Setlist -
1.
Die Hard the Hunter.
2.
Animal.
3.
Excitable.
4.
Foolin’.
5.
Too Late For Love.
6.
Billy’s Got A Gun.
7.
Slang.
8.
Promises.
9.
Paper Sun.
10.
Let It Go.
11.
Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes).
12.
Bringin’ on the Heartbreak.
13.
Switch 625.
14.
Let Me Be The One.
15.
We Belong.
16.
Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad.
17.
Two Steps Behind.
18.
Now.
19.
Rocket.
20.
Let’s Get Rocked.
21.
Hysteria.
22.
Love Bites.
23.
Armageddon It.
24.
Pour Some Sugar On Me.
25.
Let’s Go.
26.
Action.
27.
Rock of Ages.
28.
Photograph.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0HNTthYcoe49a2AGGgxyrX?si=Q_FhixS6SU6w32AS0xazBA https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCXV74e3a77iWH7BEVgE9CpnbZH9M9kVVThe tour behind the self titled album kicked off in October of 2015 and did not end until October of 2017. The album sold well, peaked in the top ten in numerous countries and was hailed as an album where the band had rediscovered their sense of purpose. Following on from that success, Def Leppard went out on tour again, co-headlining with Journey across North America between May and October, which had been preceded by a headline benefit show at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust. But the real fun was yet to begin. On October 19th, Def Leppard played a show in Honolulu for the first time since 1983. During that concert, they played the entire Hysteria album again. This was the start of a tour that saw the full album played in Japan, Australia and the UK. One of these shows was officially released as
Hysteria at the O2 , which would be released officially in May of 2020 as part of a double live DVD/Blu-Day package.
2019 was no slouch for Def Leppard either. Starting with their induction into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, they then went off on a European tour for a month before heading across the pond for 11 shows across Canada. But it was only the tip of the iceberg. Def Leppard were now in for one of the biggest productions they had ever put on. 12 shows in one venue, the Zappos Theater in Las Vegas. Multiple rare tracks, a few rotating song choices, and one of the biggest stage productions the band has ever put together. It’s time to delve deep into
Hits Vegas .
Because this is such an intense production, I have put in the YouTube link as well as the Spotify link. You honestly should watch it because the lighting is cool and the set looks amazing. I’ll be talking about that more within each song if I think there’s something really worth bringing up.
So, the show begins with the sounds of air raid sirens, helicopters, gunfire and explosions, leading into acoustic guitars and vocals. For the first time since Vivian Campbell’s very first show with the band in 1992, we have
Die Hard the Hunter! This is a great opening track, and the staging for the intro looks amazing. Vivian takes the first solo of the show. The lighting during the main instrumental section is fantastic, really highlighting each guitarist especially well during that descending riff. This is just a very attention-grabbing intro to the show and I love it.
This leads straight into
Animal. The video screen at the top of the rear of the stage changes to a view of all sorts of signs that are very synonymous with Las Vegas. There isn’t much to report on this song, it’s a fairly great performance of
Animal, but it’s a song that we all know well at this point. Phil shows a lot of passion during the solo section especially, but the whole band seem to be having a really great time at this point.
Third up we have
Excitable, and this version in particular helps me with proving a point I made back in my
Hysteria review. This song is not a bad track by any means, but it really takes on a bigger life of its own when played live. The shots of the crowds in this one really help sell it and I love the way the lights are put onto the crowd full blast during the title line in the chorus. This is exactly what I think of with this song. Phil adds a solo to this that isn’t found on the album version, the actual riff they play to bring this out properly is super tight. This is a great version of the song.
Vivian takes the spotlight to open the next song, which is
Foolin’. You’ve got lights set up to the cowbell in the chorus and a great atmosphere set up to the mood changes of the song all up. Phil takes centre stage for the solo on this one and it’s a great moment. This is a really tight performance of the song, maybe my favourite live rendition of this song overall. We stay with the
Pyromania singles a little longer here, with
Too Late For Love starting shortly after. Vivian takes a spotlight opening the riff, looking really cool with his Les Paul and leather jacket. Joe’s performance here is pretty great, especially given that his higher register isn’t what it used to be. My favourite riff of the song is met with a pretty great matching light show, and then Vivian absolutely smokes each of the solos in this song. The sea of clapping hands going into the third verse is such a great visual, as is Rick Allen having a really thick smile across his face during the chorus. It’s so great to see that this is still a band that love what they do!
Want a big rarity now? Ok, have
Billy’s Got A Gun for the first time since 2002! As much as I loved the performance of this one on the LA Forum gig, I think the modern guitar tone just builds this song up so much more. Joe’s giving this song everything he has and it just sounds fantastic. The group vocal bridge is really a standout on this performance. The strobe light set to Rick’s snare fill is a great touch. The trade off between Vivian’s solo and Phil’s solo is well done and this whole track is great. Joe shouts the final “bang bang” straight into Phil’s pickups, which is almost a moment of humour for a song that doesn’t need it, but the result is great.
Let’s now take a moment to step out of the 80’s and give some post
Hysteria songs a chance, hey? As mentioned by Joe in his track by track commentary for
Slang “we often see great big banners that say “please play
Slang, so obviously, occasionally, we do”. And here it is. This song is pretty much just a short couple of minutes for the boys to have some fun. The chorus has a cool trade, where Sav and Phil sing the first line and Viv and Joe finish it off. It’s a really fun song to hear live, probably a lot better than the album version for many. For me, having a larger audience presence on this one, coupled with Joe not holding back as much and just having fun with it, makes this version way better than what was on
Viva! Hysteria.
Up next,
Promises. As soon as Phil starts that riff, the place goes mental. It’s an AWESOME moment in the show and the whole song is just great here. Not much to say here, but Viv’s outro solo is pretty special.
Paper Sun is one of my favourite Def Leppard songs of all, so having it here is a thing of sheer beauty. The lighting for the pre-chorus and chorus is officially one of my favourite things from the production standpoint so far, with Joe being faded out to highlight the band during their vocal parts and then putting the focus back on Joe for his lines. This song live is on a whole other level to the album version and if Phil hadn’t changed the final lick of his solo, this would be my favourite performance of anything Def Leppard had ever done.
But our favourite album hasn’t been covered yet, I hear some if you saying. Here’s 4 songs just for you
High ‘n’ Dry fans! First up,
Let It Go. This song just sounds huge here. Hearing the wall of voices during the chorus is awesome, Vivian’s take on the solos here is perfect and the high pitched bridge with just Joe and Sav sounds just right. This song is a real highlight from
High ‘n’ Dry and it is here too. Phil’s ending solo gives the outro a nice little extra push. Once again, miles above the 2013 version.
Up next is
Mirror Mirror, which is another huge favourite of mine when it comes to this album. It’s at this point of the show where I realise how much I’ve been understating Vivian’s role in the band. He’s pretty much the MVP of this show so far, and he even nails my favourite lead from the album version 100% dead on. Onto the song, this one really suits Joe’s current vocal and this performance is huge. I wish they’d have boosted Sav’s bass presence a little more on the verses of this one, as it really needs him, but other than that, solid work!
We end our look into
High ‘n’ Dry with the 1-2 punch of
Bringin’ on the Heartbreak and
Switch 625. I’ve mentioned before that my favourite version of
Heartbreak is the one found on
Mirror Ball, with the acoustic into the full band at the climax, but this performance is very faithful to the album version. The clean tones are pretty much perfect in the verses, and when that chorus kicks in, the group vocal has never sounded better. Vivian’s soloing is very faithful to the way Steve played this song and it’s just a fantastic performance. The way that the lighting drops out to just a spotlight on Sav to start up
Switch 625 is awesome and we start getting a little bit of laser action here. Vivian and Phil both climb to the higher level to start the lead guitar action and it looks awesome. They climb down again once we get back to the main riff, and we hold onto that last note. The lights disappear and we get treated to a Rick Allen drum solo. The shots of his footwork during this really makes you understand how much Rick puts into performing with Leppard and while the drum solo sounds like nothing much, watching it really gives me so much perspective of how great he really is.
It’s been a pretty rocking setlist so far, but I almost feel like I need something a bit different now. That’s when I see Joe with an acoustic guitar walk away the way down the catwalk to a smaller stage at the end of the catwalk with a few stools. This is the point where Joe introduces the band, one by one, as they make their way down the catwalk. This is a great moment and Joe announces that the next few songs had never been played live or had been completely forgotten. Rick walks out in a crown and cape, ala Freddie Mercury and it’s a great moment.
First song in this acoustic setlist is from
X,
Let Me Be The One. This really highlights the vocal power of Def Leppard as a band with the chorus. While I kinda liked the album version, I’d much rather listen to this. This is acoustic, live and raw and it just sounds great! But if this demonstrates the vocal power of the group, it’s this next song that shows off something a little bit special. Off of the self-titled album,
We Belong is the magical song sung by every single member of the band. Live, this sounds a little more raw and honest, but you get a really good feeling for what everyone sounds like when the next group vocal kicks in. Extra special is the fact that Rick Allen gets a line of vocal.
Up next is
Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad from
Adrenalize. This is another one that benefits from the acoustic treatment, but I will say I miss the higher harmonies to the pre-chorus here. The ending of the bridge into the acapella line of the final chorus is a really effective moment here, and I love it.
Two Steps Behind from
Retro Active closes out the acoustic set. This song gives Rick Allen a bit of a break, which is good because we’ve still got a fair ways to go with this concert. This is a decent performance of the song, but I have to admit that there’s something missing without the orchestra here. This one is probably my least favourite out of the acoustic set this time around, just because the other three were such special tracks.
Now is the perfect song to cap off with after the acoustic set. Joe holds down the acoustic guitar here with Viv and Phil holding down the ambient guitar harmonies. This then kicks into high gear through the chorus and into the rest of the song. This is a really great live song, absolutely blowing away the studio version from
X. Vivian’s outro leads really fit the track, Phil nails his solo and I think this is just a really great performance.
Then we get into the staples dump portion of the show. After all, it is a Def Leppard concert and the staples are staples for a reason. We kick into a hybrid version of
Rocket, taking the opening drum loop from the album version and then kicking into the single version’s “Guitar! Drums!” punchy intro. The energy in this song is beyond massive and we’re back to Leppard just having a great time on stage together. The way the lights break down into the album version’s middle section is really cool. This feels like Leppard’s answer to what Queen used to do with
Bohemian Rhapsody’s middle operatic section. Leaving the band submerged in darkness makes their return with the solo so much bigger! I must admit, I get a little tired of seeing this on every setlist, but watching it through on this release makes me realise why it is such a good live song.
Up next is the lead single from
Adrenalize,
Let’s Get Rocked. This is really added to by the live ambience. It’s a little faster, the crowd singing along to the chorus is great. Phil’s fast legato run making up for the violins on the original record is super fun, and I’m just having a really good time with this song. The energy in this part of the set is really cracking, maybe more so tham the start of the show.
Hysteria is up next and the background on this one is amazing. There are newspaper headlines on the first two tiers, and up above is the album cover and clips from
In The Round, In Your Face. The solo section is extra special, seeing Vivian and Phil playing the full solo together in the middle of the catwalk. This is such a special song, meaning so much in terms of the full discography. Phil lets rip to close out the song and the whole thing just feels really good.
We then take a moment to slow the set down a little with a beautiful version of
Love Bites. The light show alone is worth watching this song for, we’ve got all sorts of laser work and a nice starry background behind it all. Vivian takes up a lot of the lead role on this song and absolutely nails the fragile, somber tone that this song goes for. This time around, I really enjoyed the song, but I think this could’ve been better utilised before
Rocket, as it really brings down the mood after
Let’s Get Rocked and
Hysteria. I feel like this song probably needed to be done to a metronome, as it feels like the tempo fluctuates a lot more than it’s meant to on this one. I like the performance of this song a lot more on
Mirror Ball, where Vivian gets a great extended solo.
The next song opens with Vivian walking straight down the catwalk, riffing.
Armageddon It has always been a favourite live and this performance of the song is pretty much perfect. Joe isn’t holding back at all, the guitars are going gangbusters, the group vocal sounds awesome. This is just a real highlight of the whole show, well worth everything that led us here.
The main set closes off with
Pour Some Sugar On Me, almost a little predictably. The vocal presence in this one sounds a little weak, but after how hard Joe has just gone on
Armageddon It, it makes sense he might be holding a bit back. After all, this is the 24th track of this DVD (the 21st on the actual night). This is, as you’d expect, a huge highlight for the audience and it closes off everything we’ve seen so far really nicely.
So, being that this release combines every song played over the multiple nights into one release, this is where the flow gets a little bit odd. We have two encore openers, both with their own extended intros. First up is
Let’s Go, from the self-titled. I feel like this one is a little odd as an encore opener, as it is so well suited to being the very first song of the night. Nonetheless, this is a great performance of a super upbeat song. After hearing it in such close proximity with
Sugar, this really doubles down what I felt with the song in it’s album version. This feels like a modern take on
Sugar. Sav’s bass leads in the bridge cut through so nicely and the solo is a real highlight with Phil starting it and passing it over to Vivian through the harmonised lick.
However, what does open the encore really well is
Action! We get some nice purple spotlights and then Phil just opens with a killer lead line. The opening line “so you think you’ll take another piece of me” really fits the vibe of an encore to me. This version is exactly what you expect it to be. It sounds great and absolutely pumps up the audience. Phil plays an Explorer on this one, which is really different. This song is just a really great way to kick off to get into the last two songs of the show.
Up next, Def Leppard have something to say. It’s better to burn out, than to fade away.
Rock of Ages gets a killer performance here as we all know it should. It’s such a feel good song, you can see the audience clapping along to each snare hit in parts, Phil’s solo is so good and this is just the Def Leppard we’ve come to love doing what they do best. If this was your first experience with Def Leppard, this is exactly where this song deserves to go. You’ve almost earned it, in a way.
And to cap it all off,
Photograph takes the final spot on our setlist for this evening. Phil and Vivian stand at the foot of the catwalk to start the riff together, Joe gives this his best and the crowd goes wild one last time. The backdrop fills with photos of the band growing up. This feels like the best way to close the show. Phil’s solo is perfect to send us out, we get to see people dancing in the audience and it just feels awesome. The mood from the band is so good. After Joe hits the end of his speech, you can hear
Kings of the World start up and it fades out as the credits end.
I have to give this top marks. This is a setlist that brings together songs from nearly every album (we’re only missing
On Through the Night,
Sparkle Lounge and
Mirror Ball here, at least live in the case of
Mirror Ball), the performance is so good, and every song just proves that Def Leppard are still in the top of their game live, even if their albums aren’t what they used to be. If this had been their final release, I still think it would have been perfect. This is Def Leppard. This is who they are and what they do live for nearly 2 and a half hours!
And that’s actually where we leave the band for now. After this residency, Def Leppard played two more shows and then took off at the start of November. A new tour was announced for 2020, but we all know how that particular story goes. COVID outbreaks canned the tour until June 16th 2022 and the band were unable to come together to do much more than that. But, there will be a next time, as Joe always said. That’s the story that we are all about to react to. The new album,
Diamond Star Halos has released here in Australia, it will unlock across the rest of the world soon, I’m excited that we have made it here, covering the whole discography within this last month.