Now queuing
outside Sheffield arena for 2 hours in the middle of winter when it has rained
and the temperature is almost below freezing, isn’t something I would normally
do for a show but this was an exception. Today marks a great day in rock
history for Sheffield and for the rest of the United Kingdom as 2 of the
greatest rock legends were going to be performing not only on the same stage
but on the same night! Sheffield welcomes to their arena Steel Panther, Motley
Crue and Sheffield born n’ bred lads Def Leppard for one night of pure rock
that will no doubt go down in history. There was a massive queue when I first
arrived and there was me thinking that I was the only one out of their minds to
do this but no, there was a long line of egger fans waiting to welcome their
rock heroes home. Queuing that early paid off as me and my friends were first
in and first to the front at the barriers... a great spot for a great show.
Steel
panther I had heard of before but I had never actually listened to them as
seeing them in posters they looked like a cheesy throwback from the 80’s but
they were getting quite a good reception from the crowd while they were
waiting. I overheard a couple of people talk about the bassist and how he
travels all the way to America to get highlights and extensions... I knew from
then on that they were most likely going to be a cheesy throwback from the
80’s. Steel panther is a 4 piece glam
metal band from California; Michael Starr (Ralph Saenz) on lead vocals, Satchel
(Russ Parrish) on rhythm and lead guitar, Lexxi Foxxx (Travis Haley) on bass
guitar and Stix Zadinia (Darren Leader) on drums. Their
music has thought to be quite controversial as most of their songs include not
very subtle innuendoes and when on stage consist of them making rude gestures
to the crowd and each other. The band entered how any other support band would
by just walking onto the stage and receiving, what I thought, to be a very warm
and excited welcome by the Sheffield crowd. They kicked into their first song
“Supersonic Sex Machine” and I could then see why people must love them... they
were hilarious! They ran around shouting out these lyrics that didn’t really
make much sense and made the bounces stood in front of me cringe and give the
band looks that said “dude theres kids here tonight!” but they didn’t care,
they were here to entertain and that they did. Steel Panther were on for about
40 minuets and put every bit of energy into all the songs they played as if
they were the headlining act. One song that had even me cringing was “Asian
Hooker” which had lyrics in it which said about certain “things” smelling like
Su-Shi at that point I was hoping that this might be their last song, but no, their
last was yet to come. From their album “Feel the Steel” came the song Death to
All But Metal which had lyrics involving many great rock legends including Def
Leppard themselves. The lads put on a great show and the crowd were now ready
to face whatever Motley Crue brought to them.
I have loved
Motley Crue for a long, long time and fell in love with them after hearing the
song “Wild Side” which was on their “Girls, Girls, Girls” album which also
features the No. Song “Girls, Girls, Girls”. The arena was now packed and had a
great buzz about it that to any band must be a great thing to be able to pull
off. All is you could see in front of you was a big white curtain that blocked
the whole of the stage... whatever was behind it was obviously something that needed
hiding. I was very curious on how they would enter and a man stood behind said
“You watch, you watch. They come straight on without warn-“ BANG and on they
came. The houselights or the music playing didn’t have a chance to turn off and
the band were racing in “Wild Side” with front man Vince Neil stood right in
front of me screaming out the lyrics! The band’s set was also very impressive
as it consisted of a Wild West themed stage and had a massive rollercoaster
loop in the centre with the drum kit attached to it. Motley Crue had been
though a few line-up changes over the years but now the original “Crue” were
back together again which featured Vince Neil on vocals, Mick Mars on lead and
rhythm guitar, Tommy Lee on drums and Nikki Sixx on bass guitar. From where I
was stood I could see the entire band quite clearly and I really wanted Mick to
come down near me so I could get a good look at the guitar player that has
inspired me though-out everything that I play. He finally did come down the
runway and I had one thing going through my head... what a creepy guy. He had a
hat on that covered most of his face and I could only just make out the eyes
that were glaring down at me. For Motley Crue this was really a “greatest hits”
tour if you could sum it up and they played all the hits including “shout at
the devil”, “Dr Feelgood” and “Girls, Girls, Girls” they also including a few
of the new songs in the set-list taken from their new album “Saints Of Los
Angeles” which all went down a great success live! For most of the Motley Crue
audience the one song that hit everyone and brought everyone together was “Home
Sweet Home” which brought on stage a piano and saw drummer Lee take a break
from the drums and play the song. It was a touching moment to see especially for
those, like myself, who had never seen Motley Crue ever. When Lee got back on
the drums I knew what the big rollercoaster track was for, for Tommy sat down
on his kit only for it to take him for a ride, for the drum set actually went
on a rollercoaster ride in a huge loop while he played his solo. It wasn’t over
there though for he picked a member of the audience to come and join him! For
their finishing song the band played kick-start my heart and for the first time
in the night a mosh pit was born... the high tempo song got everyone moving and
kick-started everyone’s heart, it hit everyone like a bull in a china shop!!
This band are a must see as they give you all the thrills, music and lyrics
that I don’t think no else can!
Def Leppard
have become one of the most iconic and influential rock bands on the planet
selling over 155 million albums and having multiple albums in the top 10, they
did one thing that every band dreams of doing... breaking through to America
and really living the American dream. Born in Sheffield, Lead singer Joe Elliot
joined forced with drummer Rick Allan who started writing songs they later
recruited guitarists but just couldn’t find the right one until they got
guitarist Phil Collen who is still with them today along with bassist Rick
Savage or “Sav”. The band made their breakthrough with the album “Hysteria”
which sold over 20 million copies worldwide and their rise to fame just
continued to grow. The band played a sell-out show at Sheffield’s Don Valley
stadium in 1993 to which a crowd of 50,000 witnessed them play.
The
houselights dimmed and a voice rang out through the arena “good evening
Sheffield!” those were the first words that came from Joe as he walked down
past Ricks drum kit. The band started the night with a song from their new
album “Mirror Ball” and played “Undefeated” which I suppose was a statement to
say their still going and nothing will stand in their way. I was very
disappointed to see that some people in the crowd were starting to shift away
and leave and I heard some murmurs of people saying they had seen enough, but
the band was just getting started for after that the band kicked into “Action”
to which Joe walked down the runway and got everyone on their feet, even those
who were unlucky and had a seated ticket. Even the people all the way at the
back were on their feet and stuck in with the “Action”. For Def Leppard this
show was really a “greatest hits” one as they played all the good blasts from
the past and their set-list included “Animal”, “Hysteria”, “Photograph” and
“pour some sugar on me”. I must say after the accident that drummer Rick Allan
had he still keeps on performing like any other drummer does. To this day I
will never know how he does it and no one will and no one does because no one
can do it, only Rick can. Throughout the night I sort of had a feeling that the
band would maybe have to finish with some slow songs as they played all of the
energetic songs at the beginning, but I was wrong for they only stopped half
way through their set to play 2 acoustic songs “two steps behind” and “bringin’
on the heartbreak” than back into the action they went playing “Pour Some Sugar
On Me” before finally ending the night with one question... “Do you wanna get
rocked”? The arena erupted and that famous guitar riff was amplified to the 14,000
present. For this song Joe let the crowd sing the chorus’s and I have never
heard a group of people sing back as loud as Sheffield did that night, it was
magical.
After the
song Joe had a few more words to say... “Sheffield, please don’t forget us...
and we won’t forget you! Goodnight”
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