Rock On!

Last night I got to take a step back in time and spend several hours with my generation rocking out to some of my favorite music from my ill-spent youth! My friend Brandon and I went to the Def Leppard - Styx - REO Speedwagon concert last night at the Bi-Lo Center! It was awesome! Before I get to the music, I must point out something.......my generation, my people, the people who made big hair iconic......have gotten old. But we can still dance! And there were plenty of people willing to show off those classic 80s dance moves! It was awesome! It was like one big high school gymnasium in 1985!

Highlights from the night (in no particular order):

- Tommy Shaw of Styx! What an incredible guitarist/vocalist/performer! In my humble opinion Tommy's vocals were the BEST of the night!

- Chuck Panozzo of Styx. Chuck is the only founding member of Styx still performing. James Young and Tommy Shaw were on stage too....but they were not founding members. They joined the band in the 70's.

- Come Sail Away and The Grand Illusion. These are two of my all time favorite songs! The Grand Illusion was the very first album I ever bought. I think my brother Evan stole it! If you are reading this, Evan, I want it back....I know where you live! As a side note, you could do a great Sunday message on "The Grand Illusion."

- Neil Daughty of REO's Hammond B3 organ solo in "Roll with the Changes". Yep, he had a real Hammond B3 on stage.....very cool!

- Rock On by Def Leppard. This was very cool......an awesome extended Bass solo intro that truly rocked!

- The strange and uncanny resemblance between Mark Medlin (bass player for Foothills) and Rick Savage (bass player for Def Leppard)

- The guitar work by both the Def Leppard guitarists was incredible!

- Rick Allen playing drums with one arm. If you remember, Rick lost his arm in a car accident int he late 80's and now plays a modified set using his left foot in place of his missing arm. They had 3 different camera views of him playing....including one of his feet!

- Def Leppard's accoustic version of Two Steps Behind and Bringin on the Heartbreak. This was so cool.

- And finally, the last song of the Def Leppard set was "Pour Some Sugar On Me." The place came unglued! But they saved the best for last.....their encore song was "Rock Of Ages"!

Overall the concert was a blast! Joe Elliot of Def Leppard struggled some vocally but the show was still awesome.

Remember, in the words of the great theologian Joe Elliot - "It's better to burn out than to fade away!"