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DEF LEPPARD/MOTLEY CRUE/STEEL PANTHER
SECC, Glasgow 9 December 2011

There have been a number of excellent package tours in the UK this year, Journey/ Foreigner/ Styx and the recent Alter Bridge extravaganza to name but two, but tonight's line up must be the most eagerly anticipated of all. On paper it is a hard rock dream line up with the potential to provide an absolutely fantastic night's entertainment.

Opening the show were Steel Panther, a band who are one of rock music's Marmite bands, you either love 'em or hate 'em. I happen to love them, not sure what that says about me or my sense of humour, but no one can deny that tonight they played up a storm.

The comic content and on stage persona of the band would be nothing if the guys couldn't play live, but they proved tonight what fantastic musicians they are having honed their skills over many years on the LA circuit.

Steel Panther are unashamedly 30 years too late, playing their homage to the hair metal bands of yore. The lyrical content is always going to be the contentious issue being blue enough to embarrass Bernard Manning, as ably demonstrated in opening number 'Supersonic Sex Machine' from the bands new album 'Ball's Out'.

Frontman Michael Starr has all the Dave Lee Roth/ Vince Neil moves down pat and has the vocal delivery to back up the swagger.

The band's sound is dominated by the excellent guitar work of Satchel who plays with the confidence of someone who has been playing gigs two or three nights a week for the majority of his life.

Bottom line is, if you can get past the lyrics, Steel Panther are a kick ass metal band who know how to provide a very entertaining set.
 

The band played numbers from both their albums to date with the set highlight being the singalong ballad 'Community Property'. Hearing the crowd sing this song word for word with passion made me laugh out loud.

Judging by the fact that the hall was roughly three quarters full when Panther kicked off their set at the early hour of 6.30 and the fact that at the end of their set they received a very loud and sustained send off, it looks as though there is a growing band in on the joke.

Bottom line is, if you can get past the lyrics, Steel Panther are a kick ass metal band who know how to provide a very entertaining set.

After Steel Panther, the anticipation and excitement levels in the hall rose ten fold whilst the now capacity crowd awaited the arrival of the baddest boys in rock, Motley Crue. I hadn't seen Crue for many years, the last time I had tickets was when the band cancelled their UK tour as there may have been snow on the venue roofs, luckily tonight a bit of ice was all they had to contend with.

Opening with a very big bang which took everyone by surprise, the guys launched into 'Wild Side' and taking their cues from this, the crowd also went wild in response.

What followed was a lesson on how a rock show should be done. Fireworks ... check, flames ... check, explosions ... check, setlist full of classic rock anthems ... check, only Judas Priest and Kiss can outdo Crue in the on stage spectacular stakes.

The band were in fine form, Vince Neil's vocals may suffer a bit from time to time but these are rare moments, Nikki Sixx commands the stage, Mick Mars still looks barely alive while Tommy Lee is the party host and the drinks are on him!

The set contained classic after classic, 'Looks That Kill', 'Live Wire', 'Girls, Girls, Girls', 'Shout At The Devil' to name but a few. One of the highlights came when Tommy came out from behind the drum kit to tinkle the ivories on 'Home Sweet Home', ably backed by the Glasgow choir.

It was Lee again that provided the biggest spectacle of the night though with his drum solo. Normally a drum solo offers the chance to have a seat for 5 minutes or a quick run to the loo, but tonight this was what everyone was waiting for as Tommy had brought his 'drum rollercoaster' with him.

His drum riser is attached to a 360 degree track and during his solo the whole kit rotates around the track. If you haven't seen this yet check it out on You Tube, it is the work of a twisted genius.

Finishing with 'Smokin' In The Boys Room' and 'Kick Start My Heart', Crue proved they are still a major rock force at the top of their game. The only question one everyone's lips was, "How do Leppard top that ?"

The answer was simple, they didn't! On any other night a Def Leppard show would hit the target and tonight the guys put in a fine set, but after Crue it was all a bit of an anti climax.

The stage was awash with video screens which were used to good effect showing images for each numbers and live footage of the guys on stage, but it was no drum rollercoaster.

The set again couldn't be faulted kicking off with 'Undefeated, 'Rocket' and a cover of the Sweet classic 'Action'. Joe Elliott and Phil Collen made good use of the runway leading from the stage into the crowd.

Phil as usual shirtless and pulling some serious guitar hero shapes. Rick Allen and Rick Savage provided a thumping backline whilst Viv Campbell was happy to provide some excellent guitar work stage right.

Joe Elliott appeared to be struggling a bit vocally on a few numbers possibly suffering a bit of a cold, but it wasn't bad enough to detract from a good performance.

This package proved to be everything we hoped it would be, a great night's entertainment with highlights aplenty. Perhaps though with hindsight the guys in Def Leppard may be wishing they had given the top billing to Crue.

It was good to hear older numbers 'High 'n Dry' and one of my favourite Lep numbers 'Bringing On The Heartache'. All the hits were in place as well, 'Animal', another of my favs 'Photograph' and 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' which rounded off the main set. Encoring with 'Let's Get Rocked' the guys rounded off a solid set, but essentially, not a spectacular one.

This package proved to be everything we hoped it would be, a great night's entertainment with highlights aplenty. Perhaps though with hindsight the guys in Def Leppard may be wishing they had given the top billing to Crue.

Footnote - While we were waiting for Def Leppard to come on, my wife Cat and I headed to the back of the hall for a bit of a breather. Standing next to the mixing desk we spotted Michael Starr, front man from Steel Panther going around the rear of the hall, chatting to the crowd and signing autographs which he did willingly for around 30 minutes.

He was an absolute gent and probably did enough in that time to ensure Panther a full house when they return to Glasgow early next year. A class act indeed.


Review by David Wilson

Photos by Steve Goudie

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