Gig review/ Def Leppard

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

Def Leppard/ Live in Mumbai

Genre: Rock

Presented by: BookMyShow Live

Details: Jio World Garden, March 27

Rating: ****

At rock shows from another era, the 'encore' had its own charm. The band would thank everyone and leave the stage, and the audience would yell for more, screaming out a few requests. There was some drama and lots of enthusiasm, before huge cheers engulfed the venue when the musicians returned.

All this didn't happen at Def Leppard's show at Jio Garden on Friday. The audience stood in their places, knowing the band would return any way. They knew the set list would be similar to the one from their Shillong show, and it didn't require a genius to predict they would play 'Hysteria' and 'Pour Some Sugar For Me' before the final goodbye. Yet, this was where vocalist Joe Elliott sprang a surprise.

"Walk away if you want to, it's okay if you need too", Elliott sang, solo with his guitar. This wasn't on the set list. The song was 'Two Steps Behind', and the totally stunned fans sang along, later showing off that Mumbai got what Shillong didn't. 

'Two Steps Behind' was arguably the highlight of the 105-minute gig, which followed the opening set by Indus Creed. But even otherwise, Def Leppard put up a fantastic show, from the time they sang 'Rejoice' and got into 'Animal' and 'Let's Get Rocked'. Guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell, bassist Rick Savage and drummer Rick Allen were spot-on and though 66-year-old Elliott's voice did show a natural aging, he kept the energy going.

To add to that, the sound was top-notch, and the visuals and overall production were brilliant.  Normally, after every rock gig, many self-proclaimed armch-ear experts keep harping on about how the audio system went wrong. They didn't get a chance this time. 

Of course, the show had a few weak areas. After a few known songs, the band played a lot of stuff which the audience was unfamiliar with. The middle portion, with tunes like 'Just Like 73', 'White Lightning', 'Foolin', seemed more like filler material. They skipped the classic 'When Love And Hate Collide' and the video hit 'Have You Ever Loved Someone So Bad?'

But there were many highlights. The guitar solo stretch followed by Allen's drum part on his specially created kit provided a treat. Savage was simply marvellous on the opening of 'Rock On' - the David Essex song and thankfully not the Farhan Akhtar one. On 'Slang', one heard some pleasant intrusions of James Brown and David Bowie. The cover of Depeche Mode's 'Personal Jesus' was an interesting choice.

Once they got back to familiar territory with 'Armageddon It', Def Leppard were a treat all the way, doing 'Love Bites', 'Rock Of Ages' and 'Photograph', before the encore. Of course, 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' was a perfect ending. Young or middle aged, silver section or gold, the crowd danced to the favourites.

Elliott kept saying it took them 49 years after being formed in 1977 to come to Mumbai. Truth is that they have done promotional tours in 1996 and 2003 - the latter became more infamous because they lip-synched at the Leela hotel.

As such, this was their first proper tour of India, and they head to Bengaluru on Sunday. Wonder if Elliott has any fresh surprise in store, making the Garden-turned-IT city crowd say, "We got something that Shillong and Mumbai didn't get". 

Bengaluru, what do you want? You want rock and roll, yes you do. Long live rock and roll.