Def Leppard
with Poison & Cheap Trick
BOK Center
Tulsa, Oklahoma
August 22, 2009
By Jeb
Wright
Cheap Trick
Setlist:
Way of the World | I Want You To Want Me | These Days | She's
Tight | Tonight It's You | Sick Man of Europe | Dream Police |
The Flame | Surrender
Poison
Setlist:
Look What the Cat Dragged In | Ride the Wind | Your Mama Don't
Dance | Fallen Angel | Something to Believe In | Unskinny Bop |
Every Rose Has Its Thorn | Talk Dirty to Me
Encore:
Nothing But A Good Time
Def Leppard
Setlist:
Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop) | Rocket | Animal | C'mon C' mon|
Fooling | Love Bites | Rock On | Two Steps Behind | Bringin' On
the Heartbreak/Switch 625| Hysteria | Armageddon It | Photograph
| Pour Some Sugar On Me | Rock of Ages
Encore:
Let's Get Rocked
Tulsa,
Oklahoma is loving their brand new BOK Center as it has turned
the town into a 'must play' stop for major tours crisscrossing
the Midwest. On August 22nd, it was Def Leppard, Poison and
Cheap Trick who were cruising north from their previous nights
gig in Dallas, TX. The fans came out in droves and the event
was nearly sold out.
There were
plenty of women roaming the hallways who should have gained
modesty as the years went on, for obvious reasons, who instead
chose to simply push 'em up and show em off, much to the chagrin
of those whose line of vision they invaded. The younger girls
did their best 'It's 1983' impersonations but, truth be told,
they had much better luck teasing their hair than they did
walking in spike heels. Adding a few beers to their
inexperienced slut shoe wearing meant there was a lot of
tripping and falling down. While the people watching was
classic, the real stars of the show were the three bands who
took the stage.
Cheap Trick
started things off and proved, once again, that they are one of
the most underappreciated, and underrated, bands walking the
face of the earth. They were relegated to only nine songs but
still put on a great set full of classic rock staples, including
"I Want You To Want Me," "She's Tight," "Dream Police" and the
set ending "Surrender." Robin Zander is an amazing vocalist and
the rest of the band; guitarist Rick Nielsen, bass player Tom
Petersson and drummer Bun E. Carlos are one tight unit. They
deserve to be headlining ten thousand seat arenas instead of
playing short nine song opening sets. They performed two
excellent tracks from their new album The Latest in
"These Days" and the rocking "Sick Man of Europe." One of the
highlights was the opening number from Dream Police, "Way
of the World."
Poison was
up next. Their usual pyro heavy set was cut back to shooting
flames from each side of drummer Rikki Rocket’s drum riser.
There was no confetti, no video screens and no real
personality. The mix was terrible as CC Deville's guitar was
blasting over vocalist Bret Michaels to the point where one
could hardly hear the VH1 television star. During quieter
moments, it became clear why Bret was down in the mix, as he
sounded hoarse and struggled to sing anything more demanding
than a ballad; his range was nonexistent.
The band,
like Cheap Trick, only performed nine songs. Unlike Trick,
however, they had time for more but chose to play guitar and
drum solos instead. Both CC Deville and Rikki Rocket are
average musicians and the solo sections reminded one of being at
a high school dance watching friends attempting to emanate their
heroes. CC has written many pop metal classics but twenty-five
years down the road it remains obvious that he so wants to be
Edward Van Halen.
Musically,
the highlights of the Poison set were "Ride the Wind" and
"Fallen Angel," both songs one tends to forget when looking at
their massive amount of MTV history. "Something to Believe In"
and "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" were crowd favorites and featured
lengthy sing-a-longs. At the end of the day, however, Poison
just didn't have it. Bass player Bobby Dall’s onstage
enthusiasm looked contrived and the band seemed to be four
individuals sharing a stage instead of a band of brothers.
Poison are much more at home in an outdoor amphitheater
surrounded by their adoring public than they are in a three band
setting, sandwiched in-between bands that are both more seasoned
and talented than they are.
Def Leppard
hit the stage and it was clear from the opening notes of "Rock!
Rock! Till Ya Drop" that they owned the Tulsa crowd. They had
the audience eating out of their hands the entire show. Unlike
Poison, their sound was immaculate and while vocalist Joe
Elliott did struggle to hit the high notes, he was left out on
his own to either sink or swim. Guitarists Phil Collen and
Vivian Campbell stole the show. Both looked amazing, sounded
amazing and are talented craftsmen. Collen had a tiny camera
mounted to the headstock of his guitar pointing down his fret
board. This view on the video screen showed a finger frenzy of
guitar mania every time he took a solo. Viv played a much more
active role in terms of guitar solos than he has in previous
years. After a decade or so in Def Leppard he may finally be
comfortable showing off his talents.
Ten of the
fifteen tunes were classic hits from the albums Pyromania
and Hysteria. The other five tunes were the David Essex
classic "Rock On," High N Dry's "Bringin' on the
Heartbreak," "C'mon C'mon" from Sparkle Lounge, "Two
Steps Behind" from Adrenalize and the encore "Let's Get
Rocked." The musical highlights of the set were the acoustic
"Two Steps Behind" and "Bringin' On the Heartbreak." The
one/two/three punch of "Photograph," "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and
"Rock of Ages" ended the regular set on a high note.
While many
of Lep's songs have corny lyrics (see "Sugar," "Armageddon It"
and "Rocket") one can't deny they are a talented band capable of
pulling out the hit machine and delivering the goods. The set
list may have been predictable, and long time fans may have
loved to see more songs from High N Dry, but to blow a
fun time, party band like Poison off the stage is not an easy
feat. Lep showed up wanting to prove that this was their show.
By the end of their set, 19,000 rock fans agreed that on this
night, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Def Leppard ruled the stage.
