Live Review: Def Leppard, Dallas Crane

There's being a support act and then there's being an emergency support act. With the unfortunate illness of lead singer Klaus Meine, The Scorpions had to abandon their final two shows on Def Leppard's tour, so, as they did in their hometown, Melbourne's Dallas Crane stood in last minute.

“Six hours ago, we were in our garden in Melbourne,” announced lead singer Dave Larkin, and the group made the most of their opportunity, blasting through a selection of tracks from their 20-year catalogue. While some disgruntled fans of the German group remained in the foyer drowning their sorrows, the four-piece performed tracks that sparked the old memory banks, like Dirty Hearts and Sit On My Knee. A cover of AC/DC’s Let There Be Rock satiated the eager room, which would almost certainly go down as their largest.

A sold-out ICC was a testament to the huge popularity that Def Leppard have gained over their more than 40-year career. Despite having 11 albums to their name, there is only one that has had a lasting effect on their popularity and longevity. Hysteria, now 31 years old, has stood the test of time and it was celebrated as the band performed it from start to finish.

With a very rock countdown displayed on huge video screens in front of the stage, we all knew exactly how long we had to get merch, beers and find our seats and with a neat little audio montage peaking our anticipation, the band arrived and dived straight into the lead track, Women.

It’s worth noting that the best and more enduring tracks of the album sit in the first half of the 12-track release. Rocket, the six-and-a-half-minute epic, presents as a perfect example of arena rock. Love Bites, which may have been the soundtrack to many a first kiss in the crowd, is a gut-wrenchingly yearnful power-rock ballad and Pour Some Sugar On Me still stands up as one of best rock songs of all time.

The band, comprising two original members, singer Joe Elliott and bassist Rick Savage, are still backed up by the technically amazing Rick Allen, who creates the characteristic big-beat sound of the group with his foot-pedals. The extremely buff Phil Collen and Viv Campbell create the harmonic guitar sounds and backing vocals that have been the signature of the group through their career. A short tribute to guitarist Steve Clark was a touching nod to a talented artist that lost his life way too young.

There is no doubting the aptitude of the group. Despite nearing 60, Elliott is still, for the most part, able to hit the notes, although there may have been times he relied on the backing and/or the crowd to see him through. The band never miss a beat, as you’d expect after 30 years of playing these songs, but with that being said, they were certainly not just going through the motions.

The ambience of the big room was lacking, however. Even though we were treated to some impressive lighting, visuals and perfect audio, the performance could have benefited from some pyrotechnics or even just some smoke to bring the arena effect you’d expect from such a rock show.

The back-end of the album, apart from the title track, doesn’t have the same highlights as the top, so the tail of the main set felt a little flat, but with an encore of some older classics, including Rock Of Ages and Photograph as well as a tease of some crowd-requested Acca Dacca, the finale was worthy of one of the great rock bands of the last 40 years.