Def Leppard Glasgow last night (another post)
Extreme were fantastic. Nuno is just phenomenal but Gary is also an incredible singer. I really think they'd be better off dropping the two Nuno solo sections - they have 10 songs and two are guitar wankery. And I say that as a guitarist! But they really lost my wife and kids when Nuno started playing solo and the band went off the stage - just play good songs and draw in less hardcore fans IMO.
And something similar could be said for Leppard to be honest. They were INCREDIBLE, don't get me wrong. I've seen them four times now (X tour was the first) and I think this might have been the best Joe has ever sounded. They were all great and the crowd loved them. BUT! As I had feared, they played those two cover songs - Personal Jesus and Rock On. Now, I went to the bar when Rock On came on, but Personal Jesus....It followed Let's Get Rocked which went down an absolute fucking STORM. Everyone in the place was singing every word and loving it, the entire crowd was on an absolute high, Def Leppard had us all in the palm of their hand, and then....They went into Personal Jesus. I would say the vast majority of people there had never heard it, had no idea what was happening, and did not appreciate it. And the massive high everyone was on just disappeared. Then they played Bringin' On The Heartbreak which was amazing as always but it's a ballad and did not bring back any of the lost energy. The energy did come back eventually of course, but it really felt to me like such a bizarre thing to play a cover song that lacks energy, and no one knows, and lose all the momentum for what? If they'd played Foolin' or Take What You Want or Dangerous or something after Let's Get Rocked the place would have continued going mental. I really do not understand why they're playing those two covers. The set is not that long and they didn't do the acoustic songs they did last time they came to Glasgow (a glaring omission IMO) but they had time for two covers that drop the energy so much? Still, with all that said, it was a brilliant gig. I'm just a little mad because I've loved this band for about 36 years now and I would rather see them play their own amazing songs than covers that can't hold a candle to even the worst DL songs.
Highlights for me were Rejoice which is a cool new tune and works fairly well with the rather strange big triangle raising up, Armageddon It (that went down incredibly well from where I was sat), Let's Get Rocked, White Lightning, and Promises - holy shit that was AMAZING with the vocal intro! Truly that is one of their best songs.
I would give the setlist a 4/5. Band performance 5/5. Joe promised there would be a next time. Hopefully they drop the covers next time and just give us 100%, pure Def Leppard.