Folks, I just came back from seeing Styx and Def Leppard at the Mohegan Sun Arena, and I gotta say, IT FREAKIN' RULED, even from my balcony seat.

Granted, I was not a huge fan of either band to start, but what I saw & heard left me in a state of revelation.

Though I hardly know much of Styx's music, their performance was solid. J.Y. DeYoung and Tommy Shaw are excellent guitarists, and their current keyboardist, bassist and drummer are also highly talented. What surprised me the most, though, was their original bassist, Chuck Panozzo, joined them for a number of songs, namely their mega-hit "Come Sail Away." The keyboardist also seemed to constantly take photos of his bandmates (which he'd throw into the audience). At the end of their stint, they were throwing these endorsed discs, towels, and beachballs (which were batted into the crowd with instruments and a hockey stick). Such energy!

 

Then came Def Leppard. Just before the start of their stint, I started getting the munchies, so I went to grab a baked pretzel & water. Ended up coming back around the end of the first song (which I didn't recognize, thank goodness). Joe Elliot pretty much still has the voice he had back then, though he also sounds just a hint like Rod Stewart now. Phil Collen is a great guitarist, and I noticed he's gotten rather buff (compared to his spindly-looking days), and I'd swear he was a hair's length away from having rippling muscles. Vivian Campbell, who joined the band back in 1992 after Steve Clark's death, also has talent, often trading lead solos with Collen. Rick Savage is AMAZING on bass, AMAZING! I mean, he had great prescence, and even did some solos in one song that left me astounded. Rick Allen, for a drummer with one arm, is astounding. I was reading on Wikipedia a bit earlier after the concert, and it says he's been using some technology to really keep up with his classic drumming skills, and with the look of his drum kit, I swore it looked and sounded like he just plowed on like any great drummer. Simply amazing, all in all.

Oh, man, though, did they really fire it up with "Bringing on the Heartache" and "Foolin", sounded godly. They also played 2 songs with some acoustic guitars (minus the drummer, of course). Then came the 2 clinchers of their stint, "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Rock of Ages". I mean, what concert of theirs would be a concert without those songs? Again, left me feeling like I just saw gods.

 

But yeah, folks, you can talk about any performance you really enjoyed, recent or in the past.

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If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write. - Stephen King

DCI Character Stats Thread

I've only ever seen one band live and that was a Beatles tribute band at my university. They were pretty good and the music was pretty decent too.

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Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

aw man I would've loved seeing Def Leppard... Great music, imo


I've not been to that many live concerts, but I've enjoyed each and every one of them

not too many months ago me and some mates went to see Hammerfall (warm up band; "The Poodles (pun on the term "poodle rock"
)

both Swedish Bands, Hammerfall are still (sadly enough) mostly locally known in Europe, and haven't had their complete breakthrough yet, "The Poodles" are pretty much just known in Sweden

but despite being relatively small bands, and relatively new as well, and neither with an audience that worship them on a divine level (like, say, Metallica) it was almost incredible how good a connection they managed to establish with the audience... I mean, it was hard to belive that there were only about 3k people in there, because the ambiance was incredible, it felt like it was way bigger than it actually was

but the best thing was probably that they were both very laid back and you could tell they had fun, probably more than we did

for instance, the Poodles had put up 2 1x1 metre cloths on both sides of the stage, with the symbol "The nine tailed poodle from hell" (we laughed quite a bit ^^ ) you see, it was a poodle face with glowing red eyes (lamps behind the cloth) and 9 fox-like tails, and it had smoke coming out of its mouth... it's obvious that despite them being serious about what they do, they still joke about it and you could really tell that it was the case, partially due to their laidback style... it's probably one of the things they will both win and lose some on

I mean; it's silly, yes, but they are fully aware of it and do it anyway, and I personally like it that they are modest about what they do ^^

and for the record: Going to an Iron Maiden gig is one of the things that's on top of my "Things to do before I die"-list... heck, next time I'm going, period.

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BORK!