Def Leppard Viva! Hysteria Concert

‘In the beginning, God made the land. Then He made water, then the creatures, then He made man.’ It’s precisely this sort of functional, box-ticking approach to music making that has seen Def Leppard become one of the most popular bands on the planet, particularly in America. No high-falutin’ fancy business here, just straightforward, mid-paced metal stompers covering a limited variety of topics: meeting girls, rocking, getting crazy with girls, rocking, losing girls, and rocking. This live show, recorded earlier this year in Las Vegas, hardly captures the (ahem) boys at their best: the steel-and-perspex stage looks like something from ‘The X Factor’, the crowd express their wild excitement by nodding politely, and to be fair, the band are getting on a bit. With his leather jacket and even more leathery face, frontman Joe Elliott appears to have recently escaped from DFS, and his raaaahk falsetto is sounding decidedly ropey. One-armed drummer Rick Allen is still a marvel, but overall, Def Leppard 2013 are as dull to watch as they are to listen to.