Comerica Park got a big dose of ‘80s rock energy as about 35,000 fans piled into the Detroit ballpark Thursday night for a doubleheader from Def Leppard and Journey.
The potent pair — two of that era’s enduring hitmakers — were joined by another classic rock radio staple, Steve Miller Band, for a long, festive and sonically diverse blast of music on a pleasant summer night downtown.
Detroit was just the fifth night on Def Leppard and Journey’s Summer Stadium Tour, but the show is already a well-oiled machine, which is little surprise given the long, deep touring pedigrees of the two co-headliners.
Def Leppard closed the evening with a finely tuned 1½-hour set of Union Jack-stamped hard rock, a signature wall of sound layered with sheets of vocal harmonies, squalling guitars and unapologetic pop hooks. It’s an approach meant for a big setting like CoPa, and the flashy visual accompaniment on the centerfield stage drove home the point.
Vocalist Joe Elliott, now sporting an august white mane, led the proceedings flanked by his singing compatriots Phil Collen (guitar), Vivian Campbell (guitar) and Rick Savage (bass), with drummer Rick Allen typically merry and thunderous back at the kit.
Vocalist Joe Elliott, now sporting an august white mane, led the proceedings flanked by his singing compatriots Phil Collen (guitar), Vivian Campbell (guitar) and Rick Savage (bass), with drummer Rick Allen typically merry and thunderous back at the kit.
There was plenty of music pulled from that album’s multiplatinum follow-up, 1987’s more polished “Hysteria,” full of chart-scaling hits such as “Armageddon It,” “Animal” and “Love Bites,” which served as instant crowd-pleasers at Comerica Park, with a rippling “Hysteria” and sticky “Pour Some Sugar on Me” saved for the encore.
One new number — the stomping, glam-touched “Just Like ’73,” a nod to band members’ formative music years — was tucked into the blend, while a quick riff by Elliott on Kiss’s “Detroit Rock City” launched an unplugged-style session at the edge of the stage’s runway.