It remains, IMO, one of the most touching and positive stories about facing adversity as a band that I’ll likely ever hear.
And the tour after the accident was amazing. In-the-round with a huge reverse kabuki reveal. IIRC it was like a 8000 pound weight that free-fell to suck the curtain up into the rafters; it had to be that heavy to make it happen in the 4 nanoseconds* that they wanted.
But the band kicked ass that night, too; I remember that well. A very satisfying concert, plus I got paid and got a pass and/or a t-shirt. Prolly still have the pass in a scrapbook somewhere.
Very cool. Thanks for sharing. Yes, their Behind the Music (if that’s what I am recalling) was one of the amazing ones. And Rick Allen’s story was central to it - and how the band supported him. For all of the tragedy they’ve faced, they hung together as a band.
I’ve seen Def Leppard at least 9-10 times since 1988. We’ll be buying tickets for this next tour next week. Joe Elliot finishes the show every time with the following line:
A quick bump since the concert is tonight! I’m quite excited. I’m debating if I should google the setlist, has anyone seen them yet on this current tour?
I’ve actually been waiting to see a new post from you so I could read your concert review; hopefully you have some more time later and can tell us some more about the show, what you thought about the bands, any moments that stood out as possibly mostly spontaneous, etc.
What was the best song? What was the last song? How long did they play? Was there anything that happened that seemed genuinely unscripted? Was there any part of the show that they just flubbed or was awkward for some reason? Did they look like they were genuinely having a good time performing? Did the audience have a good time?
I’m not extremely familiar with Journey, although of course they were all over rock and pop radio in the 1980s. When Glee made Don’t Stop Believing popular again, it kinda annoyed me especially since everyone loves to sing it at Karaoke. But, they did a quite decent job, playing mostly song anyone who listened to rock radio in the 1980s would know. Wheel in the Sky was certainly their best song, and I was glad to hear it. That song isn’t played often on classic rock station. I had a nice laugh looking out at the crowd during Faithfully, seeing everyone hold up a mobile phone. In the 1980s, it would have been cigarette lighters.
Def Leppard was the reason I came and they didn’t disappoint.I posted an old picture of me on Facebook showing me as a high schooler wearing my beloved Union Jack tank top. The crowd was a mix, but I’d say mainly 40 years old and up. You can smoke marijuana openly, but I only detected it a couple of times in my walk to and from Wrigley. There were plenty of people like me that had a couple of beers, but I certainly didn’t see anyone drunk off their ass. And, at $12 a beer, I figure you’d be bankrupt before you’re puking.
Bringing on the Heartbreak is my favorite Def Leppard song and it was also the highlight of the show. I felt like a teen driving around with the song cranked up on the radio as they led up to the chorus:
…Oh I’m sorry but it’s true
You’re bringin’ on the heartbreak
Takin’ all the best of me
Oh can’t you see
You got the best of me
Whoa can’t you see
You’re bringin’ on the heartbreak
Bringin’ on the heartache
You’re bringin’ on the heartbreak
Bringin’ on the heartache
Can’t you see…
I didn’t care for Rock On. It seems that song has had multiple lives, but I’ve always thought it was a pretty mediocre 70s song.
They certainly mentioned, “Chicago!” often enough during the in between song banter.
My main regret is that I didn’t know they had performed up in Detroit with the Pretenders as well. That certainly would have been worth heading up to Detroit. I assume the Pretenders were dropped from Wrigley because of the strict rules regarding concerts at Wrigley since it is in a residential area. The Detroit show wasn’t in a residential area and I assume it was a much longer show.
Exactly, I was scratching my head at that, too, especially as the OP is from the Chicago area where Don’t Stop Believing was extra huge, given the White Sox 2005 season and World Series title, where it was used as basically a theme song for the year and ever since.
Also, famously used in the Sopranos final episode about two years before Glee, anyway. It had experienced a resurge in popularity at least from the early-to-mid 2000s. Heck, I didn’t even know there was a Glee recording of it.
As for the Pretenders, I see now that it wasn’t a fever-induced hallucination that they were on this tour (though not this particular show.) I guess it’s just all 80s nostalgia, but they seemed to really stick out on that bill.
Ugh! I saw that the gates opened at 545, but figured no one would be taking the stage until about 7, so I spent that time with my friend and that was far enough away from Wrigley that I wouldn’t have been able to hear the Pretenders and know to get my butt to Wrigley.