Def Leppard, REO Speedwagon and Tesla @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, Darien, NY 8-31-16

In October last year Def Leppard released their 11th studio self titled album. Where classic rock bands are resting on their laurels, the band from Sheffield, England continues to push forward. Currently on tour in support of “Def Leppard,” the band visited Darien Lake this past Wednesday with their friends REO Speedwagon and Tesla.

First up on the docket was Tesla. Tesla who have been around for over 30 years, continues to provide quality kick ass rock and roll sets. Even though their set was only 45 minutes, they made sure they left an impact. Led by vocalist Jeff Keith, the band opened up with “Rock me to the Top” off of “Mechanical Resonance Live .” This album which was released 30 years, was just re-released this week for a special edition containing a new track written and produced by Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen called “Save that Goodness.” The song well was performed live with a little help from Collen’s side project in Delta Deep vocalist Debbie Cook. The band of course squeezed in as many of their classics as possible including “Love Song” where guitarist Frank Hannon played his usual double neck guitar on. A band that I need to see a full set from hopefully sometime soon.

Next up was REO Speedwagon. This band resonates more with me when I think about the early days of MTV than a lot of other bands. Being raised on MTV, this band was constantly on rotation with songs like “Riding the Storm Out” and “Don’t Let Him Go.” which were taken from MTV in Concert back in 1982. This version of the band has been together since 1989 where (then newcomers) Bryan Hitt on drums and Dave Amato on lead guitar came into the fold. The band is a well oil machine and sounded like so. REO Speedwagon is more well known for their power ballads like “Can’t Fight This Feeling” and “Keep on Loving You” which garnered the biggest response from the audience. Vocalist Kevin Cronin went back and forth between singing acapella and playing the guitar during the set. Bassist Bruce Hall handled vocals on “Back on the Road Again.” A solid set of music for their hour of playing.

Headlining the show was Def Leppard. The band still continues to draw well as evidence with over 13,000 plus in attendance. This is even in spite of the band playing at Darien Lake 4 times over the 5 years. Complete with a brand new stage setup and video screens, the band played a solid set that focused mostly on their classic material. They did play 3 songs off of “Def Leppard” and opened up with one of them called “Let’s Go.”

I can speak for everyone in the rock world when I say that I’m so happy to see Vivian Campbell still out there doing what he does best. He still is using treatments called Immunotherapy for his Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and is able to go about his day to day routines including touring with Def Leppard. He showed no ill effects and his solid guitar playing really gives that Def Leppard sound along with his counterpart Phil Collen. Collen still looks as great as ever as the he drive the women crazy with his 6 pack abs and his dazzling guitar playing. Bassist Rick Savage played a bass solo to the beginning of David Essex’s “Rock On.” Vocalist Joe Elliott donned a top hat for this song and left it on for the next few tunes as well. The only compliant I had with their set was I think Elliot’s vocals were low in the mix. I had a hard time hearing him in parts. Otherwise it was what you expect from a seasoned rock veteran band as they put on a great show in addition to the other acts making it a triple bill worth seeing!

Def Leppard setlist:

Let’s Go

Animal

Let it Go

Dangerous

Foolin’

Love Bites

Armegeddon It

Bass solo

Rock On (David Essex cover)

Man Enough

Rockrt