CIMPLE – A Curious Introvert's Musings & Photos about Life and Enjoyment

(Photos by A Curious Introvert Except for Album Artwork)

On a scorching hot night at DTE Music Theater one of my favorite heavy metal/hard rock bands from the 1980s, Def Leppard (Lead Singer Joe Elliott, Drummer Rick Allen, Guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell and Bass Guitarist Rick Savage), rocked to a sold-out crowd of mostly Generation X fans and also plenty of fans from the baby boomer and millennial generations.  Prior to Def Leppard taking the stage for a fantastic hour and a half show, Tesla and Styx gave outstanding performances playing many of their hits and some of my favorites, including Love Song and Signs by Tesla and Too Much Time on My Hands, Grand Illusion, and Renegade by Styx.  A little disappointed that Tesla did not perform What You Give and that Styx chose not to perform Mr. Roboto, but any small disappointments soon melted away (with the rest of me in that heat) when Def Leppard took the stage and rocked all my favorites from their Pyromania and Hysteria albums (Pour Some Sugar on Me, Armageddon It, Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop), Animal, Love Bites, Photograph and Rock of Ages).  Def Leppard’s album Hysteria was released in 1987 and the album reached #1 on the charts, has sold over 20 million copies worldwide and included seven hit singles.  I had the opportunity to see Def Leppard  during their Hysteria Tour when they performed at The Palace of Auburn Hills in September 1988.  The band members in 1988 were lead singer Joe Elliott, drummer Rick Allen, bass guitarist Rick Savage, guitarists Phil Collen and Steve Clark (Vivian Campbell joined the band after Clark’s death in 1991) and during the 2015 concert they performed one of their songs with highlights from their career playing in the background.  I loved the comparison of their gorgeous big hair from the ’80s to their more modern look and for a moment I had a flashback to life in 1988 and surprisingly discovered that while things have definitely changed, many wonderful things have endured.  Two of my favorite albums by 1988 were Back in Black by AC/DC and The Joshua Tree by U2 and they have remained my two top albums to this day.
One of my favorite actors in 1988 was Bruce Willis and his great movie, Die Hard, released in 1988 has remained a favorite till this day and I have lost count of how many times I have watched the movie (my husband claims over a couple hundred times).  Unfortunately, I have pictures to remind me that I also had big hair in the ’80s and while my hairstyle may be more modern, my millennial nieces still claim at times that I dress like the ’80s.  In the ’80s I was listening to AC/DC, U2, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen and ZZ Topp on the radio and, thanks to playlists and classic rock stations, I am still listening to the same music.  The final wonderful thing that has endured over the twenty-seven years is special time spent with my fascinating millennial nieces who were kind enough to go with their aunt to Def Leppard to Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop) and who may be the next generation of Def Leppard fans when they release their new album in the fall of this year.