31/07/05 - JOHN O'DONNELL STADIUM, DAVENPORT, IA

Review by David Burke (Quad-City Times):
ADAMS, DEF LEPPARD BRING BACK MEMORIES OF THE '80s
In the past few years, baseball teams — from the majors to minor league franchises such as the Swing of the Quad-Cities — have had periodic "throwback" games in which the players wear vintage uniforms amid all the trappings of yesteryear. Using the same parlance, the "Rock 'n' Roll Doubleheader" concert tour of Bryan Adams and Def Leppard — which is playing 26 minor league parks across the country, including Sunday night at John O'Donnell Stadium in Davenport — could be considered a "throwback" concert. More than 6,500 people soaked in the 1980s dorm party atmosphere, complete with Def Lep and Adams tunes cranked way up, plenty of beer and low-cut female outfits. The two switch off leading the show, so Adams opened Sunday night (after an unannounced 25-minute acoustic warmup from Randy Coleman, a singer-songwriter who has a tune featured on the soundtrack of the movie "Crash").

Dressed in all-black, as were the other members of his four-piece band, Adams led the fist-pumping, air-guitar playing and sing-along-ready crowd, even turning the microphone to them for songs such as "Summer of '69" and "Run to You." He literally turned the mike over to an audience member — introduced only as Nicole from Eldridge, Iowa — who joined him on stage for a duet. The raspy-voiced Canadian played one song from "Room Service," his most recent CD, the songs for which were all written and recorded in hotel rooms.

Def Leppard, in its 25th year of touring the United States, put on a much more animated show than the comparatively subdued Adams. Complete with video, light effects and an even more receptive audience (there were 20 Def Leppard T-shirts in the crowd for every Adams shirt), the band rolled through its hits, including "Hysteria," "Foolin'" and "Rock of Ages." Its set also included a rocked-out cover of Badfinger's "No Matter What," part of a tribute album to the band's influences that is due out later this year. (Other songs from the upcoming album were promised, but early deadlines wouldn't allow them to be seen to fruition.) Cooler-than-predicted

Temperatures and a nice breeze wafting off the Mississippi made for a pleasant evening. Unlike last year's Hootie and the Blowfish concert, when few people were allowed on the field, much of the crowd stood on the baseball diamond infield, with a sea of humanity from first to third base. This was the first in a Swing summer concert series that has materialized this year after cancellations by Rockford, Ill., rockers Cheap Trick and Christian act Third Day. The Beatles tribute act Liverpool Legends is up for Aug. 13, and country group Lonestar is on for Labor Day weekend. With the Def Leppard/Bryan Adams show setting the benchmark for concerts, the Swing should fill its lineup card for more shows in 2006.

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Bryan rocks the John O'Donnell Stadium in Davenport