I’m not a big concert-goer anymore. But when Def Leppard announced a Canadian tour, well, it was high time I saw them perform live.
I’ve been a fan since long before guitarist Steve Clark died of an overdose and back when drummer Rick Allen had two arms. (He lost one in a car accident in 1984 that nearly killed him.) Def Leppard was the reason I learned anything about producer Mutt Lange before he became Mr. Shania Twain. It was Mutt who helped shape the band’s sound. But I digress.
Tuesday night at Budweiser Gardens was the last date on their month-long Canadian tour. It was loud and with my diminished hearing, it was perfect. They played everything you’d expect, from Foolin’ to Photograph to Pour Some Sugar on Me to Hysteria to Armageddon It. The visuals were stunning and thank goodness for them because the bulbous head of the guy in front of me was in my way. The giant main screen behind the band was complemented by screens on the risers and on either side of the stage. Sometimes they played moving geometric shapes. Other times, old footage of the band back in the day when lead singer Joe Elliot was as skinny as a flagpole. As they performed Armageddon It, a series of stats with moving counters faded in and out. Not happy statistics, either, but about world hunger, mortality and detrimental things we’re doing to our planet. It really brought home the chorus lyric, “Are you getting it?” Every song had something different. And if there was any question whether Joe Elliot still has his chops, he put it to rest, especially with his solo acoustic performance of Two Steps Behind.
The emotional highlight was a drum solo. When Allen lost his arm, the obvious question was what they would do for a drummer. It never really occurred to anyone that he could continue to play. Well, it occurred to Allen. He has a specially rigged-up drum kit that allows him to play with his feet what he used to play with his left arm. Talk about a workout. The camerawork was terrific, showing in detail how his bare feet make up for the lost appendage. We were already standing or we would have leapt out of our seats for him. And all night long, every time he was on the screen, he was grinning. Talk about a triumph of the spirit. He’s an inspiration. Most drummers can’t play half as well with twice the arms!
An unexpected delight was opening band, Trapper. Led by Forest, Ontario singer Emm Gryner. They played a few originals, which isn’t easy when everyone’s there to see someone else and they’ve never heard of your band. But they quickly won the crowd over. And when the guitarist asked, “who wants to hear a few 80s hits?”, my first thought was, wow, she would kill Scandal’s The Warrior. It wasn’t an original thought, as it turned out because that’s what they launched into. And they killed it.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been to so many shows, but I can’t help but comment on what the concert experience has become. Bud Gardens, I love you, but you put the damn floor seats too close together. Even the most limited dance moves resulted in frequent bumps and touches in places strangers ought not touch. The couple in front of us not only shot a lot of videos but they stopped to watch each one after it was shot. They actually missed the next song, watching footage of the song that was just played. And when they paused to take a selfie I photo-bombed them to perfection! I even saw the finished product and enjoyed a moment of pride in my work. They likely deleted it which is a shame. It was a commentary on their inability to live in the moment!