http://www.myinky.com/ecp/entertainment/article/0,1626,ECP_738_2037238,00.html 

Evansville Courier Press

Crowd still roars for Def Leppard
June 14, 2003

Attending her first concert at the age of 30, Jenny Hart had a great time
Thursday night at Roberts Stadium.

It's just too bad the rest of the Tri-State didn't turn out for Def
Leppard's heart-stopping, floor-shaking, pulsating rock show, complete
with laser lights and fog. Just over 3,100 people caught the show, about
half of what the seating configuration allowed.

Hart said she and Allen Tinsley, both of Owensboro, Ky., attended the
concert because Def Leppard was one of her favorite bands in high school.

"I was always just too scared to go. But it's Def Leppard - so I got the
tickets a few days ago. I wore out my cassette tape of their 'Hysteria'
(1987) album. " But maybe the small crowd was a good thing, because that
meant there was room for concert-goers dressed in tattoos, piercings,
infamous '80s hair and tie-dyed T-shirts (myself included) to move, shout,
dance, sing and shake.

Def Leppard didn't take center stage until 8:30 p.m.

The opening act of Ireland-based Rick Warwick was anything but exciting.
Just imagine the sound of Rod Stewart mixed with some blues, a raspy voice
and a singer in his late 20s who resembles a rough James Dean.

To a true rock music fan, it was like being forced to listen to elevator
music for 30 minutes.

I'm just thankful the rock gods took pity on the crowd and brought out Viv
Campbell, guitarist extraordinaire, to save the day. That one brief duo -
which was hard to understand because of a language or accent barrier -
resurrected life into the dying crowd. Or what was left of it, as most had
ventured into the concourse. The appeal of popcorn or the occasional beer
was better than Warwick's performance.

But that's OK, because the energy saved during Warwick's performance was
used up five minutes into the main act's performance.

On a stage that seemed to have more lights than an airport runway, Def
Leppard led off with hits such as "Everybody Wants a Piece of the Action,"
"Make Love Like a Man," "Bringing on the Heartache" and "Foolin'."

It wasn't until a few more songs into the set that lead singer Joe Elliot
spoke to the crowd, using the stage as a platform to lend support to all
troops stationed overseas. His few words then exploded into the smooth
ballad "Long Long Away." This was only the time the crowd was peaceful
during the featured performers' set. Just about every lighter in the place
was raised as arms and bodies swayed to the hit off the band's most recent
album, "X."

No Def Leppard concert would be complete without some of the band's old-
school songs, songs from the early days. And I wasn't disappointed as
"Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Two Steps Behind" were also given play time.

Of course, times - and fashions - have changed since the first time since
Def Leppard took to an Evansville stage, which was in 1981. (The group
also played Mesker Amphitheatre in 1999 and Roberts Stadium in 1992.)

Lead singer Joe Elliott donned an Abercrombie tank top, a far cry from his
leather-wearing, oversized ripped T-shirt days. Nowadays, it seems that
his fans are carrying on the tradition.

By end of the two-hour-plus concert, Hart said she had an awesome time.

"I'd catch them again if they came," she said. "They were an awesome
concert."

© 2003 The E.W. Scripps Co.