Def Leppard, Poison: Still a good time
ASHWAUBENON - If somebody didn’t scrawl it in lipstick on a Resch Center bathroom wall Wednesday night, they should have: “For a good time, call Def Leppard and Poison.”
Eleven years for each since their last time through Green Bay, the two bands synonymous with ’80s rock proved they can still excite a crowd and sell out an arena. Nothing to it. Just tone down the hair, crank up the volume, unleash a couple decades’ worth of hits and the next thing you know you’re rockin’ the place to the ground.
A sold-out crowd of 7,578 came to relive an era defined by the fun and frivolity of arena anthems that dare you not to stick your fists in the air and belt along. A time when the really pressing questions were things like, “Do you wanna get rocked?” and the answer was always a resounding “Yes!” ... usually followed by a beer chaser.
There was no shortage of those flashbacks at the Resch (undoubtedly with some painful results for middle-aged fans on Thursday morning), but with Def Leppard marking its 40th anniversary this year and Poison doing a delayed victory lap to celebrate last year’s 30th milestone, it's hard not to have fresh respect for a pair of bands who have not just survived but thrived, earning their stay with a hits list that takes people back.
Here’s 10 takeaways from a night where you didn’t try to find meaning in “Armageddon It” or “Unskinny Bop,” you just reveled in it.
1. Wait a minute, did Poison steal the show? Maybe it was the five years since the original foursome last hit the road together, but the band’s hourlong set was euphoric, stoked by the off-the-charts energy of frontman Bret Michaels. Wailing on the harmonica for “Your Mama Don’t Dance,” strutting the catwalk on “Talk Dirty to Me” or on his knees slapping high fives with fans and sticking the mic in their faces, he’s incredibly engaging and his enthusiasm infectious. When it was time to bust out “Nothin’ But a Good Time” for the finale, it was like somebody flipped his switch into warped speed. The entire arena was on its feet for the full hour.
2. That Joe Elliott rock star thing never gets old. Outstretched arms. Palms up. His fingers on each hand doing that “gimme, gimme, gimme; more, more, more” motion like some kind of rock ‘n’ roll reflex. It never failed to elicit the reaction he wanted. It didn’t hurt that he still had the vocal firepower to blast rockers like “Let It Go” to the cheap seats.
3. See C.C. and Bret get along. Michaels and C.C. DeVille infamously threw punches at one another back in the day, but it was a big nostalgic warm and fuzzy to hear Michaels pepper the band’s set with a “Hit it, C.C.” here and a “C.C. on guitar” there. If DeVille was having fun, it was hard to tell behind the dark glasses and the top hat pulled down low over his stick-straight hair.
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4. Real life slips in. Unless you were that guy who missed his seat, ended up butt-down in the aisle and somehow still kept a grip on his beer, it was nearly impossible not to be struck by how both bands have been affected by cancer. Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell, in top form at the Resch, continues to get treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “Glad we’re here. Glad he’s here,” Elliott said of Campbell before launching into “Armageddon It.” Poison drummer Rikki Rockett, looking like the happiest guy in the room all night, was diagnosed with oral cancer two years ago and is now a year cancer-free. Michaels introduced Rockett as his best friend since junior high. “He fought like a son of a bitch to be here tonight,” Michaels said, handing him a Packers cap.
5. That was some drum solo. During a scorching “Switch 625” by Def Leppard’s Campbell, Phil Collen and Rick Savage, drummer Rick Allen upped the ante with a solo of his own, right down to the extreme closeups of his bare feet. The applause was as thunderous as the playing, with a beaming Allen in blinged-out Union Jack headphones soaking up the response. It was the best image of the night on the band’s monster video wall.
6. A military salute with “zero political message.” Just back from performing for the troops in Afghanistan, Michaels invited five veterans onstage, insisting they stand behind him at center stage during “a big thank you to the men and women who kick ass.” The crowd erupted in chants of “USA! USA!” during a touching “Something to Believe In.”
7. Phil keeps his shirt on. Known for often shedding his shirt while shredding on the guitar, Collen kept his rock-hard abs under the cover of an open vest.
8. Remember that time at Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena? That was awesome. You knew it would come up, and it did. Michaels mentioned the band’s previous tour launches in Green Bay and his near-annual solo shows at Green Bay Distillery (he's returning Oct. 19), but it was talk of shooting the video for the band’s 1988 ballad “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” at the arena next door that made the crowd roar. “You remember the video?” he said. “... Let’s bring it home.” Imagine how fun it would’ve been if that video could’ve played behind the band with the sea of lighted phones in front of them.
9. “Cowboys, cowgirls, saddle up ...” A little slow out of the gate (but in all fairness, their start time was practically the dinner hour on a Wednesday), Tesla opened the night with a 35-minute set that showed off Jeff Keith’s signature scratchy vocals and legs still skinny enough to wear reptile pants. Halfway in, the band started doling out the hits: “The Way It Is,” “Signs,” “Love Song” and “Little Suzi,” saving “Modern Day Cowboy” for the closer.
10. All the cool kids were wearing T-shirts. It wasn’t of KISS Army proportions, but it was an impressive parade of old concert T-shirts in the crowd from both the Def Leppard and Poison camps. Remember the Flesh & Blood World Tour that launched in 1990 from Green Bay? Check. The 1988 Hysteria Tour? Check. A well-stocked merch table was mobbed before the show, where T-shirts were going for $40 — a bargain for a night of nostalgia.
kmeinert@pressgazettemedia.com and follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert
Poison setlist
“Look What the Cat Dragged In”
“Ride the Wind”
“Talk Dirty to Me”
“Something to Believe In”
“Your Mama Don’t Dance”
“Fallen Angel”
“Unskinny Bop”
“Every Rose Has Its Thorn”
“Nothin’ But a Good Time”
Def Leppard setlist
“Let’s Go”
“Animal”
“Let It Go”
“Dangerous”
“Foolin’”
“Love Bites”
“Armageddon It”
“Rock On”
“Man Enough”
“Rocket”
“Bringin’ on the Heartbreak”
“Switch 625”
“Hysteria”
“Let’s Get Rocked”
“Pour Some Sugar on Me”
“Rock of Ages” (encore)
“Photograph” (encore)