I got to the arena a little bit after six o’clock. I wanted to get there early because I wanted to wander a bit in search of the band’s buses and take some pictures outside before going into the building. The last time the band was here in 2007 I went to the show with some friends and we’d wandered around in search of buses then as well. However, this time it was a bit different. First of all, the girls hadn’t come up this time. I was on my own, which I didn’t mind. Second of all, I had a better camera this time. And lastly, the area where the buses were parked seven and a half years ago is now under a serious amount of construction, so when I saw that, I turned around and kept looking. I knew they had to be there somewhere. So I walked back around to the front of the arena. As I was walking, I noticed about four different radio stations with tents up and music blasting. One of them had the good sense to be playing Def Leppard. As I passed by that tent, I noticed it was “Hello America” which I thought was pretty awesome. :)
Across Pat Quinn Way from the arena was a pay parking lot, and there were five silver buses parked along the back row. I hit pay dirt! I wandered over and took a few pictures from outside the fence as I was not sure if I should go in there at that time. I also noticed down the block on the other side of the street several big rigs that I presumed were the band’s as well so I took some shots of those too. As I came back around from that, I noticed a few guys standing talking to the security guard on duty in front of the buses. One of which happened to be Dave Wolff, Vivian’s guitar tech. He was easy to spot with his long dark hair hanging down his back in a braid! LOL However, I wasn’t fast enough to get around the corner in time to speak to him but I watched him jaywalk across the street and he and his cohorts disappeared into the arena. (This morning I left Vivian a note on his Facebook page about that, which reads as follows: “Hey Viv! Great show last night in Vancouver! But um...you need to talk to that monkey of yours about jaywalking. LOL The majority of people in this town cannot drive worth a damn...and if Wolfie got hit... you'd have a helluva time training a new pet monkey. Come to think of it, is he even housebroken yet? LOL Seriously, it was awesome seeing you guys last night! Can't wait till you come back! <3” After that I wandered a bit more and finished off the bottle of Gatorade I’d brought with me and then headed inside.
I found my seat easily enough and I was a LOT closer than last time. Down lower but further over as I was about even with the floor level sound rig. The opening act was a band out of Saskatoon, SK called One Bad Son. I have not heard of them until last night, but I will say this: the lead singer, Shane Volk, has a great voice and knows how to work a crowd. He has a great sense of humor and made a couple of jokes, one of which being when he said they were from Saskatoon and several Saskatchewan natives made a racket in response. He said wherever you go you always find ‘prairie kids’ (natives of Saskatchewan and Alberta), even Germany. (lol) Shane also mentioned that Def Leppard gave up their soundcheck so One Bad Son could get one in. And here I thought that all bands on a bill would have done a soundcheck. Shows me. ;)
After One Bad Son’s set was over there was a break while the sets were swapped, during which I beat a hasty retreat for the bathroom. I spotted Wolfie on stage a couple of times but couldn’t get a clear photo of him. Ugh! The PA played a bunch of classic rock tunes while the crews worked…I think Joe might’ve been tinkering with the stereo because I heard Stones, Bowie and Zeppelin. LOL Then ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ by the Who played and I knew the band would be hitting the stage soon. I remember thinking that Lesley (Mortimer-Wallace, Malvin’s daughter and the band’s wardrobe mistress) was probably hustling them towards the stage. If not her, then her dad. Then a curtain with the band’s logo came down and the crowd went nuts. After a musical intro, the curtain dropped entirely and the band came out. A review written by the local entertainment paper Georgia Strait said that the crowd got to their feet with the opening of ‘Rock Rock (Til You Drop)’ and stayed there – and considering the viewpoint I had I can definitely agree with that. The place looked pretty much packed but I have to say until shortly before DL hit the stage there were a lot of empty seats.
The setlist:
- Rock Rock (Til You Drop)
- Animal
- High ‘n’ Dry
- Foolin’
- Promises
- Paper Sun
- Love Bites
- Armageddon It
- Rock On
- Two Steps Behind (Joe solo)
- Rocket
- Bringin’ On The Heartbreak
- Switch 625
- Hysteria
- Pour Some Sugar On Me
- Rock of Ages
- Photograph
I got several pictures per song, despite the people in front of me being taller and moving around a lot. With the exceptions of ‘Two Steps Behind’, which I caught part of on video, and ‘Let’s Get Rocked’, also caught on video.
I sang along to every song, and they all sounded great. The songs as well as the band themselves. They all looked great too. When Joe introduced Viv at the beginning of ‘Armageddon It’ the words he used to describe him were “happy and healthy”. We know from Viv’s posts on Facebook that he is indeed healthy, and he damn sure looked happy last night, as did they all. Joe also made mention of the fact that it had been ‘a while’ since they had been here last. In fact they were scheduled to play at the Pacific Coliseum a few years ago and had to cancel due to Phil being sick. He also assured us that it won’t be that long again, and I think we can believe him as their new album is due out this fall. And considering some comments that Vivian has made recently, this new album should be incredible.
After the encore, the crowd began to disperse. I tried to get a few shots of the crew taking the stage apart, but they didn’t turn out. So I made my way out of the building and began to wait for the band to come out to the buses. I kind of figured there’d be a bit of a wait because of folks involved in meet and greets. So I took some night shots of the buses and surrounding area to kill time. After about an hour or so I saw Malvin near the doors. A bit later he actually came outside. By this time I was not the only one hanging around and waiting, and the handful of us gathered around the door to gate 16. Malvin took the opportunity to have a cigarette and chatted with us a bit. He also gave us instructions for when Sav came out – I didn’t catch the whole thing because a Skytrain went by while he was talking – but the gist was Sav somehow got injured prior to the concert and that he may just head straight for the van that was waiting. Mal also asked us not to mention the injury. But some time later when Sav did come out I could tell it was something to do with his foot or leg because he was limping. Joe actually came out first, though. And sometime between the end of the show and coming outside, Joe had cut one of the fingers on his right hand. He didn’t explain how though. When Joe and Sav got into the van I did tell them both that the show was great and thanked them. Next out were Phil and Helen. Helen stepped aside while waiting for Phil who was with some of the other fans, and I took the opportunity to say hi to her. She actually chatted with me for a minute, commenting on how cold it was, and she asked me if I enjoyed the show. Of course I told her I had! Then she and Phil hopped in the van which took them to the waiting buses. Next out was the Thundergod himself, Rick Allen. He took the time to get pictures or autographs with everyone, including me (he signed a copy of my ticket). I owe Malvin for that, because he looked right at me and said something (I can’t remember what now LOL!) but it ensured that Rick got to me as well. I thanked him for the autograph, of course! I couldn’t wait around for Vivian, though, because by this time it was 12:30 AM and I had to catch the last Skytrain in order to get home. Even though I got no personal pictures and only one autograph, all in all it was fine, because it was much closer than I’ve ever gotten to any of them before. I mean really, it isn’t every day three of a girl’s favorite musicians walk within three feet of her! I had an awesome time, and can’t wait till they come back in support of the new album.
