Def Leppard, Styx and Tesla pack Indy\’s Klipsch

It was just a year ago that Def Leppard came through Indianapolis on tour with KISS. One year later they’re back and headlining with support from Styx and Tesla, forming one of the summer’s top tours after Motley Crue’s Final Tour. The show hit Indy’s Klipsch Music Center almost exactly a year after Leppard hit the same venue last year and the venue was just as packed- if not more. The night started early with Tesla, who opened with “Edison’s Medicine (Man Out of Time),” and the crowd was going crazy already. Fans showed up early so the lawn was packed by the time the show even started and the volume traveling to the front of the Pavilion was overwhelming. Tesla put on a hell of a show and it was almost time for Styx to take the stage and keep things going. They kicked it off with “The Grand Illusion” and blew the crowd away with the rest of their set. If you’ve seen Styx once, you know exactly what you’re getting and it’s worth it every time. Near the end of the set, keyboardist and vocalist Lawrence Gowan sat at his keyboard and talked to the fans, telling them that NASA recently discovered Pluto has more moons than they originally thought and that NASA had named one of the moons “Styx,” which prompted his keyboard medley. The NASA reference was a perfect segue into “Rocket Man,” which also led into “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay” before launching into “Come Sail Away,” which saw the entire lawn and Pavilion- over 20,000 people- taking out their lighters and cell phone flashlights for a truly amazing sight. They wrapped it up with “Rockin’ The Paradise” and “Renegade” before Def Leppard came out and finished the crowd off and, honestly, Styx stole the show. Def Leppard took the stage to the roaring of excitement from the nearly sold out crowd and ripped right into “Rock! Rock!” and played an hour and a half set that included literally every hit and song fans could have remotely wanted to hear. The most impressive part of the show was Vivian Campbel. The Def Leppard guitarist had been undergoing Cancer treatment. During the show, however, singer Joe Elliott announced “a very happy and very healthy Vivian Campbell!” The crowd went insane and rightly so. If you’ve seen a Def Leppard show- much like Styx- you know exactly what you’re getting. Rarely is there a Def Leppard show that will let you down and send you home disappointed and this year’s show in Indy was no exception. -Reggie Edwards