Picspam: Def Leppard live @ Porsche Arena, Stuttgart, 25 May 2015
And so continues my trilogy of picspam posts: In this one I am reminiscing about Def Leppard's live gig at Porsche Arena in Stuttgart on 25 May - their first tour of Germany in 12 years. Yes, as a Leps fan you certainly learn to be patient, lol! Either way, when a friend of mine told me about the upcoming tour, I checked the dates and bought a ticket for their gig in Stuttgart. Their other two gigs - Cologne and Offenbach both were more inconvenient. Cologne because it's so far away and Offenbach because it was in the middle of the week. Anyway, the gig on 25 May looked the best and most convenient so that was the one I bought a ticket for.
Although Stuttgart is only around a two-hour drive from Bad Windsheim, I decided to book a hotel in Stuttgart, and was lucky enough to find one just a ten-minute walk from the arena, and at a pretty good price as well. And it was a good thing I did that, because I was completely dead at the end of the show, lol!
The show was supposed to start at 8 pm, but I arrived at the arena just after 5.30 pm. By that time there was already a pretty huge knot of people waiting in front of the turnstiles, but as it started to rain and there was no roof over that spot, I decided that health was more important than the front row and went to the side where there was a roof. Because of the bad weather (when I say rain, I mean deluge) they opened the gates early (at 6 instead of 7). Inside many of those who'd been waiting in the torrent before the turnstiles first went to the merchandise and/or refreshment stands, and I went to coat check and left my jacket and bag there, only taking my mobile and my ear plugs with me - since the last Leps gig I went to I've had a permanent tinnitus (although that one was caused by their then-opening act, Skid Row, not by the Leps themselves), so I knew it would be better to bring some plugs and not risk any more damage to my ears. After that I went on to the stage area, but like many others had to wait outside for about an hour, before they finally opened the doors. Although I hadn't been anywhere near the front of the crowd both when the turnstiles opened and also now when the doors opened, I ended up in second row - but unlike during my two previous Leps gigs that I'd gone to I was on the left-hand side of the stage rather than the right-hand side. But I still had an amazing spot, in part also because the woman and the guy in front of me were in no way interested in the concert. They had accompanied their respective partners, and just stood there, in the front row. They didn't raise their arms once, nor did they jump, sing along or do anything else. They just stood there. The woman later complained about how loud it was (well, duh - you're standing in the front row, near the speakers, stupid!), and someone took pity on her and offered her a tissue which she ripped up and stuffed into her ears. It was still too loud for her liking, though.
This time around the opening act were Black Storm Riders, a band that has Ricky Warwick on vocals and Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham on rhythm guitar. Accordingly they played a few Lizzy belters as well as some original material, and they were just incredible. But that wasn't what the crowd were here for - they had come for the Leps, and when The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again hit the speakers those who'd been to a gig before cheered because that's always how they begin their shows. And then the music changed to Disintegrate, and then the band came out and started an incredible show with Rock! Rock! Till You Drop. They played for nearly 2 hours, and for nearly two hours I jumped and danced and belted along to every last of their songs, because I know the lyrics to every last of their songs, even the ones from the albums that most Def Leppard fans would rather forget about, like Euphoria and Slang. And God, it was SUCH a fantastic show! And after 23 years on the band, Vivian Campbell (who was pretty much right in front of me) finally won me over. Not only because he's been battling cancer over the last two years and still is rocking out like you wouldn't believe it, but also because he smiled and winked at me and gave me the thumbs-up because I sang along to every song. Yes, even to Animal even though I couldn't care less for that song even if I tried.
After the two hours I was insanely happy but also had absolutely no voice left and completely knackered and parched. I went to the refreshment stands and bought two bottles of water and a cup of Fanta and then dragged my groggy butt back to the hotel. Initially I had thought to maybe extend my stay at the hotel by a day and go to Stuttgart zoo on Tuesday, but my feet were killing me so I decided to postpone the zoo visit to another time later in the year. It took nearly three days before I had my voice back, so I was pretty glad that I'd been so smart and had taken a whole week off after the gig which I then spent in Zwickau with my parents and also used to go to Leipzig zoo, but that's another post.
Anyway, on with the pictures. As usual:
- all pictures taken by me,
- you may take/share the pictures and/or use them for artistic means but
- please credit to me and
- please do not hotlink!
Click on the thumbnails for full size.
Although Stuttgart is only around a two-hour drive from Bad Windsheim, I decided to book a hotel in Stuttgart, and was lucky enough to find one just a ten-minute walk from the arena, and at a pretty good price as well. And it was a good thing I did that, because I was completely dead at the end of the show, lol!
The show was supposed to start at 8 pm, but I arrived at the arena just after 5.30 pm. By that time there was already a pretty huge knot of people waiting in front of the turnstiles, but as it started to rain and there was no roof over that spot, I decided that health was more important than the front row and went to the side where there was a roof. Because of the bad weather (when I say rain, I mean deluge) they opened the gates early (at 6 instead of 7). Inside many of those who'd been waiting in the torrent before the turnstiles first went to the merchandise and/or refreshment stands, and I went to coat check and left my jacket and bag there, only taking my mobile and my ear plugs with me - since the last Leps gig I went to I've had a permanent tinnitus (although that one was caused by their then-opening act, Skid Row, not by the Leps themselves), so I knew it would be better to bring some plugs and not risk any more damage to my ears. After that I went on to the stage area, but like many others had to wait outside for about an hour, before they finally opened the doors. Although I hadn't been anywhere near the front of the crowd both when the turnstiles opened and also now when the doors opened, I ended up in second row - but unlike during my two previous Leps gigs that I'd gone to I was on the left-hand side of the stage rather than the right-hand side. But I still had an amazing spot, in part also because the woman and the guy in front of me were in no way interested in the concert. They had accompanied their respective partners, and just stood there, in the front row. They didn't raise their arms once, nor did they jump, sing along or do anything else. They just stood there. The woman later complained about how loud it was (well, duh - you're standing in the front row, near the speakers, stupid!), and someone took pity on her and offered her a tissue which she ripped up and stuffed into her ears. It was still too loud for her liking, though.
This time around the opening act were Black Storm Riders, a band that has Ricky Warwick on vocals and Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham on rhythm guitar. Accordingly they played a few Lizzy belters as well as some original material, and they were just incredible. But that wasn't what the crowd were here for - they had come for the Leps, and when The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again hit the speakers those who'd been to a gig before cheered because that's always how they begin their shows. And then the music changed to Disintegrate, and then the band came out and started an incredible show with Rock! Rock! Till You Drop. They played for nearly 2 hours, and for nearly two hours I jumped and danced and belted along to every last of their songs, because I know the lyrics to every last of their songs, even the ones from the albums that most Def Leppard fans would rather forget about, like Euphoria and Slang. And God, it was SUCH a fantastic show! And after 23 years on the band, Vivian Campbell (who was pretty much right in front of me) finally won me over. Not only because he's been battling cancer over the last two years and still is rocking out like you wouldn't believe it, but also because he smiled and winked at me and gave me the thumbs-up because I sang along to every song. Yes, even to Animal even though I couldn't care less for that song even if I tried.
After the two hours I was insanely happy but also had absolutely no voice left and completely knackered and parched. I went to the refreshment stands and bought two bottles of water and a cup of Fanta and then dragged my groggy butt back to the hotel. Initially I had thought to maybe extend my stay at the hotel by a day and go to Stuttgart zoo on Tuesday, but my feet were killing me so I decided to postpone the zoo visit to another time later in the year. It took nearly three days before I had my voice back, so I was pretty glad that I'd been so smart and had taken a whole week off after the gig which I then spent in Zwickau with my parents and also used to go to Leipzig zoo, but that's another post.
Anyway, on with the pictures. As usual:
- all pictures taken by me,
- you may take/share the pictures and/or use them for artistic means but
- please credit to me and
- please do not hotlink!
Click on the thumbnails for full size.