Sheffield reviews
In the mid-1990s, heavy metal seemed terminally unfashionable, swept away by rave culture and grunge. No band suffered more than Def Leppard. Once able to shift 50m albums, Sheffield's finest were reduced, at their lowest point (around 1996's Slang album), to changing their winning formula to include electronics, more modern beats and - shock, horror - short hair. Now, thanks to nu-metal and the Osbournes, old metal can once again strut its stuff in public without ridicule, and the Lepp have returned with leather trousers, endless guitar solos and hairstyles beyond most city barbers. Bassist Rick Savage even models a poodle perm.
The intro tape of We Will Rock You is no idle boast: Def Leppard's masterstroke is returning to the blistering hard rock that made their name. Their first four numbers are so heavy that it feels like an enormous metal anvil has fallen through the stadium.
A deafening combination of very loud guitars and screechy vocals roused the largely middle-aged and respectable crowd from its post-Sunday lunch slumber.