Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2015
City: Moline, IL
Venue: iWireless Center
Opening act(s): Tesla, Foreigner
Headlining act: Def Leppard
Tesla Setlist:
Cumin’ Atcha Live
Love Me
Hang Tough
Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out)
Signs
Love Song
Little Suzi
Modern Day Cowboy
Foreigner Setlist:
Double Vision
Head Games
Cold As Ice
Dirty White Boy
Feels Like The First Time
Urgent
Juke Box Hero
———————
I Want To Know What Love Is
Hot Blooded
Def Leppard Setlist:
Let’s Go
Animal
Let It Go
Foolin’
Promises
Love Bites
Armageddon It
Rock On
Two Steps Behind
Rocket
Bringin’ On The Heartbreak
Switch 625
Hysteria
Let’s Get Rocked
Pour Some Sugar On Me
———————
Rock Of Ages
Photograph
Notes:
- Sixth and final show of the 2015 tour. Most shows seen in a calendar year.
- First EVER play of “Let’s Go,” the first single from the band’s upcoming self-titled album.
- First time seeing “Let’s Go” open. Ninth opener total.
- “Let’s Go” added, “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)” dropped from previous show.
- Joe Elliott performed “Two Steps Behind” by himself, shortening the song by removing the guitar solo.
- “Photograph” passes “Let’s Get Rocked” as the song to close the most shows.
- Show #2 at this venue, now called iWireless Center; first since June 18, 2003.
- First Def Leppard show at this venue since June 18, 2003.
Videos:
Review:
My first show of the tour was a little under two months ago, on August 11. It certainly doesn’t seem like it was that long ago. Since then, I’ve seen the band in Sedalia on August 14, Indianapolis on August 30, St. Louis on September 4, and Chicago on September 5. Tonight was my sixth and final show of the tour in Moline, IL. This is the most shows I’ve seen on a single tour since the 2002-2003 “X” Tour, when I saw six shows in exactly six months.
I hadn’t been to this city or venue since June 18, 2003 for my fifth show of the “X” tour and 11th show overall. Coincidentally, tonight was also my girlfriend’s 11th Def Leppard show, taking place at the exact same venue. As with several other venues I frequent, the name has since changed from The Mark Of The Quad Cities to the more corporate iWireless Center.
A lot has happened since my last show. That leg of the tour came to an end, and 10 days later, the band released the first single from their upcoming self-titled new album, “Let’s Go.” Fan expectations (driven by quotes from band members themselves) were that the new single would be featured in the live shows on the third leg of the US tour, which began on September 16 (my birthday!). But, as with most things in Leppard Land, the debut live performance of the new single was delayed. Supposedly the production aspect of the song wasn’t quite right, and show after show went by without featuring the song. Thousands upon thousands of fans that could have been exposed to the lead single from a new album to be released in the very near future saw shows with little to no evidence of a new album being on the horizon.
I’m known to have bad luck with setlists. I’ve been fortunate this year in that I have gotten to see “Paper Sun” at two of my five shows so far. As it was becoming more and more apparent that my chances of seeing “Let’s Go” live were getting slimmer and slimmer, I took solace in the fact that the set rotation lined up so that “Paper Sun” would be played in Moline.
And then the rotation changed, as “Paper Sun” was played two nights in a row, leaving “Promises” on the table for Moline.
Rather than get down about it, I stayed optimistic. I told myself “That’s ok. That just means they’ll play “Let’s Go” in Moline instead.
Full disclosure: I was telling myself that, but I hardly believed it.
We arrived at the venue and had to wait for the doors to open. Our seats this time were on Viv’s side in the 15th row. Not quite as good as others I’ve had on this tour because I had a brain fart and got my presale dates mixed up and bought tickets later than I should have. But no worries. Again, I’ve been very fortunate this year and had no complaints.
Tesla took the stage at 6:53 and surprisingly changed their set. I was glad after seeing the exact same set (minus one song in Chicago) at my first five shows of this tour. They swapped out “Edison’s Medicine” and “Gettin’ Better” for classic opener “Cumin’ Atcha Live” and “Love Me,” the latter of which I had never seen live before. The rest of the set remained the same and the band sounded as good as ever.
Jeff Keith made the faux pas of calling the city “Moline, Iowa” multiple times before finally being corrected, which can be seen in my video for “Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out).” It’s understandable considering how close the Quad Cities are to each other. Hell, I can only name three of them!
They finished up their set around 7:40 and the crowd was already getting loud. Fellow forum member Marni came over to visit for a minute between bands, which was nice. It’s always nice to see other Leppard die hards at the shows.
After a quick changeover, Foreigner took the stage. I was excited to see them as I like a lot of their material and they were excellent when I last saw them in 2007, once again opening for Leppard. Opinions can be divided on Foreigner considering they only have one original band member remaining (guitarist Mick Jones), but the lineup he has put together sounds great.
Not surprisingly, they kept their set focused on the hits. In fact, the setlist was nearly identical to the one they played when I saw them in 2007, outside of nixing the drum solo (now that Jason Bonham is no longer in the band) and “Whole Lotta Love” segment. The only addition was the power ballad “I Want To Know What Love Is” in the encore that also featured a local high school choir that you couldn’t even hear.
Highlights were opener “Double Vision,” “Dirty White Boy,” and my favorite Foreigner tune, “Urgent.”
“Juke Box Hero” was drawn out quite a bit, and frankly, lost my attention. It was during one of the instrumental breaks that I decided to check in on the forum.
And my jaw hit the floor.
I was only skimming the posts in the thread for the Moline show and came across a photo Vivian had posted of his boy Stuart. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the post actually started with him saying “Congratulations Moline! You get the first performance of the new tune. Now I just hope we don’t fuck it up…”
I couldn’t believe it. The band were going to play “Let’s Go” for the first time EVER.
I scrolled further and saw that Rick had also posted a few hints about playing the song.
Once I put my jaw back into place, I told my girlfriend about it and she got a kick out of my extreme increase in enthusiasm. Truth be told, I was starting to feel a bit bummed about the concert since I wasn’t expecting “Paper Sun” and had a terrible view of the stage thanks to the massive dome of a guy that had clearly been dragged to the concert by his wife. Yes, once again, I was the second tallest guy at the concert, and the tallest guy was right in front of me like a statue. He barely moved all night long.
Now I was jittery. I was moments away from witnessing Leppard history.
Foreigner closed out their set with “Hot Blooded,” and then the final waiting period began. Would Leppard open with “Let’s Go” or would they throw it in third? Fifth? I wasn’t sure, but I (and many others) expected it to open.
I sat there anxiously awaiting the drop of the curtain. Time slowed to a crawl. But finally, AC/DC’s “Shoot To Thrill” came on, and I prepared my phone so I could have my girlfriend ready to shoot in case “Let’s Go” was the opener.
The lights went down, and I was expecting “Disintegrate” to start blasting over the PA. But it didn’t. Instead, an extended intro to “Let’s Go” came on. The curtain dropped as the stage was doused in red light. The band members slowly snuck on stage as the Def Leppard logo got bigger and bigger on the screen.
And then BAM. That first note of “Let’s Go” started and the logo shattered on the screens, much like the album cover. With that, we were off.
I was losing my freakin’ mind as I watched history unfold. Musically, it sounded nearly note for note how the studio version sounds. Which is no surprise considering the talent of the band members and more stripped down approach taken on the new record (from what they’ve said over the last year and a half). It was clear they were having fun up there with the new song as well (Vivian especially, as he’s been vocal about wanting to play the song live).
Joe did mix up a lyric from the second verse, but outside of that, the song was flawless. Vivian adapted the acoustic bit after the second chorus into a light electric strum, and the backing vocals were spot on. The ever so mysterious screen effects were miles above the weird and borderline off-putting lyric video.
The crowd went nuts when the song started, was more reserved through the rest of the song, and responded well when it ended. Surely most of them had no idea what it was, but now they do. Rick had “#LetsGo” prominently displayed on his close up as well. Overall, I’d say the addition of the song was a success and the crowd reaction was quite positive.
My head was up in the clouds (but still not able to see over The Head) after that and I felt like I was barely conscious for “Animal,” which swiftly followed “Let’s Go.” Adding to the confusion for casuals was “Let It Go” being played in the third spot.
“Foolin'” came next, and I filmed it as best I could. My view for the show was quite frustrating, as you can see in my videos of all three bands. No matter where I looked, there was a giant head blocking my view… Especially the one in front of me, which blocked everything from center stage all the way over to Phil.
I was still holding out a tiny bit of hope for “Paper Sun,” but was happy to see “Promises” once again. I’ll be happy with anything from the post-Vault era in the set, not counting covers.
Then of course came “Love Bites” and “Armageddon It.”
I didn’t take many photos as the vantage point and obstructions didn’t make for very good pictures. So instead, I just sat back and enjoyed the show. I did give Periscope a shot during “Rock On.” If I’m going to have to see it, I’m going to share that joy with others!
Joe took center stage with his acoustic guitar and mentioned playing “Let’s Go” for the first time ever since it went in at number one on the classic rock chart today. Then he played “Two Steps Behind.”
“Rocket,” “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak,” and “Switch 625” flew by in rapid succession. Rick’s drum solo at the end of “Switch 625” was especially aggressive tonight. Perhaps the inclusion of the new single gave him a shot of adrenaline?
The set continued with “Hysteria,” “Let’s Get Rocked,” and of course, “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” During this, a woman decided to get up on the catwalk much to Joe’s surprise. He adapted to it well with some… Provocative moves… And then he went back to the main stage for safety. The woman got down and was promptly escorted out of the arena. I can assure you… It was not staged.
After a short encore break, Leppard returned to close out the show (and my run of shows for the year) with “Rock Of Ages” and “Photograph.”
Once again, Def Leppard put on a hell of a show. Joe was a little raspy due to his chest infection, but it did not hurt the show at all. Rumor has it the Tesla/Styx/Def Leppard package will be making its way back to the US early next year. While I’m not thrilled about seeing Styx again, I welcome more shows after the new album has been released. Hopefully the set will feature two or three new songs at that point.
My voice was shot after another night of singing every word of every song, especially “Let’s Go.” I was exhausted, but I had a three hour drive back home ahead of me.
Which also meant three hours before I could get home and post the video of “Let’s Go” to YouTube for all the fans that followed the show to see. It reminded me of when NASA was anxiously awaiting photos of Pluto and its fifth moon to come back from the New Horizons satellite. What was the name of that fifth moon again? I swear I heard it somewhere. There were no astronomy lessons during tonight’s concert so I’m drawing a blank… Hmm…
Anyway, congrats to Def Leppard on a very successful tour and the debut of their new single. HUGE thanks to them for affording me and the rest of the Moline crowd the chance to witness some Leppard history.
Bring on the new album!
Media Reviews:
New song spices Def Leppard’s retro vibe during iWireless concert
The onramp to memory lane contained a surprise for Def Leppard fans Wednesday night at the iWireless Center. The band kicked off its 90-plus minute set with “Let’s Go,” the first single off its 11th album, self-titled, out at the end of the month.
Lead singer Joe Elliott said this was the first time the band had performed the song, already on the top-10 on American rock charts, in concert — and online set lists back up that fact.
“You’ve put a band that’s been around for 35 years back on the top of the pile,” he told the near-sellout crowd (minus the rear third of the iWi’s upper bowl).
Once the five-Brit band got back on the hard rock highway, it was a smooth drive. Backed by a cacophony of lights and a one-story high, stage wide video screen, the band provided solid recreations of its hits that still heavy populate classic rock radio.
All in their mid-50s, the band hasn’t lost a step. Elliott may not sprint around the stage like he used to, but bandmates such as guitarist Phil Collen — the oldest of the band at 57 — was shirtless, ripped and sweaty throughout the night.
Def Leppard took a one-song break from their own hits with a revved-up version of David Essex’s “Rock On,” with Elliott emerging from a lift above the stage.
The crowd, most of whom were on their feet the entire night, was especially pumped after a drum solo on “Switch 625” from Rick Allen, who lost his left arm in an accident more than 20 years ago.
The band indulged in a bit of nostalgia itself, using decades-old concert clips and photos to illustrate “Hysteria,” and a series of black-and-white film reels of Def Leppard for “Photograph,” which closed out the encore.
While Def Leppard has famously had the same lineup since 1992, its warmup act Foreigner has only one player from the past. Co-founder Mick Jones is the only remaining member since its last hits.
But the seven-man band provided stellar renditions of its songs in its 60-minute set, with lead singer Kelly Hansen echoing Lou Gramm’s material with complete precision. Playing only nine songs — unfortunately not among them, “Blue Morning, Blue Day,” “Say You Will,” “That Was Yesterday” and “Waiting For a Girl Like You” — the band stayed true to its recordings until an extended version of “Juke Box Hero” to close its set. Returning for an encore on “I Want to Know What Love Is,” the band was joined by a dozen members of the Moline High School concert choir. Unfortunately the students were not mic’ed, and between the crowd singing along and the band’s own vocals, the teens’ voices were lost — although they did have enthusiasm in delivering the chorus.
Tesla opened the show with a 40-minute set notable for lead singer Jeff Keith’s clearly comprehendible lyric delivery, despite a driving beat around him.
Keith provided the unintentional humor for the night when he referred to the city where he was playing as “Moline, Iowa.” By the end of the night, he knew what state he was in and all four of the Quad-Cities — eventually being reminded of Bettendorf.
by David Burke @ QC Times, 2015
Tesla, Foreigner, Def Leppard serve up rock buffet
I was a block away from the iWireless Center when I spotted him.
He was hard to miss.
“RAWK AN’ ROLL!” the guy shouted as he high-fived his buddy, clearly excited for what was to come.
We might have been able to ignore his shouting, but there was no escaping his T-shirt. This pumped-up music fan was wearing THE single rattiest concert T-shirt I’d ever seen. Pocked with stains and adorned with holes, the off-color antique looked like it was one stiff wind away from disintegrating right off this dude’s torso.
But there, in the center, sat the faded and weather-worn logo of Def Leppard.
I was tempted to make fun of the poor guy until I realized his ratty stained T-shirt was symbolic of this entire night. If there’s ever a band that’s weathered the storm and kept on rocking against the odds, it’s Def Leppard. And Wednesday night, they — and their friends Foreigner and Tesla — darn near rocked the roof off the iWi in spectacular fashion.
The show was a three-course feast of rock, and Def Leppard was merely the dessert.
Up first was a quick set from metal stalwarts Tesla, still touring on the back of their 2014 comeback album “Simplicity.” Twenty-five minutes seems unfairly short for a band with such a long history, but Tesla made the most of it and received a crowd response warmer than most openers could dream of.
It’s kind of sad that a group known for pushing the boundaries of hard rock remains best known for a cheezy acoustic cover of a song that was fairly cheezy to begin with. But when the opening chords of “Signs” rang out, the crowd went nuts and sang along to every cheezy morsel.
Mick Jones is the only original member of Foreigner still in this touring lineup, which means Foreigner is dangerously close to becoming the world’s leading Foreigner tribute band. And with Lou Gramm fronting his own band these days, even that title might be up for dispute.
New singer Kelly Hansen is no Lou Gramm, but I’m pretty sure he borrowed Lou’s larynx for a while. The two vocalists are shockingly close in both tone and range.
How can you go wrong when every song in your set is either a Top 10 hit or a radio staple? It only took seconds for Foreigner to win the crowd over with an instant blast of “Double Vision” followed by a scorching version of “Head Games” that had everyone chanting along at full blast. Each song was delivered with the polished sheen of a band that’s had 35 years worth of practice.
Hansen’s mission was to woo the crowd, and he pulled it off with ease, even jumping into the front rows for some high-fives during “Cold As Ice.”
“We’re just feet away from the Ole Miss,” he pandered with a grin. “Maybe there’s something in the water that makes sooooooo many beautiful ladies in this crowd!”
Based on the applause, the biggest stars of the night may very well have been the Moline High School Concert Choir, who came out to boost the already anthemic “I Want To Know What Love Is.” Paired with “Hot Blooded,” it made for an encore that few bands would dare to top.
But we still had dessert to get to.
Judging by that ratty T-shirt and so many others in the crowd like it, this was just the band that most folks came to see. And when the curtain dropped for Def Leppard’s entrance, it sounded like all of Moline erupted into one giant shriek.
The Def Leppard story is the kind of saga that VH-1 invented “Behind the Music” for. When they first emerged out of the same Sheffield UK music scene as the Human League and ABC, it was a game-changer. With a dangerous wall-of-sound and alien-like processed vocals, Def Leppard instantly became the metal alternative to new wave and connected with fans across the globe.
Fame and fortune and album sales of topping 100 million soon followed. But so did a series of tragedies that would crush a lesser band:
— On New Year’s Eve 1984, drummer Rick Allen was in a serious car crash that resulted in the loss of his left arm. The band kept rocking.
— In 1991, guitarist Steve Clark died of an accidental mix of prescription drugs and alcohol. The band kept rocking.
The hardships continue even to this day. Clark’s replacement, Vivian Campbell, has been fighting lymphoma for the past two years. But that didn’t stop him from taking the stage with his fellow bandmates to the epic “Let’s Go,” the brand new single from their forthcoming album.
“This was the very first time we’ve ever played that one live,” announced singer Joe Elliott triumphantly. “And it happened right here in Moline.”
After decades of vocal torture, you’d expect Elliott’s vocal cords would have long since checked out and fled for safety. But somehow he’s still capable of hitting most of the high notes in the band’s frenetic set. A bummer, then, that the vocals were occasionally lost in an atypical muddy sound mix, which was a bit of a drag.
An energetic “Foolin'” broke through the mire with a blistering guitar solo from Phil Collen, and a solo acoustic turn from Elliott on “Two Steps Behind” was the most pure and honest moment in an evening full of highs — “Armageddon It” was soul-crushing — and lows (despite being a fan favorite, “Love Bites” came off anemic and lifeless.)
More successful was the band’s other epic slow jam, “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak,” which pulsed with vitriol and sounded miles better than even the studio recording.
Deadline pressures forced me to miss the end of the set, but I’ll eat my hat if it didn’t involve songs about photographs, aged rocks and sugar getting poured all over people.
Their chart-topping days may be behind them — or are they? “Let’s Go” just debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. rock charts. Either way, their appreciative fans want the Rock of Ages to continue for as long as possible.
This is one ratty T-shirt that won’t go quietly to the back of the closet without a fight.
By Shane Brown @ QC Online, 2015
TurnToDust86 