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11/10/05 - AGGANIS ARENA,
BOSTON. MA Review
by Michelle Pynn After work I headed over to the Agganis Arena, a couple hours before showtime, but I knew I could fill the time talking to someone, anyone…. First I scouted the place, building in the open, big parking lot in the back and coaches parked on the side street, no real place to hide. But alas, it was an icky day and there was no one around. So I headed to McDonalds and got a burger and headed back over to the front entrance with an hour to kill. I noticed a security/crew looking guy talking to a couple girls and overheard them saying that they’d won a meet and greet. So I was nosey and asked them who the greeting was with, DL of course. So I talked to them for a few minutes, and when they went in I talked to the crew kid. Turned out that he was a contractor who was supposed to work the show but got turned away in the morning and instead ended up with tickets to the show and backstage passes which he used to chat to BA and Joe Elliot hours earlier as the stage was being built. So time flew talking to that kid, and before I knew it, they were letting us in. They were frisking everyone and checking bags on the way in, but I was smart and put my camera in my jacket which I held while they frisked me (gee, I wonder what else I could get in with if I try!) So I got in and went to my seat. I was a little disappointed to see that the chairs were widely spaced and there was at least a 5 foot gap between the stage and the barrier. But I noticed that security was pretty loose and I started to devise a plan of how I would get to the front row, because I KNEW that I would get to the absolute front, at least for BA. I headed to the bathroom before the opener and then that serendipity came back to me. I ran into these two girls fixing their crazy hair, crazy DL fans. I talked to them for a little bit and I asked them where they were sitting and they told me that they had front row center tickets from ebay. I told them how big a BA fan I was and that I’d try to sneak down with them for his set. They had no problem with it, so I found them a little while later and sat with them before the opener came out. The front row was empty, so we sat with a couple other DL fanatics (one of whom had just walked into the DL meet and greet without a pass or a second look from security) who didn’t belong there. The opener, Ricky Warwick, came out and really rocked. A couple songs into his set the people who had the seats I was sitting in showed up, but I lucked out in that my new DL friends were standing at the barrier so I joined them up there. We must have been the only 5 people in the whole place standing, but it was fun! After Ricky’s set, we heard that he was going to be signing, so we decided to look for him. One of the security guards was attempting to locate him for us, but he was unsuccessful, as were we. I gave up on the chase because I wanted to get back for BA. And I did so with good timing. I got right back to the front row seconds after BA came out with his room service guitar and launched into the title song. When he was at his microphone, I was about 10-15 feet from him, with Keith being about 20 feet to my right and Gary 10 or so to my left. The guys just kept rocking all night, and I was all for that. The crowd was pretty good at singing along, except of course for the newer material. During Kids Wanna Rock Bryan and Keith exchanged guitar solos. A couple songs later I saw BA pick up a guitar that I didn’t recognize and thought we might hear something new, but it turned out to be the guitar he used to play the full rock version of Summer of 69, and yet again Bryan made a note of what the song was actually about and got a few hoots and hollers from the crowd. Then he followed up with his intro of Everything I Do as a song that he didn’t think would be a success and we were going to hear it the way he wrote it, on acoustic guitar. (A few songs into the set I had started holding up my picture whenever the lights were shining in my direction, trying to get the guys attention. During Everything I Do, BA finally saw my pic and looked over to me and mouthed “What is that” away from the microphone of course. Even the fans around me were curious as to what it was. At one point I noticed Gary squinting over in the direction of it. And I definitely caught Keith’s attention a little later on because he did one of those things where he stuck out his tongue and gave me two thumbs up.)
The Def Leppard crowd didn’t catch on right away to the Na Na Nas in Cuts Like a Knife, but what can you expect. I probably looked funny being the only one in the front row singing them. Then of course was the When You’re Gone moment. I thought about trying to get up, but then thought against it. But the DL fans I was standing with were trying to get me on the stage! I was almost a little disappointed when he pulled up someone else. I think her name was Julie and she was a stay at home mom. She knew most of the song (she said she’d been practicing, and BA asked her if she had been expecting to go up there!) She said that she was there with her husband and BA said that if he was the one who bought the tickets then he was going to get lucky tonight. Next came my only confusing moment of the night. BA started to play a familiar guitar riff, and right away I started to jot down House Arrest on my setlist. But it turned out to be Hearts on Fire, but I swear, something was wrong about it, maybe the first verse. Then came the always amusing Its Only Love where Keith turns into a madman on guitar. At one point during the night he was banging his guitar off his crotch! Then of course came the always fun The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me and Run To You to close out the show. After the guys took their bows, I was still trying to pass them my picture so Bryan could see what it was. But they left the stage and the crews started coming out. I wanted to motion over Toe to get him to pass it along, but he was too far away. So I grabbed the DL camera guy and asked him if he knew Toe. He said yeah, so I asked him if he could give him the picture and ask him to give it to BA. He asked me if Toe knew me, and I told him that I’d spoken to him before but he probably wouldn’t recognize me by face (it wasn’t really a lie, I had talked to Toe before… briefly at one of the shows last year). He asked me how he’d get it back to me then and I told him that I didn’t want it back, I just wanted to give it to BA. And with that he said ok and took it, but I don’t think it ever ended up with Bryan because I saw the camera guy put it down a little while later. So with that mission pretty much accomplished, I went back out to get a Ricky Warwick cd and while I was in line for a drink, the familiar DL intro started up. I stayed for most of their set. Their sound quality was a little better than the outdoor show (also with BA) a few months back and the overall vibe was a little better. I watched their set from the 6th row, so I never actually sat in my real seat during any of the show! I was a little disappointed that I had to leave to catch the train right when they started playing the songs I knew. Photograph was the last one I heard in its entirety and they were playing Animal when I was getting out. The only other songs that I really knew were Hysteria, Love Bites and No Matter What, but I did recognize a couple others from the last show. I got on the train heading home and there was an “interesting” kid on the train, trying to talk to everyone as they got on the train and asking them questions like what they were listening to on their Ipods. The woman next to him was half creeped out and half chuckling. I was the only one really going back and forth with him because a good laugh can never hurt and he wasn’t being obnoxious. Then while waiting for the commuter train a little while later, I ran into a kid that I went to high school with and we caught up on the goings on of the last 6 or so years. Lets just say that when I got home, I was wired and NOT looking forward to work the next morning! So in all I really need to thank those cool DL fans who let me crash their seats and rock out with them! ********** Review
by Sharon: After work I headed over to the Agganis Arena, a couple hours before showtime, but I knew I could fill the time talking to someone, anyone…. First I scouted the place, building in the open, big parking lot in the back and coaches parked on the side street, no real place to hide. But alas, it was an icky day and there was no one around. So I headed to McDonalds and got a burger and headed back over to the front entrance with an hour to kill. I noticed a security/crew looking guy talking to a couple girls and overheard them saying that they’d won a meet and greet. So I was nosey and asked them who the greeting was with, DL of course. So I talked to them for a few minutes, and when they went in I talked to the crew kid. Turned out that he was a contractor who was supposed to work the show but got turned away in the morning and instead ended up with tickets to the show and backstage passes which he used to chat to BA and Joe Elliot hours earlier as the stage was being built. So time flew talking to that kid, and before I knew it, they were letting us in. They were frisking everyone and checking bags on the way in, but I was smart and put my camera in my jacket which I held while they frisked me (gee, I wonder what else I could get in with if I try!) So I got in and went to my seat. I was a little disappointed to see that the chairs were widely spaced and there was at least a 5 foot gap between the stage and the barrier. But I noticed that security was pretty loose and I started to devise a plan of how I would get to the front row, because I KNEW that I would get to the absolute front, at least for BA. I headed to the bathroom before the opener and then that serendipity came back to me. I ran into these two girls fixing their crazy hair, crazy DL fans. I talked to them for a little bit and I asked them where they were sitting and they told me that they had front row center tickets from ebay. I told them how big a BA fan I was and that I’d try to sneak down with them for his set. They had no problem with it, so I found them a little while later and sat with them before the opener came out. The front row was empty, so we sat with a couple other DL fanatics (one of whom had just walked into the DL meet and greet without a pass or a second look from security) who didn’t belong there. The opener, Ricky Warwick, came out and really rocked. A couple songs into his set the people who had the seats I was sitting in showed up, but I lucked out in that my new DL friends were standing at the barrier so I joined them up there. We must have been the only 5 people in the whole place standing, but it was fun! After Ricky’s set, we heard that he was going to be signing, so we decided to look for him. One of the security guards was attempting to locate him for us, but he was unsuccessful, as were we. I gave up on the chase because I wanted to get back for BA. And I did so with good timing. I got right back to the front row seconds after BA came out with his room service guitar and launched into the title song. When he was at his microphone, I was about 10-15 feet from him, with Keith being about 20 feet to my right and Gary 10 or so to my left. The guys just kept rocking all night, and I was all for that. The crowd was pretty good at singing along, except of course for the newer material. During Kids Wanna Rock Bryan and Keith exchanged guitar solos. A couple songs later I saw BA pick up a guitar that I didn’t recognize and thought we might hear something new, but it turned out to be the guitar he used to play the full rock version of Summer of 69, and yet again Bryan made a note of what the song was actually about and got a few hoots and hollers from the crowd. Then he followed up with his intro of Everything I Do as a song that he didn’t think would be a success and we were going to hear it the way he wrote it, on acoustic guitar. (A few songs into the set I had started holding up my picture whenever the lights were shining in my direction, trying to get the guys attention. During Everything I Do, BA finally saw my pic and looked over to me and mouthed “What is that” away from the microphone of course. Even the fans around me were curious as to what it was. At one point I noticed Gary squinting over in the direction of it. And I definitely caught Keith’s attention a little later on because he did one of those things where he stuck out his tongue and gave me two thumbs up.) The Def Leppard crowd didn’t catch on right away to the Na Na Nas in Cuts Like a Knife, but what can you expect. I probably looked funny being the only one in the front row singing them. Then of course was the When You’re Gone moment. I thought about trying to get up, but then thought against it. But the DL fans I was standing with were trying to get me on the stage! I was almost a little disappointed when he pulled up someone else. I think her name was Julie and she was a stay at home mom. She knew most of the song (she said she’d been practicing, and BA asked her if she had been expecting to go up there!) She said that she was there with her husband and BA said that if he was the one who bought the tickets then he was going to get lucky tonight. Next came my only confusing moment of the night. BA started to play a familiar guitar riff, and right away I started to jot down House Arrest on my setlist. But it turned out to be Hearts on Fire, but I swear, something was wrong about it, maybe the first verse. Then came the always amusing Its Only Love where Keith turns into a madman on guitar. At one point during the night he was banging his guitar off his crotch! Then of course came the always fun The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me and Run To You to close out the show. After the guys took their bows, I was still trying to pass them my picture so Bryan could see what it was. But they left the stage and the crews started coming out. I wanted to motion over Toe to get him to pass it along, but he was too far away. So I grabbed the DL camera guy and asked him if he knew Toe. He said yeah, so I asked him if he could give him the picture and ask him to give it to BA. He asked me if Toe knew me, and I told him that I’d spoken to him before but he probably wouldn’t recognize me by face (it wasn’t really a lie, I had talked to Toe before… briefly at one of the shows last year). He asked me how he’d get it back to me then and I told him that I didn’t want it back, I just wanted to give it to BA. And with that he said ok and took it, but I don’t think it ever ended up with Bryan because I saw the camera guy put it down a little while later. So with that mission pretty much accomplished, I went back out to get a Ricky Warwick cd and while I was in line for a drink, the familiar DL intro started up. I stayed for most of their set. Their sound quality was a little better than the outdoor show (also with BA) a few months back and the overall vibe was a little better. I watched their set from the 6th row, so I never actually sat in my real seat during any of the show! I was a little disappointed that I had to leave to catch the train right when they started playing the songs I knew. Photograph was the last one I heard in its entirety and they were playing Animal when I was getting out. The only other songs that I really knew were Hysteria, Love Bites and No Matter What, but I did recognize a couple others from the last show. I got on the train heading home and there was an “interesting” kid on the train, trying to talk to everyone as they got on the train and asking them questions like what they were listening to on their Ipods. The woman next to him was half creeped out and half chuckling. I was the only one really going back and forth with him because a good laugh can never hurt and he wasn’t being obnoxious. Then while waiting for the commuter train a little while later, I ran into a kid that I went to high school with and we caught up on the goings on of the last 6 or so years. Lets just say that when I got home, I was wired and NOT looking forward to work the next morning. Setlist: | |||
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® 2005 18 Til I Die.co.uk. All
rights reserved.
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Pictures by DefLeppardfan4ever |