http://www.projo.com/music/content/DEFREV_04-10-08_SV9NKOJ_v13.3b8739a.html This Leppard hasn't changed its spots 01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, April 10, 2008 BY RICK MASSIMO Journal Pop Music Writer PROVIDENCE - For four hours last night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, it was as if punk and hip-hop had never happened. Whether you think that's a good thing is up to you, but the triple bill of Def Leppard, Styx and REO Speedwagon gave a good accounting of the time when rock music was pop music, and at the same time the headliners showed they have at least a little left in the tank. Def Leppard was preceded by a montage of their history and the legend "That was then, this is now" and a mention of their new record, Songs From the Sparkle Lounge. They started off, however, with blasts from the past - "Rockit," "Animal," "Let's Get Rocked" and "Foolin'," straddling the line between classic '80s rock and occasional dips into proto-adult-contemporary. While frontman Joe Elliott apparently was nursing a cold that hindered his ability to cut during the high notes last night (particularly in "Photograph" and "Let's Get Rocked"), the elements of the Def Leppard formula were still basically in place: guitars loud enough to rock but not too loud to get in the way of the vocal hooks, thick background vocals, and plenty of meta-rock - songs celebrating rocking and songs encouraging people to rock. The band went back to 1981's High N Dry album for "Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)," and the Sparkle Lounge record was represented only by the single "Nine Lives," recorded with Tim McGraw. The latter is an early-'70s glam strut run through the Def Leppardizer, and as such it holds up with their best. But most of the night was taken from their multi-platinum records Pyromania and Hysteria. The middle of the set started promisingly, with a reworking of David Essex's "Rock On," from Leppard's covers album of 2006, that started off sinuously before ending with full-throated guitars. And the acoustic segment version of "Two Steps Behind" went nicely, as did the acoustic opening to "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" (before returning to electricity after the midsong break). But after an uninspired guitar instrumental and the relatively tame "Hysteria," the guitar bash of "Armageddon It" was a welcome relief from the relief. And they closed strongly with "Photograph," "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Rock of Ages," Elliott's vocal woes notwithstanding. The two openers were often called "faceless" in their heyday, but if that were true, the passage of time and the addition of new members wouldn't be so jarring. Particularly odd was the eerie similarities between Styx singer Lawrence Gowan - both vocally and in antic mien - and REO Speedwagon guitarist Dave Amato to their predecessors (Dennis DeYoung and Gary Richrath, respectively). Of the three bands on the bill, Styx has aged the most, with sentiments not going much deeper than "I've got to be free/ Free to face the life that's ahead of me" (from "Come Sail Away") and "Deep inside we're all the same" (from "The Grand Illusion"). Their versions of "Blue Collar Man" and "Too Much Time on My Hands" were leaden and slow (as was "Renegade," though less glaringly so). Original bassist Chuck Pannozzo made a couple of cameos, joining fellow originals Tommy Shaw and James Young. REO Speedwagon opened the show with a smattering of their hits done impressively, if sometimes eerily, like the recordings. But Kevin Cronin is still an energetic frontman, and his Midwestern chirp is still strong. The major hits - "Don't Let Him Go," "Take It on the Run," "Keep on Lovin' You" - were represented; they went 1-for-2 on new songs (not a bad success rate for an '80s hitmaker) and they showed their longevity with 1973's "Ridin' the Storm Out." Odd how many of their old songs turned out to have metaphors for staying power in them. rmassimo@projo.com © 2008, Published by The Providence Journal Co., 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902.