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Def Leppard and Brian Adams Rock the Verizon Wireless, Virginia Beach Amphitheater.

October 20, 2005

Virginia Beach - It has been another great summer of entertainment at the Verizon Wireless, Virginia beach Amphitheater and who better to close out the 2005 Amphitheater's season then '80's rockers, Def Leppard and Bryan Adams who performed to a packed house Thursday night at the Amphitheater.

Canadian Rocker, Bryan Adams "a talented composer of rock music for over 2 decades" took to the stage first. He played a mix of his familiar old classics along with some of his most recent music, including the first single from his latest album, Room Service, there was also "Summer of 69," "Kids Wanna Rock," and "Can't Stop This Thing We Started." Performing through all of his songs from the rockers to the ballads, Adams has a voice all it's own as it sounded the same tonight as it did twenty years ago. At one point Adams plucked a young girl from the audience to help him sing the "Baby when Your Gone" duet.

Adams and his longtime band has penned many songs for a wide range of artists including 38 Special, Kiss, Roger Daltrey and others. Adams has enjoyed much success with multi-platinum albums, chart topping singles and songs used in motion pictures. Bryan has won fans worldwide with his up-tempo pop-rock songs and ballads. Today, Bryan Adams continues to create new music and tour with his well-known hits and will continue to be around for many more years.

Def Leppard was one of the trailblazing bands in the MTV era. The Sheffield, England-based quintet charted the course for the melodic metal sound which would go on to dominate the decade of the 80s. On this tour, the band is celebrating their 25th year together with the release of their career spanning Rock On: The Definitive Collection CD. As the sun set over the Amphitheater, the crowd in Virginia Beach swelled with anticipation. When the sound of Queen's 'We Will Rock You' blared through the P.A. it was show time!

Def Leppard took the stage at around 9:30 p.m. and quickly loaded the bases with their first three songs – 'Action', 'Let's Get Rocked', and 'Women'. 'Foolin' completed the perfect grand slam before the band slowed it down for their fifth number, 'Hysteria'. More hits from the guitar heavy, hard-driving Leppard included 'Love Bites', 'Armageddon It', 'Rocket', 'Photograph', 'Animal', and 'Rock Of Ages' – all of which featured their famous melodic harmonies.

Def Leppard didn't disappoint on any level, from the moment they took the stage until the encore.

The band was relentless in playing music that fans could relate to. Def Leppard did a remarkable job of interspersing some of their lesser-known songs with their classics. At one point Joe Elliot, Def Leppard's lead-singer revealed that the band has been working on a covers CD featuring the British music that influenced them as teenagers before introducing an impressive version of Badfinger's 'No Matter What'.

The talk of the tour so far, however, is the band's juiced up version of David Essex's 'Rock On' which promises to be a runaway hit for the band when the cover CD is released. Fans who have seen this track performed live have "been blown away" by the Leppardized version of this famous one-hit wonder from the 70's.

As if all this wasn't enough the band brought the night to an incredible close with their encores of 'Bringin' On The Heartbreak' and the climatic 'Pour Some Sugar On Me'. Like triumphant athletes who celebrate their achievements and championships, Bryan Adams and Def Leppard were able to bask in the glory of their own record books by offering up crowd-pleasing songs on this tour. Both bands have demonstrated their high caliber skills night after night proving that they truly still have what it takes.

For More information on Def Leppard, Log onto their web site at http://www.defleppard.com/home.html

Joe Elliott, lead singer of '80s hard-rock phenoms Def Leppard, leads his band on stage at The Verizon Wireless, Virginia Beach Amphitheater Thursday night.

John M. Lesko Virginia beach Review

John M. Lesko Photo

John M. Lesko Virginia beach Review

John M. Lesko Photo

Bryan Adams Performed several of his well known classics Thursday night

Brian Adams Guitarist, Keith Scott played to songs like "Summer of 69"

Guitarist, Phill Collen showcased his hard driving guitar playing.

Lead singer, Joe Elliott Performing to a packed Virginia Beach Amphitheater

Guitarist, Vivian Campbell took the place of the late, Steve Clark in 1992 keeping the music in place.

Drummer, Rick Allen lost his left arm after a car accident in 1984, but it has not kept him from keeping the bands hard driving beat.

This evening hosted the last of several great performances from the 2005 season at the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater. Log onto http://www.verizonwirelessamphitheater.com/vabeach/ to stay informed of what in store for 2006 and to sign up for your 2006 VIP ticket package now.

Base Player, Rick "Sav" Savage is the back bone of the rhythm section for Def Leppard.