Thin Lizzy/Alice Cooper/Def Leppard, O2 Arena, Dublin, Ireland, 8th June 2011

 Thin Lizzy Setlist :

Are You Ready | Waiting For An Alibi | Jailbreak | Don’t Believe A Word | Whiskey in the Jar | Emerald | Sha La La | Cowboy Song | The Boys Are Back In Town | Rosalie | Black Rose

 Alice Cooper Setlist :

The Black Widow | Brutal Planet | I’m Eighteen | Billion Dollar Babies | No More Mr. Nice Guy | Is It My Body | I’ll Bite Your Face Off | Cold Ethyl | Feed My Frankenstein | Clones (We’re All) | Poison | Wicked Young Man | Killer | I Love the Dead | School’s Out (with “Another Brick in the Wall”)

Encore: Elected

 Def Leppard Setlist :

Undefeated | Action | Let’s Get Rocked | Foolin’ | Make Love Like a Man | Love Bites | Bass Solo/Rock On | Two Steps Behind | Bringing on The Heartache | Switch 625 | Rocket | Hysteria | Armageddon It | Photograph | Pour Some Sugar on Me | Rock of Ages 

Encore: When Love and Hate Collide | Wasted 

Another night, another threesome. After jumping on a plane at Newcastle, it’s Dublin and Def Leppard, Alice Cooper and Thin Lizzy.

Def Leppard were formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Despite adversity, original guitarist Steve Clark sadly passing away in 1991, and an horrific car accident which cost drummer Rick Allen his left arm in 1984, Def Leppard have sold more than 65 million albums worldwide, and have two albums with RIAA diamond certification, Pyromania and Hysteria. They are one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling over 10 million copies in the U.S. The band were ranked #31 in VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” and ranked #70 in “100 Greatest Artists Of All Time”. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott (vocals), Phil Collen (guitar), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Rick Savage (bass guitar), and Rick Allen (drums). At nineteen years, this is the band’s longest-standing line-up. Leppard are releasing a new live album ‘Mirrorball’ later this month. They then play Download Festival at Donnington before heading to the US to do a multi-date headline tour with fellow rockers Heart.

Alice Cooper was born Vincent Damon Furnier on February 4, 1948. Better known by his stage name the singer, songwriter and musician has a career which spans more than five decades. With a stage show that sometimes included a guillotine, gallows, electric chair, fake blood, boa constrictor and baby dolls, Cooper drew equally from horror movies, vaudeville and garage rock to pioneer a grandly theatrical and violent brand of heavy metal that was designed to shock. He’s a born-again Christian, who has a major love of golf, which on several occasions he has credited with playing a major role in helping him to overcome his addiction to alcohol in the 1980’s. In fact he has even gone as far to say that when he took up golf, it was a case of replacing one addiction with another.

Thin Lizzy were founded one night in December 1969 in Dublin, Ireland, when Belfast guitarist Eric Bell met up with Phil Lynott and drummer Brian Downey, who were already playing in a band together, having met at school. Commercial success wasn’t immediate, in fact it wasn’t until late 1972 when the band was on a high-profile tour of the UK with Slade, that Decca decided to release Thin Lizzy’s version of a traditional Irish ballad, “Whiskey in the Jar”, as a single. Although not happy with the release, feeling that the song did not represent their sound or their image, the single topped the Irish charts, and reached no. 6 in the UK in February 1973. The original band finally broke up in 1983, and seemed to have been lost to the music world with the passing of founder Phil Lynott in 1986. Since then however, there have been several attempts reactivate the band, some with more success than others. Each has received criticism for using the Thin Lizzy name without Lynott being present.

 

I’d seen Thin Lizzy twice in February this year and had been impressed by the new line-up. But as with everything Lizzy, once again there was a change in the guitar seat. Vivian Campbell, who I thought fitted in well, had returned to his ‘day job’ back with Def Leppard. The new face this time is former Guns ‘n’ Roses axeman Richard Fortus. Unlike last night when Styx had only been given 45 minutes as the opening act, Lizzy were allowed a full hour. ‘Are You Ready’, ‘Waiting For An Alibi’, ‘Jailbreak’ and ‘Don’t Believe A Word’  were followed by Fortus’ first real test with ‘Whiskey in the Jar’ which I’m  glad to say he passed with flying colours. In fact it was obvious from early in the show that he had very quickly struck a rapport with Lizzy stalwart Scott Gorham. Another brilliant drum solo from Brian Downey ended ‘Sha la La La’. ‘Cowboy Song’, ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’, ‘Rosalie’ and ‘Black Rose’ completed the set. Long may this line-up, whether with Fortus or Campbell, flourish and tour.

From the pure rock of Thin Lizzy, next on stage the pure showmanship of Alice Cooper. Opening with ‘The Black Widow’ where Cooper appears to the crowd from the top of a tower in spider costume. It seems that he has a theme or costume for each song, running from an aged man with a crutch for ‘I’m Eighteen’, to the great tomfoolery which goes with ‘Feed My Frankenstein’. Alice in lab coat and the most outrageous pink rubber gloves, using electricity to create his monster, right through to the appearance of the 10 foot monster on stage to end the song. And so it continues with Alice beheaded by guillotine during ‘Killer’. The crowd, this being a mixed audience for the 3 bands, get into full voice during Cooper’s most commercial hit, the 1989 single ‘Poison’. Backed by a solid band, Tommy Henriksen (guitar), Chuck Garric (bass), Damon Johnson (guitar, vocals), Steve Hunter (guitar) and Glen Sobel (drums), the set is completed with ‘School’s Out’ (including a rendition of “Another Brick in the Wall”), and an encore of ‘Elected’ during which Cooper once again plays to the audience, arriving on stage with an enormous Irish tri-colour national flag. I think every rock fan should experience an Alice Cooper show at least once in their life.

 

For anyone that has been to a Def Leppard show, you know what you get. It’s always a slick well produced gig, and this was no different, starting with a new studio track ‘Undefeated’. Although promoting a new album, ‘Undefeated’ is the only new track in the set, ‘Mirrorball’ being a live album taken from recordings made in 2008/9. So, after the initial new song, we then get to rock to the cover of Sweet’s ‘Action’. Although Leppard have never been a band for great guitar solos, they have always included a Rick Savage bass solo. Tonight is no different, and it leads into another cover, David Essex’s 1973 hit ‘Rock On’. It may have been my imagination, but was I the only person in my section that new the words to this? Maybe I was just the only one old enough to remember it!! Acoustic versions of ‘Two Steps Behind’ and ‘Bringing on The Heartache’ take the pace of the show down notch. A much extended version of ‘Rocket’ starts to highlight something to me. Joe Elliott, at this point in the show, seemed to be spending quite a bit of time off stage. I may be totally wrong, but it may be that he needs to rest his voice mid-set. Anyway I digress, back to the music, and we’re back to Leppard’s tried and tested hits in ‘Hysteria’, ‘Armageddon It, ‘Photograph’, ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’, and to finish ‘Rock of Ages’. Two encore songs of ‘When Love and Hate Collide’ and their very first single from 1979 ‘Wasted’, to complete a great evening. There is no doubt that Def Leppard are still one of the best live acts around. Although later albums have never hit the heights of ‘Hysteria’ and ‘Adrenalize’, the songs from those albums will keep this live act going for some years to come, of that there is no doubt.

Thin Lizzy photographs can be found at : https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150644916785177.691502.748680176

Alice Cooper photographs can be found at : https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150644929745177.691504.748680176

Def Leppard photographs can be found at : https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150644941460177.691507.748680176