Def Leppard Concert Review

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William D Lewis the vindicator Def Leppard performs 7-15-15 at Covelli Center in Youngstown.

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

dastolfo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN - If Wednesday night’s Def Leppard concert at Covelli Centre was a celebration, then Vivian Campbell was having the best time out of everybody at the party.

The guitarist, his once long hair cut short, has been battling cancer and missed a few shows last month. But he was back for the Covelli show,and sporting a sincere smile, like a man who isn’t taking anything for granted.

Def Leppard has weathered hard times before and now wears its longevity like a badge of honor.

During the song “Hysteria,” the big screen behind the stage showed photos and videos from the band’s ’80s heyday. It served as a reminder of the British hair-metal act’s status.

To be clear, Def Leppard is still in fighting trim and can still rock. Even front man Joe Elliott, a little pudgy these days, managed to hold the soaring notes on “Photograph,” albeit with a little strain.

Of course, the band never really took a break. They even have a new album due later this year. But Wednesday’s show was all about the hits, and included no new material.

Another triumphant moment was the solo by one-armed drummer Rick Allen that preceded the ballad “Hysteria.” The screen showed close-ups of him toeing the pedals with both feet, while the look on his face indicated he was loving life.

What gave Def Leppard its era-defining sound were things like Allen’s pounding drum work, and especially the guitar fills and solos of “shirtless” Phil Collen, who seems to be more ripped than ever. Too bad his signature style got lost in sonic sludge on “Bringing on the Heartache.”

Def Leppard’s roughly 90-minute set had some other highlights:

• Rick Savage’s thumping bass solo that led into a cover of David Essex’s “Rock On.” By the time it ended, it was all exuberant power chords, and no trace of the original’s psychedelics.

• Elliott, wielding an acoustic guitar, singing “Two Steps Behind” in solo mode on the catwalk that jutted into the crowd.

I was waiting for the final encore, which of course was “Photograph,” so I could cross it off my bucket list. That tune has long been on my Top 10 list of Songs I Crank Up When They Come on the Radio, but it was underwhelming. The riffs were collapsing on themselves, at least where I was sitting.

The best rock’n’roll moment — brief as it was — might have flashed by during the bridge of “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” You know, the part where Elliott trades lines with the band: “You got the peaches …”

That was a little bit of magic.

Def Leppard began its encore with the 1983 hit “Rock of Ages,” which begins “It’s better to burn out than fade away.”

Three-plus decades later, that statement had a new perspective but it still rings true. At least nobody in the sold-out crowd at Covelli disagreed.

As the band gave its final bows to thunderous applause, Elliot acknowledged the roaring adulation.

“We’ll see you next time,” he said, adding “and there will be a next time.”