These five guys rocked the house well into the night and didn’t miss a beat from their fellow traveling mates who have been touring together this time around since early June  with ‘The Rock The Ages Tour 2012’. The run ends in California  in Mid-September.

Lita Ford been rocking hard since she first hit the music scene in 1975 with the all girl band The Runaways (the group that also launched the career of one of my favorites, Joan Jett, who went on to front the Blackhearts).  Ford is still looking mighty fine at 56 and if you want to see what she looked like at 46, 36, and 26 go Google her…it is worth the effort.

To kick the evening off musically Lita started with Elton John’s song ‘The Bitch Is Back’…worked for me and evidently much of the audience who started the three plus hour sing along.  Ford rocked it nicely through her set and accomplished what she needed to do, get the evening going in the right direction.

No matter what Lita would have done the show was going to pick up the pace when Brett Michaels and Poison hit the stage. I had never seen these guys before but was I missing something!   I believe their name is misleading…in my mind it has a negative connotation. The opposite is really the case!

Michaels came to smile, chat with the audience, celebrate our Men and Women in Uniform that defend our country and entertain ever single person in attendance. The guy is non stop and such a delight to observe and listen to…I get why Trump liked him on Celebrity Apprentice. They ripped thru their set list including doing a cover song that surprised me….Your Mama Don’t Dance (and your daddy don’t rock and roll).  I have been a Loggins and Messina fan for many years and it was a pleasure to see these guys have so much fun with their song.  They also were very impressive on Every Rose has its Thorn.

Well done guys! And did I mention that not only did they bring several service men and women to the front of the stage for the show, they also got them up on stage at the end of their set and took photos with them.  I thought this was very cool, and something those American Soldiers won’t soon forget.

As an aside, Michaels stopped by where the photographers were standing ,waiting to shoot Def Leppard after Poison’s show, said a brief hello and  a ‘thanks for coming out’. We could wait a very long time for an artist to do that again!

Now back to Def Leppard.  They contributed significantly to the late 70’s and 80’s rock scene. These Brits have a very distinctive sound though not so obvious now with lead singer Joe Elliott’s vocals being a little less ‘crisp’.
Honestly, though, it   didn’t distract from their music this night. The guys played most of their hits including to my surprise and delight my favorite, Photograph.  This song is from  their Pyromania Album released in 1983 and documented by Rolling Stone’s 2004 list of Greatest Albums Of All Time at number 384!

I hadn’t seen Def Leppard before nor had my wife,  and she couldn’t take her eyes off of guitar player Phil Collen (not to be mistaken for Phil Collins…this difference made obvious by the always in view six pack! This guy never donned a shirt.)  I, on the other hand, was busy being so impressed with drummer Rick Allen who pounded away all night long on his special drum kit with one arm, his right one at that. Allen lost his left arm in an auto accident on New Year’s Eve 2004 when he failed to negotiate a curve in his Corvette.  The boy fought back and learned how to play with one arm and incorporated both his feet to offset what he lost.  Rick Allen, you are the man, no matter how distracted these women are by Mr. Collen.

Back to the music, this review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning that Def Leppard ended the night with the same frenetic pace kicked off by Lita Ford hours before.  They kicked rock and roll butt with Armageddon It , Photograph, Pour Some Sugar, and Rock Of Ages .

Oops, I almost failed to mention the musical highlight of the night for Cathi and me, and perhaps everyone in the Pavilion. One by one, starting with Elliott, then Collen, then band mates Rick Savage and Vivian Campbell, came out with their acoustic guitars strapped on and sat on an equipment trunk on the stage thrust singing a medley of some lesser known tunes from past records.  Then, if that wasn’t enough Allen came out with his percussion Shaker, and joined in with the 4 guitar players creating a lovely sound.  So decidedly un-Def Leppard but immensely entertaining. Thanks Guys…it was beautiful. Wish I could have photographed it…a moment in R&R history.

Until next time hope you keep it between the navigational beacons.