stage!
Musically, Def Leppard matched their over-elaborate, attention-sucking backdrop with similar layers of backing tracks. It's no shame to play with a click-track, especially not in this day and age when two gee-tars and a drum don't cut it no more, but after the clean-cut live sound of Poison, I felt like I was drowning in Leppard's harmonies. I had to look very carefully to see who was actually doing the singing, and pause every few songs to pour about two pints of Reverb out of my left ear.
Frontman Joe Elliot's voice was also a little lacking, perhaps because of the heat or the exhaustion of trying to keep up with the over-energetic visuals. It was hard not to notice how his vocals were carefully turned down as he approached some of the higher notes, then turned back up afterwards. But he made up for it via sheer force of personality and his trademark charm. His between-song banter went down particularly well, and as a Brit myself it was very refreshing to hear some personality coming from a frontman instead of the usual 'Lemmie-hear-a-'Hell-Yeah!'' pseudo-cool banter so beloved of many lead singers.
The other attention-stealer in the Leppard set was (you've guessed it) guitarist's Phil 'Shirtless Wonder' Collen's ever-exposed washboard stomach. It shone. It gleamed. It made you stop dancing to 'Photograph' to ponder whether he used Olive-oil or turtle wax to keep it looking so shiny.
But like Def Leppard's backdrop (The flames! The women! The 3D bubbles!), it was a constant distraction. Whereas the others changed costume several times during the set to match the mood of the music, Colleen's jaw-dropping figure was proudly on display at all times. Don't get me wrong, if I was in such great shape myself, I would go around shirtless all the time. I would give my stomach its own Facebook page, and possibly shares in Wunder-Tan. But when every conversation you hear around you in the audience seems to center on what exercise/ diet routine the guitarist uses to look that tanned and toned, you can't help but wonder what happened to the music.
To sum up, if Def Leppard wants to keep winning the headlining slot over Poison, they'd do well to watch themselves play from the lawn seats at the back of the stadium, and perhaps tone down their show just a touch. They may have a fifty-foot high all-singing, all-dancing backing video, but for the majority of Leppard fans out there, just a photograph is (more than) enough.
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