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Edmonton Journal

REVIEW: Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Queensrÿche a killer kickoff to Rockin' Thunder

The monumental Rock of Ages is easily one of Def Leppard's defining heights of song — but it's also a nice way to describe the inaugural Rockin' Thunder music fest, kicking off with eight hours of straight, plugged-in, eternal AM radio rock Friday to an enormous party crowd. Article content Up top, headlining as night crept in: the aforementioned British quintet — ever in a tight race with Iron Maiden and Metallica in the 'most-seen T-shirts' contest around here. Article content Article content As such, arena-level masses of high thousands were no surprise, dancing, grinding and getting otherwise impressively pornographic in front of a bunch of elder blonde dudes, culminating in a scream-along Pour Some Sugar On Me in front of computer-graphic space motorbikes spewing lightning. Article content Article content Starting off with the deliciously proggy spoken opening to Queen of the Reich — just so we knew who was playing, perhaps — 13-year-member, Bob-Seger-vibed lead singer Todd La Torre quickly demonstrated his ceiling shattering tones to heights we really wouldn't quite hear again today, holding notes long enough to make all the resident dragonflies crash land. Article content Article content Queensrÿche, in a word, ruled, as anyone who enjoys the Ronnie James Dio era of Black Sabbath might tell you, the show ranging from a Priest-y-feeling Breaking the Silence to a wall-of-sound, guitar-explosive Warning, and sing-alongs I Don't Believe in Love and The Needle Lies, with co-founder Michael Wilton riff-blasting that sick skull guitar into our faces with his wicked metal scowl, back to back with evil-looking Mike Stone. Article content Article content They nodded to Ozzy and just-laid-to-rest Black Sabbath, but for my money, the growly, soaring Empire was the height, which the band capped off with Eyes of a Stranger after La Torre thanked their dedicated fans, or as he called them, 'repeat offenders.' Article content Hell of a start, already checking my watch, wondering how to handle such an onslaught for seven more hours. Article content Next up, after some hellos from the amicable and big-hearted Terry Evans, were Prairie rockers Toque, who I honestly did not know leaned into the covers so hard. But hey, in a crumbling world where we're waving in the ultimate karaoke of A.I. with such blind enthusiasm, may as well lie back and enjoy it!