The World Tour 2023 - Def Leppard / Mötley Crüe

Today’s co-headliner band to go first is Mötley Crüe, and according to the set times we are in here for a 90 mins set. It is Wembley after all and this legendary venue pulls the strings of every act that always have dreamt of uttering the famous line “Hello Wembley”

After seeing them at Hellfest 2023 I was a little unsure as my previous review touched on some sore points about Vince Neil’s vocals and stage attitude but to be fair my concerns were put to rest as soon as Wild Side kicked off. It could have been the warm up gig at the infamous “Underworld” in Camden, North London or the rush of actually doing stadium rock at the biggest stadium there is, but Vince was on form tonight. Shout at the Devil, Too Fast for Love and Looks That Kill sound immense, John 5 keeps this band ticking in the absence of Mr. Mars but it is Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee’s rhythm section that support this whole endeavour.

Big shout out to the backing singers/dancers as they improve the experience with great high vocals as well as eye candy for the full L.A. experience. There is the usual medley of classic rock tunes from their Decade of Decadence era, all that rounded by a Beastie Boys cover that makes us fight for our right to party.

Tommy Lee will always be the bad boy of rock and even at this tender age he keeps the party alive, he demands the party to be loud and raunchy… and he gets it. Bravo!

This send us in to the final stretch of tunes starting from Home Sweet Home, going through Dr. Feelgood, S.O.S, Girls Girls Girls, Primal Scream and the jewel of the crown…. Kickstart My Heart. What a show, what a set list and yes, they have recovered in this reviewers eyes for good. Keep on rockin’

And after that blast it was down to the boys from Sheffield to keep the party going, as Def Leppard hits the stage hard with Take What You Want quickly followed by Let’s Get Rocked, the fan favourite Animal, Foolin’ and Armageddon It with those tunes they really came out biting left and right getting the approval from the crowd. I assume the deal with co-headlining a tour is the compromise of the length of the set so 90mins is not ideal for any band with such a huge back catalogue but having to carefully curate this set list makes each song more special.

Vivian Campbell delivers pure Les Paul tones and is the perfect contrast to Phil Collen’s guitars, that is what makes the classic sound of this band. Joe Elliott’s vocals are on top form here, add the backing vocals of all of them to recreate all those famous harmonies to perfection, a perfect formula that keeps on giving.

The two Rick’s are the heartbeat of the band, the awesome Rick Allen delivers his trademark sound from behind the hybrid drum kit and the bass lines of Rick Savage get us in the mood to bite, and just like that we are treated to Love Bites, Promises and the ever awesome When Love and Hate Collide. But wait there is more, Rocket is a track that never fails to lift the mood of the crowd and the band. A very joyful experience for all and Bringing’ On the Heartbreak make the crowd singalong those lines louder that anything else, they know how to hit the feels.

Tonight was a homecoming gig of sorts for the band and the send the adoring Wembley crowd home with a quick fire blast of Hysteria, Pour Some Sugar on Me, Rock of Ages and Photograph, as mentioned before the best of the best from one of the best. Let’s get rocked again!